Don't Stop Believin': Ethan - 5 Months, Week 3

There is so much to catch up on! As you can probably tell from the title, I've given up on counting the exact weeks for purposes of this blog and am now resorting to months and weeks. I guess that means my baby is growing up. He is growing up so very fast...I'm trying so hard to cherish every moment I get to spend with Ethan because I feel like in the blink of an eye he won't be my little baby anymore and I don't want to miss a thing.

A little late...Ethan's "official" 5 month picture

Here are a few of the updates from Ethan's world these days:

Sleeping (nights) - Ethan still goes to sleep by 6:30 pm each night, but the good news is that he's finally started pretty much sleeping through the night. Of course, he likes to start his days between 4:30 and 5:30 am but at least Patrick gets up at 5 to get ready for work so after I feed Ethan I get to go back to sleep until Patrick leaves the house around 6:30. Ethan has started going down for an early morning nap somewhere between 6:15 - 6:30 for another hour and a half, so I can really see the light at the end of the tunnel with our crazy sleep deprived nights. One day I might be able to feed him and put him right back down until a reasonable hour...let's hope!
Sleeping (naps) - Ethan is still a champion sleeper during the days, but I established a really bad habit for Ethan's napping and now I'm having a hard time breaking it. I held him for his morning and afternoon naps for awhile (I just loved cuddling him) and now that is the only way he wants to take naps. He sleeps in his crib all night without a problem, but if I put him in his crib for naps he wants nothing to do with it. If I put him down when he is drowsy he will cry immediately. If I put him down when he is already asleep he will stay asleep for a few minutes, wake up, and cry. I've repeated that cycle a few times and gotten him to give me about 40 minutes, but considering this child takes a morning and afternoon nap of at least an hour and a half this wasn't the best because he was still tired for the rest of the afternoon. I'm not too sure what to do here. I've heard that babies view day and night sleeping differently, and Ethan is proving that theory to be correct. I would be content to keep cuddling him for naps for as long as he wants, but I know that I need to fix this habit (and it's my fault that it started in the first place.)
Food - Ethan is so efficient at nursing these days. He's down to about 4 minutes on each side and he is done. He is still only eating 5 times a day too. At first I was worried that he might not be getting enough to eat, but he continues to grow (and grow and grow!) so I think that he is getting enough to eat. He's been showing a huge interest in our food lately, and since he's almost 6 months old we decided to start him on rice cereal yesterday. We made it pretty thin since we mixed it with my milk (sorry if that's too much information!) and he did pretty well. He kept grabbing for the spoon and trying to feed himself so a lot of it ended up on his bib, but I considered his first feeding a success since he seemed pretty happy. We'll keep the rice cereal along with his early afternoon nursing session, and if all goes well in a week we'll start his first fruit - either bananas or apples - I haven't decided yet.
Movement - I am referring to Ethan as my "holy roller" now because he will literally roll across the room in a matter of seconds. Gone are the days of plopping him on the activity gym and working on the computer (which is right by the gym so I can keep an eye on him) because if I turn away for a minute he might be under the table, moving towards the couch, etc. etc. He is on the move all the time and loving it. Of course, he's starting rolling in his crib at night some too, which means that I've found him sleeping on his side or tummy several times. I know that I don't have to flip him over onto his back, but it still makes me nervous to see him sleeping and not being on his back. If he is on the move this much now, I can't even imagine what it's going to be like once he's crawling or walking.
Playtime - Ethan LOVES his exersaucer. I love it too, because I know that he is entertained and contained. He bangs on all the different toys, puts things in his mouth, and is a ball of energy in that thing. His favorite toy right now is his around town baby driver from his Nana (I'll have to take a picture sometime soon.) It's essentially a steering wheel that sings and makes noises and Ethan will sit in my lap and play with that thing for a solid 20 - 30 minutes. Speaking of sitting, he does really well with assistance but still can't quite stay upright on his own for more than a couple seconds. He likes if I sit with him in my lap and he'll play with his toys while pretty much ignoring me. He also really likes his learn and groove drum, which lights up. He has always liked his takealong tunes toy since it lights up, so the drum is like that only bigger. He continues to put everything in his mouth, but his absolute favorite thing to do is still to put his toes in his mouth. If he ever seems bored, all I have to do is take off his socks and put him in his crib and he is happy as can be. This child is nuts!

Here are a couple of pics from the past couple of days: