He's that awesome

Carter kind of gets the shaft on the blog.  Because I whine about him not sleeping.  Over and over and over again.  Sleeping at night is kinda a big deal.  But beyond the sleeping issues (which aren't his fault by the way) he's about as awesome as awesome gets.
We took the little man to a pediatric GI specialist on Thursday.  After observing him for a few minutes she looked at me and said "Well, he's not autistic."  Um.  Okay.  That wasn't really one of our concerns but thanks for verifying that.  A few minutes later she was writing things on her mysterious doctor pad (aka paper) and saying them out lot "Full of Energy.  Lots of fun.  Looks healthy."  Again. He's fine during the day.  The problem is during the night.  The night.  Come on over around 10:30pm.  He doesn't look so healthy.
And then at the end the doc says "He's making me tired just watching him."  Gee. Thanks.
We actually really liked the doctor.  And feel like she'll help us sort this all out.  For now, we've got him on an allergy medicine for the gut.  So far it's making him sleep worse if that's even possible.  I'm giving it one more night and then it's on to Plan B. Whatever that is.  Scope I think.  Not fun.  But necessary.
And now onto some of the hundreds of reasons I think Carter is the coolest:

--He charms everyone.  People stop me all the time.  "He's the cutest baby.  Oh that hair.  Look at those big blue eyes.  Oh, he's smiling at me."  He smiles up a storm.  Flashes those cute little teeth.  Makes men and women alike swoon over him.  One lady at the grocery store even followed us around for about 10 minutes.  To say I was uncomfortable wouldn't adequately describe it.  I had 911 dialed on my phone and was ready to press send in case she tried to rip him from my arms and run.  (I'm kidding.  But I thought about it.)

--He smiles.  All. the. time.  Big cheesy grins.  There is NO effort required to get him to smile at you.  Just look at him, make eye contact, and he'll give you a grin.  Anyone.  Anywhere.

--Regardless of how rough our night has been, he always wakes up happy.  Always.  It's astounding.  Because I usually want to crawl into a dark hole and not talk to anyone.

--He loooooves his daddy.  Mike gets home from work and Carter toddles behind him like a little baby duck.

--Everytime we go into the garage, he yells.  Or screeches.  It's the echo.  He loves the echo.

--He pulls my hand towel off the towel rack, he unrolls all the toilet paper, he turns the water on in my bathtub and leaves it running.  He climbs onto the couch, and chairs, and toilet.  It's impressive how he gets up on some of the stuff.  It's all very endearing.

--He falls asleep like a champ.  Once he's tired, there's no fight for bedtime or naps.  When he's ready, he'll go down fast.

--He gives the best snuggles.  When I first found out I was going to be a mom, I couldn't wait to snuggle my babies.  Turns out Jaida and Mya weren't interested.  But Carter.  He's a snuggler.  Love it.

--He lets me hold him while he sleeps.  When my sister started having babies, I discovered there isn't much better in the world than holding a sleeping baby.  I could do it all day.  But again, Jaida and Mya weren't interested.  Carter.  I get to rock him to sleep.  It's one of my favorite times of day.  And then I just hold him for a bit before I lay him down.  It's a little slice of heaven.

--He's all boy.  He came that way.  No "nurturing" there.  It's all nature.  In the chaos of girl toys that surrounds him, he always comes out of the toy room with a ball or a car.  Never a doll or a polly pocket. I wouldn't care if he did play with the dolls or poly pockets.  I just find it very interesting he chooses the other stuff on his own.

--He's so tough.  He falls all the time.  Smacks his face.  His head.  His hands. His teeth.  He very rarely cries.  Just says "oh", grunts a little, and hops back up.  It's so awesome to watch.

--He hates, hates, hates being confined.  Hates it.  Which is why he hates the car seat.  And why he won't sleep in his crib.  And why I usually can't feed him in his high chair.  And put him in a tiny doctor's office with no window--bad news.  He just wants to be free.  Can't blame him for that.

--He tries so hard to keep up with his sisters.  And they hate him getting in their stuff.  So they try to hide.  But he always finds them.  They're in big trouble when he's old enough to play hide and seek with them for real.

So once we get this kid sleeping through the night, he'll be perfect.  Absolutely perfect!  And even if we don't fix the sleeping soon, we love him just the same!