Seven Months & Some Change...

Last Tuesday you were 7 whole months old, if you can wrap your head around that one, little man. This is the first month that I have started looking back and realizing how far we've come. Gone are the nights when we used to run downstairs in a state of semi-consciousness to warm up a bottle for you and then spend vast expanses of time rocking you back to sleep. Now we just sit up for a few minutes, nurse and head back to dream land. Mommy no longer finds herself fishing around in the dark for sweatpants before the crack of dawn because you've decided that 5:15am is a perfectly acceptable time to wake up. Now you sleep until at least 7am every morning and either accompany daddy to Starbucks in the morning at a reasonable hour or cuddle with mommy in the warmth of our blankets.

But then, naps and bedtime are no longer what they once were, either. Gone are the days when you simply rubbed your eyes once and zonked out in my arms 3-4 times a day for over an hour at a time. Ah, good times. Gone, too, are the nights when you'd pass out in daddy's arms on the couch while we watched TV and stay asleep until your "every three hour" internal alarm clock went off as your belly's tank hit empty. Now, things are a little more work intensive--there's much to do with the exact timing of sleepy cues and white noise and precise light-levels and optimal motion, and...sigh, the list goes on and on and even the perfect combination of all factors does not ensure more than 10-15 minutes of shut-eye on your part. If you'd only catch on that sleep is indeed one of the great pleasures of life, we'd all be a lot happier. But as I type this, I hear you upstairs babbling to daddy when you should be napping. You were the one rubbing your eyes and crying 20 minutes ago, right?

So, you sleep with us and often you end up in one of our sets of arms for some part of the night. All the books say this is a big fat no-no, but considering the human race has been raising babies since the dawn of the caveman without the help of Ferber & Weissbluth and we've managed to survive as a species, I'm going to lighten up a bit about it. I'm fairly certain you'll be sleeping through the night and in your own bed before you leave for college.

Aside from sleep, this month has been a whirlwind of activity for you (which might be why you didn't sleep, huh?!)

To begin with, you had your first holidays. You got Thanksgiving twice this year--once with Grammy & Grampy and once at Grandma Judy's. The ride to Grammy & Grampy's was your first looooong car ride and it might have been the 6 month shots you had the day prior to the drive, but you were a real trouper! Hardly any crying, so mommy and daddy didn't need to drink heavily upon arrival in South Carolina. Greatly appreciated, little man. We took you to the beach and you played in your jumperoo while we ate turkey. At Grandma Judy's, I feel like I hardly saw you! There were so many people there who wanted to hold you and smooch you; you spent most of your time in the bjorn on either Tia Emi or Tio Pete. Maybe given the practice they got with you, you'll get a cousin out of the deal at some point in the not too distant future.

You started sitting up unassisted & now your favorite spot in the house is your crib, as long as you're sitting up and facing your aquarium toy--you love to spin the toys on the bottom and turn the music on and off. You giggle & shake your fists when I sit you down in there. It's like you might explode with glee from the very prospect of watching the plastic fishies inside swim up & down at your command. it's too cute.

You've also started rocking on your hands & knees. To our joy AND trepidation, daddy & I know you'll be crawling soon. It is mind-boggling.

Still no teeth. Lots of drool. Lots of cramming everything within reach into your mouth. Lots of "ma, my gums hurt!" fussing, but no teeth.

Hair? Well, I am debating when to do that first "lock of hair" haircut. You still have that Trump-esque comb-over to some degree, although every day it gets thinner and thinner as new hair takes over. I can't decide whether to cut that off and save it, as it is the hair you were born with, or wait for your first real necessary haircut for my keepsake lock. Ah, these are the decisions a mother frets over.

That, and what to do about your butt. You like solids, but they don't like you. Carrots, check. Squash, check. Peas, check. Pears, check. Peaches, check. Applesauce, check. Prunes, check. Constipation, check...
Seriously, it doesn't matter what food I put in your belly, anything other than the mama-milk shake makes your whole system stop. There's really nothing like listening to you in your jumperoo grunting and straining. Poor thing. So we're cutting back on the real food and keeping you mostly on a liquid diet for a bit.

You've been having lots of fun on Wednesdays & Thursdays, in our yoga class and our little mom & baby group. We've been meetng up with a bunch of other mommies and their babies at Starbucks on Thursdays and you are getting to the point where you really want to interact with the other babies; it's so fun to watch you flirt and giggle with the girls. Last week you and Lily cracked each other up so excessively we thought for sure you were going to run away and get hitched before our coffee cups were empty. It is incredible to watch you interact with the world around you.

Now, as this post is dayyyyyyyys late and people are starting to give me a hard time, I will post this and move on. I promise to get your 8 month review out on time. And, kiddo, slow down!!!