7 Months

The Little Mister is still not crawling, but he does scoot around quite well. He started face-planting forward from a kneeling position and has now evolved into chest-planting forward. This makes kind of an inch-worm movement that is faster than you'd think.

We came back from the trip to Boston and realized we had to get the baby gates up asap- he's mobile enough that we have to get the house baby-proofed. We never worried about baby gates with LMS because we lived in a small one-story house- there just wasn't the safety concerns that are present in this larger house with multiple staircases.

He's sleeping through the night much better. At first I thought it was because we moved him into his crib in his and LMS' room (where I don't hear every grunt and moan), but then I realized it probably also has something to do with starting him on solids.

We're slowly adding more foods. He likes liver, eggs, avocados, and homemade applesauce. He does not like butternut squash, and cauliflower and sweet potatoes are meh. He doesn't love food and still really likes nursing, so I'm letting him go at his own pace. This is another instance of different children/different progression. LMS loved food from the beginning.

the hotel sink works reasonably well in the absence of a high chair :)

I know I keep saying it, but TLM really is a smiley, happy baby. He loves smiling at people. I kept catching him smiling at random people on our trip. People can't resist smiling back since he's so cute :)

I was apprehensive about our road trip to Boston given his past reactions to being in his car seat (he usually cries, sometimes screams), but he did really well both ways. I think he did a lot of sleeping. He's still not on a set nap schedule (his fault, not mine), so he's usually pretty sleep deprived. I think he managed to catch up on a lot of sleep on the trip- in the car and while strapped to me in the carrier.

I heard him squeaking his pacifier on his gums and thought he was doing it on purpose. Then I looked down and saw that he had fallen asleep while holding it and it was moving every time I walked.

~ and check out those eyelashes! ~

TLM had been pushing himself almost into a sitting position for a couple weeks, so I knew it wouldn't be long before he could sit up on his own. The afternoon we returned home from our trip I laid TLM on his tummy while I was bringing suitcases in. I went back in the room a couple minutes later, and he was sitting up! and looking pleased with himself :)

TLM has started showing a preference for the muslin swaddle blankets when he's tired. I have other blankets I wrap him in, but he prefers the soft muslin and will calm down if I hand one to him. LMS prefers her soft and fuzzy blankets, but that preference didn't manifest till she was a bit older.

And as you can see above, he still likes his thumb and will wiggle out of his swaddling to get his thumb in his mouth. He'll still take the pacifier though, so it's not a complete lost cause. And he only wants either when he's tired and ready for bed, so at least he's not going around with one of them shoved in his mouth all day. Hopefully we can keep it that way....

On our trip I discovered that the muslin swaddle blankets can be worn as a scarf. See that gray scarf I'm wearing in the picture below? Not actually a scarf, but a gray swaddle blanket. It was cold and raining and I wasn't feeling good and TLM had another blanket to wrap around him, so I borrowed it.

I bought a 3-pack back before I got pregnant, when I was gathering a few items to have on hand if we got a last-minute adoption call. That never happened, but I had them on hand when TLM came along. They're pricey, but I really like them. Especially as it warms up- I don't feel like he's sweltering, but he's still securely swaddled. And they're much bigger than those little flannel receiving blankets that really aren't even big enough to swaddle a newborn.

When I was taking his 7 month pictures, I caught a couple cute shots of him trying to eat his toes.

And here's the big comparison collage: