6 Months

Wow!  I am TOTALLY sleep deprived!!!  I wasn't getting up this much at night with a newborn!  I finally figured it out, he wasn't getting enough breastmilk during the day, so he was waking more and more frequently at night to nurse.  AND, as the time went on, my supply started to drop, so he was waking even more!  There was a span of 3-4 weeks, where I was getting up 4-7 times a night, with a hungry, tired, cranky baby!  I'm glad that I went through the troubleshooting list; teething-no, milestones/alertness - no, ear infection - yes, but not the REAL problem, started to pay more attention to how much he was actually eating in a 24 hour period... DING DING DING!  It probably took me 2 weeks to sort through everything, but I FINALLY got it!   YAY!!!  sleep deprivation did not expedite the process either... ;)

So, I started supplementing with formula bottles this month.  He was not huge on the formula or the bottle, and wouldn't eat much at all. So it wasn't an immediate turn-around, but as soon as he got the hang of it, it did help.  Then I noticed that even with the supplemented bottles, he would always cap at 3 oz.  Always!  It was the most bizarre thing.  He should be eating, 5-7 oz a time at this age/size and he was only doing 3.  And yes, he was still getting up at night.  SO, the next challenge is going to be getting this guy to eat more than 3 oz in one sitting.  I think that it is going to take me stretching his stomach some, so it might be a slow process.  Hopefully he'll get the hang of solids soon too, so he can fill up on those as well!

He came down with an ear infection and was impossible to feed the amoxicillan to.  He had his first solid food.  Sweet potatoes, but it didn't go over too well.  Possibly because I hid Pink Shakey Shakey Bubble Gum Medicine in it???  His tongue thrust was still so strong, that it wasn't an easy or productive process.  But I know, practice makes perfect, so I'll keep it coming.

We took a family vacation to Lake Michigan, and it was all I could have dreamed of.  It could have been a little warmer, but we still enjoyed lots of time on the beach and outdoors.  We went blueberry picking and ate about as much as we picked.  Carsten is NOT a fan of his car seat, which made the 5.5 hour trip difficult.  But honestly, the Bald Eagle spotting, right there at our Lake House and the 65 steps to the petosky stone dusted Lake Michigan Beach made it all worth it!!!

Carsten can army crawl and move where he finds interesting objects.  He can certainly sit unsupported and is extremely close to sitting himself up.