5 Months!

Our darling little boy is 5 months old! We can hardly believe it. He is a complete joy. Just when we don't think he could get any cuter, he does. We see more and more of his personality every day. He learns new things all the time.
Andy:
-Is super smiley. The pictures are evidence.
-Has mastered grabbing things! It's been fun to see him get better at it all month. He's a pro now!
-Chews on everything and slobbers constantly.
-Loves the activity center my mom & sisters gave him. It has absolutely saved my life. It's the only thing that can entertain him for longer than 5 minutes. Sometimes I even get a good 20 min. of entertainment out of it!
-Much to my dismay, has started to hate our walks. They are my sanity so I'm super depressed about this. I end up carrying him and pushing the empty stroller.
-Went on the slide and swings for the first time! He loves them both. The slide makes him giggle every time.
-Had his first Halloween. He went to two parties: he was a chicken and a pumpkin.
-Loves to be held. Loves attention. He is very happy and smiley as long as those two things are happening. He is usually screaming when these needs aren't met. This means I get absolutely nothing done.
-Is super chunky. I'm guessing he's about 18 pounds now? He only spent a month in his 3-6 month clothes, and is now in 6-9. Whenever I tell people how old he is, the response is always the same: "What a BIG boy!" I think this is mostly because of his gigantic head. As my mom told me while skyping a few days ago, his head is the same size as mine.
-Loves to put everything in his mouth! Including his feet. He has loved the discovery of his feet this month. He is always grabbing them.
-Is a wiggler. He wiggles and moves alllllll the time.
-Is starting to the grasp the concept of books and stories. By this I mean he actually looks at the pages rather than sitting there clueless that anything unusual is happening.
-Still loves songs! He loves when I sing along with the Pandora Disney station.
-Loves sitting in his bumbo on the counter while I cook.
-Still loves to stand.
-Can sit up! This is the big accomplishment of the month. He's never lasted longer than a minute without my help though. We're working on that one.
-Still hates tummy time, but I finally witnessed him rolling over a few times this month.
-Makes all sorts of sweet noises.
-Unfortunately, he's discovered his ability to make high pitched screams.
-Is still the sweetest nurser ever. Though it's frustrating at times, it's mostly sweet how he unlatches constantly to stop and smile and to talk. Cameron and I have to make sure we don't talk while I'm nursing because Andy stops and looks up to listen.
-Is not a good sleeper. In fact, he's gotten worse. He wakes up 2 or 3 times consistently every night. And his naps are horrible. He has about 4-5 mini naps every day. We tried the whole month to work on sleep training--getting him on a schedule and getting him to fall asleep unassisted. It was horrible to listen to so much screaming and there was virtually no improvement. I've been so frustrated and depressed about all this, but I'm actually feeling better after reading more in "the book" (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child) and realizing he doesn't fit in the "normal child" category because he was such a colicky baby, which I guess means it takes longer for his sleep habits to develop. Even though I'm depressed I'm not getting more sleep, I feel better knowing it's not because I'm doing something wrong. We'll just have to give him some more time. And I need to stop comparing his sleep to other babies because it is so discouraging. He's his own person and that's okay. We love him just the way he is!

I kept my resolve to be better at taking pictures this month. We have tons! Here are some favorites: