seven months

march 2, 2011

about 18-18.5 pounds

27 ½ inches

It’s been another special month with you, Baby Boy! You are a curious little fellow and are always on the move! You love to explore your surroundings and grab anything within your reach. You like to be on the floor scooting around on your belly. You’ve gotten even better at moving backwards, but haven’t quite figured out what to do with your arms to crawl forward. You spend a lot of time getting stuck under the furniture because you back up under it! You like to get up on your hands and knees in the crawl position or on your hands and feet like you’re going to bear crawl. We keep baskets of toys throughout the house, so there’s always something handy for you to play with while you move around on the floor. You’ve sat up without support for several minutes a few times when I’m sitting behind you reading or playing, but if only if you’re really focused on a toy or book, otherwise you’re way too busy to sit still. You’re still wearing 6-9 month clothes and size 3 diapers. You sleep on your belly and move around a lot. Sometimes you sleep with your booty sticking up. We took the bumper pads out of your crib, so sometimes your feet stick out the sides of your crib while you sleep. You’ve slept all night (8-9 hours) several times this month, which is very exciting! You respond to us and greet us with so many wonderful smiles! What a treat it is to see your sweet face light up! We love to listen to you make sweet sounds, too. You’re still saying mama and really do seem to know what it means now, which is so very special to me! Sometimes when you want me to pick up, you look at me and say “mama”! It is absolutely precious! You still make us work for your laughs, but it is totally worth it! We love to hear you laugh. Lately, you’ve laughed most often when we let you “fly” above our heads. You still like to put things in your mouth. We love to watch you chew on your toes. It is adorable! Teething has been tough this month. We watch you gnaw on things and know that your gums are hurting. You get some relief from teething rings and cold wash cloths, and we’ve been giving you Tylenol some, too. You and I love reading books together. You like to rub the pages and make squeaky sounds, open and close them over and over, and turn the pages as we read. I’m glad we have board books, because your little fingers crumple the pages in a regular book. Speaking of your fingers, I think those sweet little hands are my very favorite part of you! They are miniatures of your daddy’s, and oh how I love to feel them, see them, hold them, and kiss them! You continue to stay awake longer and nap longer, so you’re only nursing about six times a day now. One of the biggest milestones this month has been introducing you to vegetables. I’ve had fun making your baby food. So far you’ve tasted butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, avocado, and green beans. You haven’t been a huge fan of eating solid food so far. Many times you push it out with your tongue, spit it out, wipe it out with your hands, or put your head down, but you’re beginning to tolerate it more and more and are swallowing a lot more than you did at first. You seem to like the sweet potatoes the most so far. When you’re sitting in your highchair playing, you like to drop your toys on the floor and have us pick them up! You still love spending time with your church family and let everyone take turns holding you. You stayed with your first non-family babysitter this month while Mama and Daddy went out to eat to celebrate Daddy’s birthday. You had lots of fun playing with our good friends Kaye, Lloyd, and Nita while we were gone. Bobel and Reenie came to visit one weekend and celebrate Daddy’s birthday. You had fun showing them how much you could move! At the end of the month we made an unexpected trip to Texas. Our sweet friend Rex from Maryneal passed away and Daddy was honored to be able to preach his funeral. You were able to see our sweet church family in Maryneal, where Daddy preached before you were born. They loved getting to see you and hold you! While we were there, we stayed with Pops and Granny. Aunt Misty took off work for a couple of days to see us, too. You had lots of fun with them. They were surprised how much you’d grown and all that you’d learned since Christmas. It is a long drive from here to Texas, but you did well in the car. When you got upset, we sang to you or played music for you. Your favorite song is “Playground” by TJ McCloud. You liked to hear it over and over, and if we let it stop or go to the next song, you started crying. It was neat to see how much it relaxed you.

You continue to be an absolute joy! We are so thankful for your continued growth and good health and try not to take that for granted. You are a blessing from God, and we pray that we can bring honor to him in how we love, nurture, and teach you.

We love you more and more everyday!

Mama and Daddy