7 Months

Today is February 13th, and Sam is 7 months old.  (Yes, I'm posting this ON the actual date - a minor miracle, for sure.)

Here's a little update on my boy:

Size: My best guess is that Sam weighs around 22 pounds now.  Aside from some chunky legs and a little pot-belly, he still seems about average in weight and height.  Most of his clothes are 9 months now (some even 12 months) and he is comfortably wearing size 3 diapers. (Also, if you look closely, you will notice that we have graduated from monthly onesies to monthly t-shirts... So grown up!)

Development: We are still working on lifting that tummy to crawl, but he is getting closer every day.  He is also sitting for maybe 30 seconds at a time by himself, but he's honestly not particulary interested in it.  I'm pretty sure he prefers standing/jumping over sitting any day.  Maybe he will never be a sitter... Does that happen?  We are getting plenty of babbling and high pitch squeals lately.  And, most recently, he is really into holding his breath for fun. Cool.

Personality/ Likes & Dislikes: Sam is a little ham.  When we go out in public, he always draws a crowd by laughing out load and gasping with excitement.  A few weeks ago, at TJ Maxx, I literally couldn't get a bit of shopping done because he was so distracting.  (I suspect that his dad may be teaching him this trick to curb my spending!)  He is happy and playful and (mostly) easygoing.  Sam LOVES bath time and has started splashing and kicking so much that we ALL end up soaked.  He is also obsessed with jumping - in his exersaucer, the doorway bouncer, or someone's lap.  He does NOT like being changed or being on his back period.  In fact, changing a diaper has become a two-person contact sport at our house.  Wiggling is most definitely his favorite hobby as of now.  (We sing "wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle" from I'm Sexy and I Know It to him all the time --- Don't worry, we skip over the rest of the lyrics.) At night he moves all over his bed and, just yesterday, we moved his crib down to its lowest setting in preparation for when he starts pulling up on things.

Eating: He is really doing quite well with eating lately.  He usually makes a funny face when we first introduce a new food and then quickly gets over it and loves it.  He has mastered carrots, sweet potatoes, peas (kind-of), pears, apples, and bananas.  This past week, we've moved to Stage 2 baby food and he's liking pumpkin-apple, apple-cinnamon oatmeal, banana-mango cereal, and butternut squash-corn.  Eating is messy, but usually fun.  So far, we've had good luck with Earth's Best organic babyfood.  I'd like to give him more "fresh" food, but he isn't really into it and it would require me cooking... So we haven't done much of that yet.

We've also started a more regular eating and napping schedule (thanks to his great babysitter) in the last few weeks.  Most days look like this:

6:30AM - Nurse

7:00AM - Breakfast of cereal or oatmeal with fruit (usually Daddy feeds him)

8:30AM - Snack bottle (4 oz. pumped milk)

9:00AM - Morning nap (1 - 2 hours)

11:30AM - Lunch bottle (8 oz. pumped milk)

1:00PM - Afternoon nap (1 - 2.5 hours depending on the morning nap)

3:30PM - Snack bottle (8 oz. of pumped milk)

6:00PM - Dinner solids with us (usually about 4 ounces total of fruits and veggies)

6:30-7:00PM - Bath & bedtime routine

7:00 - 7:30PM - Bedtime bottle (8 oz. formula)

7:30PM - Bedtime

Sleeping: Naps are improving a lot which makes Mommy SO happy!  Night time sleep is still a work in progress... But we are getting there.  We are mostly guaranteed eight hours of sleep from around 7 or 8PM to about 3 or 4AM.  This would be much better if I actually went to bed at 7 or 8 too.  But really, usually he eats and goes right back to sleep until 6:30 or 7.  So, for now, I'll take it.

That's all for now!