William: Seven Months!

It's been an exciting month for (not-so-little-anymore) William! We're blowing through developmental milestones (physically, at least) and have begun our foray into solid foods. And he's handled it all like a champ!

No official stats on height or weight (no scheduled doctor's appointment until nine months--and hopefully we can make it through cold/flu season without needing an impromptu visit to the doctor), but it definitely seems like he's putting all his solid food to good work helping him grow. We feel like he's packed on at least a pound, and I swear he grows inches overnight.... But I doubt that is actually the case, because if it is then his clothes must be growing with him. He's still able to fit in to a lot of his 3-6 month outfits, although every once in a while we'll put a shirt on him and laugh because of how ridiculously small it is. So we're slowly adding those clothes to the "too small" pile and filling out his wardrobe with 6-9 month clothes--and he's got some cute ones in that size that I can't wait for him to start wearing (there may or may not have been a sale on sweaters at one of the second hand stores and I may or may not have spent $30). He's completely in size three diapers, and I imagine that will be the case for the next handful of months.

As much as I have enjoyed being the sole provider of William's nutrition, it has been really enjoyable to transition him into solid foods. So far we've introduced oatmeal cereal, sweet potato, summer squash, avocado, pears, peas, and apple. Summer squash and peas are not his favorites and he lets us know that every time we try to feed them to him. Everything else, though, he eats really well, and (most of the time) he's surprisingly not messy. While he likes to reach for the spoon and "help" feed himself, his motor skills are strong enough that he rarely flings the food off the spoon. Plus he knows that once the spoon has been in his mouth that there is no more food on it, so he pushes it back toward us so we can get more food rather than trying to play with it. That isn't to say we haven't had our nights with pea in his ear and sweet potato in his hair... But it's gone remarkably better than I thought it would.

I said at six months that I would be surprised if he wasn't crawling by this point, and while he doesn't have the whole "hands and knees" crawling bit figured out, he is definitely mobile. This kid can army crawl like you wouldn't believe--and he's especially quick at getting from A to B when he's going after something he knows he shouldn't be (like the computer). That being said, walking is actually his preferred mode of transportation. He needs assistance, of course, but if he knows Darrell or I am nearby, he will sit and fuss until one of us comes over and gives him our fingers to help him walk. It's almost scary how good he is getting at it. He is also pretty good at pulling himself up, which is only problematic because he likes to practice this skill on toys/objects that aren't very stable. Unstable when standing baby plus a toy that isn't exactly meant to be standing toy equals quite a few tumbles.

While his motor skills are developing just fine (and somewhat ahead of schedule), his communication skills have not been keeping pace. Not that we are concerned or anything, but it's just something I wanted to be sure I noted for my own reference. We'll occasionally hear consonant-vowel sounds, but not often. And never in repetition (gah-gah-gah-gah, for example). He's plenty vocal, mind you (and if you want proof just try to take a toy away before he is done playing with it), just not a lot of consonant sounds. He has (for the second time now) "discovered" that he can blow raspberries/spit bubbles, so maybe that lip action will help him work toward developing more sounds. Just watch--in two months he'll be talking incessantly and I'll be cursing myself for ever saying anything.

Sleep is, well, still a luxury at times. We'll have a few really good nights (8:00 to 5:30!!), and then we're back to waking up two (or three or four) times. We've pretty well cut out all but one middle of the night feeding though, so the nights when he is waking frequently he usually gets put back down with just his pacifier (way easier on Mom!). Naps are sub-par at best (can thirty minutes really even be considered a nap?), and we're waffling between two and three depending on the day (which I know doesn't help him get into any sort of a routine). We're getting there though--and I'm always glad when the weekend rolls around so I have Darrell home to help with naps.

And what fun would all this blabbing be without a few out-takes?

I'm Number One!

 

Love our little buddy to pieces!!