Warning, this is a very long post for my own personal record, please feel free to scroll down for pics. I lost my camera USB cord so I've added some of my iphone photos from the past 3 months for your viewing pleasure!
Here's what's going on at 7 mos:
size 3 diapers
9-12 mos clothes
sleeps 11 hours at night, typically 3 naps during the day
EAT:
We started solids and he LOVES them. No surprise to us :). He does not like to be put in the highchair (so long are the days where he would sit and watch me unload the dishwasher for entertainment!) but as soon as the bib goes on, he starts grunting like "allright Mom, FEED ME!". He gets ~3-5 ounces fruit in the morning (we've tried bananas, apples, pears, peaches) mixed with oatmeal and ~3 ounces vegetable (we've tried peas, avocado, sweet potato, carrots, green beans) with 2 ounces rice cereal +2 ounces breastmilk for dinner. So far, he likes everything but peas. Peas definitely elicit the "disgust" face and gag reflex. He still eats his bottles (5.5 oz) and nurses like a champ. He does get more distracted now and will turn away to check out what's going on if someone enters the room, the coffee pot turns on, etc. I now nurse him before bed, I've decided that since he eats almost 7 ounces in food about an hour before bedtime he no longer needs the "prize egg" of a bottle as well. It's nice, as it's good bonding as well as eliminates a pumping session. I don't know if I've ever blogged about pumping but I REALLY REALLY don't like pumping. The hands free bra did change my world, as I can now pump and make breakfast, dry my hair, etc, but still--it's a beating, but definitely worth it. He did start a new thing this month where he grunts and gets overly distracted with his bedtime feed (probably correlates to digesting 7 ounces worth of solid food!)--Caleb discovered that when you give him his blanky and let him look out the window (we usually feed him his last feed in the glider up in his room) he will focus on eating. Can you say first child and spoiled?! I'm sure down the road we'll look at this when we're on kid #2, 3, 4? and be like "really? we let him look out the window so he could eat?!" but yes, that's what Carter gets these days. He also now gets "tastes" of what we're eating--toast, waffle, cookie at the church picnic (not by me--hmm...), and even a pickle at the pool--he just always opens his mouth for more! Now that he's getting tastes of food, he just opens his mouth for anything--laptop, coffee mug, pumping parts--not really sure on food vs nonfood items right now. Caleb calls himself Carter's intepreter and according to Caleb, Carter's pretty much always thinking "can I eat that?". He's drinking water from a sippy during mealtimes and will take ~4-5 ounces water total in a day. I'm making his baby food and it's actually pretty easy. I bought a baby food cookbook, but basically it comes down to "pick a food, steam, puree". Don't really need much of a recipe :). My Dad and Jolie bought me a food processor for my birthday and that makes the "puree" part way easier than the blender. A girlfriend at work asked how long I will continue breastfeeding. My goal was always to make it to 6 months and re-assess. Right now, it just seems to be working, so we will continue. Carter likes it, it's free, it's convenient (minus the pumping--but that's because I like to be independent and go places/do things and have the option of giving a bottle), and I can't say the burning of an extra 600 calories/day doesn't factor in as well :). So, we shall see!
PLAY/ACTIVITY:
Carter now pretty much sits up for all playtime. We still try to do some tummy time, but he will immediately roll to his back. He will sometimes roll back to belly, he definitely CAN do it, but just doesn't like to be on his belly. He can sit up for probably 30-40 minutes unsupported and this month has really taken to playing. So long are the plush toys, he now likes anything that will light up, make sound, and of course--go in his mouth. He rarely gets tired of blocks (we can only get a tower 2-3 blocks tall before he will knock it down) and has really taken to the cookie shape sorter shapes in the last week or so. He LOVES hand motions and any sort of exaggeration with singing so every morning I feel like I lead my own little Mommy/Carter circle time where we go through itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus, speckled frogs, if you're happy and you know it, etc. He just sits and stares with a big grin. I also pull some of my preverbal skills out and do the pause + clapping and he LOVES it. Hopefully pretty soon he'll catch on and clap with me :). We've gone to the pool a few times and he loves the water. He'll play in his float in the pool for 1-2 hours and just look around and float (and eat the float of course). I did get him a baby pool and he did NOT like it, think it was too cold for him and he just screamed and screamed! Problem is if I leave the water out to warm up, the pool fills with leaves and other outdoor nastiness and I'm not quite ready to put my sweet, clean, soft little guy in nasty water! He still loves to be outside but this heat is killing us. I got a fan for his stroller which helps a bit. I've started trying to run with him first thing in the morning (7:15ish) which works and he enjoys, but if I don't get out by 7:30, no running outside for us. He doesn't mind car rides for the most part, but when he's tired/fussy there's a lullaby song (track 9!) that almost immediately calms him. I think I mentioned the "cute new" separation anxiety thing in his 6 month post and let me tell you--it's no longer cute :(. He does NOT like to be left alone and will FREAK OUT when he's left. Seriously, this morning I had him playing on the floor in the living room, went to make a cup of coffee, and as soon as he saw me walking towards the kitchen --bam, immediate screams and tears. I'm gone for less than a minute and come back to sobs. Grrr. Caleb and I are trying to figure out the best way to deal with this, as we want him to feel loved and secure but at the same time want him to realize it is NOT the end of the world and we will ALWAYS be back. I've come to dread leaving him, but rest assured blogfriends, when mama has to potty he just has to scream. He's not THAT spoiled :). He's fine as long as ANYONE is in the room--Rosa, Max, whoever--just NOT alone. He is very ticklish and I LOVE his big belly laugh. Caleb is better at getting it than me, but it melts my heart every time. I finally got it on video and have found myself watching it, especially in the middle of the day at work when I'm missing my boys! He continues with his raptor voice and new "screaming" talk that can be heard across the grocery store. It's a happy sound though, but sometimes I do find myself saying "shh" even though he doesn't understand. Definitely NOT an inside voice. Still no new sounds, although a lot more vocalizations with some /ma/ and ga/, but no reduplicated babbling quite yet--I'm listening for it though! I put toys out of his reach and he will really stretch and reach pretty far (down to where he's almost on his belly bending at the waist!), but no attempts at all fours quite yet.
SLEEP:
Nothing too new in the sleep department. Thankfully, he loves his bed so the aforementioned freak out when alone does NOT occur in bed. He actually loves his bed and I love watching the monitor and watching him just talk and grab his feet and roll around his bed. He still grabs for his blanky and puts his 2 left fingers in his mouth as soon as you put him down, but he may roll around and talk to himself for a good 20 minutes before falling asleep. He doesn't like to be rocked to sleep, after he takes his nighttime feed, he'll just arch his back and look at his crib. He sleeps from about 7:30-6:45 at night and takes 3-4 naps/day.
I haven't done a "typical day" in a while but feel like that's helpful to look back on, so here it goes--of course, this is all relative as we're not on THAT much of a set schedule
6:45: wake up! Daddy gives bottle while Mommy makes breakfast/pumps
7:15-7:45: playtime with Mommy and Daddy, Daddy gets ready for work (playtime usually involves block towers, singing, rolling over and all around attention on me) OR running wtih Mommy (I want this to be more of a habit but we shall see! on Fridays Mommy goes running with Shannon at the lake before I wake up!)
7:45-8: besos, Daddy goes to work, and playtime with Mommy (see circle time notes above!)
8:15: morning nap
9:30: wake up, eat breakfast (baby food+nurse)
9:45-11:30: errands, gym, play with friends
12ish-1:30: nap (this is when Mommy gets laundry, cleaning, house stuff done)
1:30-4ish: eat, play, errands
4:30-5:15: nap, Mommy starts dinner
5:30: eat, play
6:30: daddy gets home ! play and eat dinner (we try to all sit at the table, Carter gets his veggie/rice and we eat our dinner. I've started meal planning so I would say 3-4 nights/week we actually do sit at the table and all eat together)
6:45-7:15: playtime with Daddy while Mommy gets a break, bathtime
7:30: eat and bedtime!
Tuesdays and Thursdays Caleb and I have breakfast at 620 together before Carter wakes up, then I give him kisses and run out the door to head to work. Caleb gets him ready and takes him to Courtney's around 7:45-8 and I usually pick him up between 3-4, then continue as above. On Wednesdays I have Bible study and Caleb has goaltimate, so MiMi usually comes over and plays with Carter and puts him to bed. She LOVES it and we love that she's so close! On the weekends we keep a lot to the same eat/sleep schedule but do more things as a family. MiMi typically will come over one weekend night (usually Saturday) and give us date night which is fun. Sundays he goes to the newborn class in the nursery and does great (so they say!).
We finished breathing treatments up about 2 weeks ago and so far, so good! He's back to our healthy little boy! We have the nebulizer and albuterol, doctor says when he gets a cold he'll probably need a few treatments, but now it's just a PRN basis which is great!
Carter's likes at this age:
-people--anyone, anywhere he will just watch. he's more serious now, really checks people out before giving them a smile :)
-tickling
-hand motions/singing (the more elaborate the better!)--he goes for kid friendly songs as well as country and rap--trying to culture the boy a little!
-food.
-sitting up and playing
-building block towers
-his blanket and laying in his crib
-someone coming to get him up from a nap/in the morning--he'll be playing in his crib but as soon as he sees you he will give the biggest smile! Caleb and I both love it!
-watching Max play/crawl
-outdoors
-pool
-bathtime (now is sitting up in regular bathtub and just splashes and reaches for toys so I keep a hand on him)
dislikes:
-peas
-being left alone
-getting pajamas on after bathtime
-diaper changes when all he really wants is food (if you change him AFTER eating, he's totally fine!)
Onto pics--I will post my camera pics hopefully later this week, ordered a new USB cord yesterday! Remember, some of these are 2-3 months old...
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| already learning hook 'em |
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| Mommy playing dress up, making sure everything fit for Uncle Stephen's wedding |
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| Carter does not like dress up :( |
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| Chillin' with grandpa at the beach |
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| eating feet. the boy LOVES to eat his feet. |
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| first time in the stroller with no carseat! a little wobbly here but now he does great! |
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| drying off after bath! |
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| LOVES playing in bed |
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| Knocking over the block tower! |
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| Playing with Daddy! |
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| Snuggling with MiMi |
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| Sweet boy--here he is at the dr trying to figure out what all was going on with the cough. We were both TIRED of seeing doctors, so thankful we figured it out! This pic definitely shows the blanket + fingers combo |
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| PT says--put toys out of reach! |
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| Showing off sippy cup skills! |
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| 1st bite of real food--peas. |
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| Breathing treatments--Daddy was great at giving them but Carter sure didn't like them! Glad they're over (for the most part!) |
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| Seminary in his future? |
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| Wasn't too sure about avocado the first time... |
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| Working on sharing. LOVES playing with Max (and watching Max!) |
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| where's my food? |
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| reading books with Daddy |
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| My boys on father's day! |
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| What are you looking at? |
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| Chillin in the stroller while Daddy plays at the park :) |
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| These are my friends at the Arboretum. I look HUGE but they'll catch up to me soon! |
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| Sliding with Daddy! |
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| Silly boy. This picture makes me laugh. |
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| Yummy carrot cake for my birthday. Caleb took me to Bailey's Prime Plus--yum. Would highly recommend! |
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| Evidence why I say "making milk" is the story of my life. What my kitchen counter typically looks like on nights after I've worked! |
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| Pooltime! |
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| More reading with Daddy |
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| happy boy! |
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| sweet sleeper |
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| Love playing with my Nana and Papa |
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| 7 months! I love this pic because it shows him at this age--sitting up, grabbing, and probably next trying to put that paper in his mouth! |
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| Not too sure about the 4th of July parade--it was hot! |
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| LOVES to eat! |
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| Tired after a morning run with Mommy! |
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| LOVE this boy! So blessed to be his Mommy! |
