Seven Months!

 . . . and chewing everything, much to Mom's chagrin. It's so funny how the toys he likes best are the non~organic plastic ones that I am sure are chock full of chemicals. But what can you do? Can't put the boy in a bubble . . . although often I wish I could. :)

This little guy is such a joy to me. I cannot imagine my life without him. At seven months he is "talking" a lot. He doesn't babble consonants yet (despite my encouraging words: "Say ma, ma, ma, maaaamaaaa.") Instead he bellows, "Ahhhhhhh," and "Ohhhhh." He loves experimenting with volume~the louder the better.

He is still breastfeeding full-time (about every 2 hours) but has begun tasting different foods. Banana is the favorite thus far, but he also seemes to enjoy pear. He is not yet a huge fan of either avocado or sweet potato but maybe that will come in time.

He LOVES his books (that's my boy!) with favorites right now being Maisy's Toybox, in which we hunt for Maisy's missing stuffed panda and Wemberley's Ice Cream Star, about a little mouse named Wemberley who receives an ice cream treat on a hot day and discovers how to share with her stuffed toy friend, Petal.  He also really loves a couple of books we have that feature photos of real baby faces.  He stares at them and talks to them.  We used to read to him on our backs, holding the books up for him to see the pictures, but now that he is crawling, we are on all fours reading and Matthew scoots himself closer and closer to the book.  It is adorable.  I will do all I can to continue to foster his love of reading!!

His sleep routine is not-so-great, as he continues to wake every couple hours during the night to feed.  That in itself is not such a bad thing because he falls asleep immediately after he nurses.  What is rough is getting him down at a decent (before 11PM) hour and keeping him asleep.  Lately he has been waking every half hour or so, which makes for a very frazzled mama.  Some nights I just give up and sleep with him on the floor of his room.  We used to co-sleep in our bed, but now that he is crawling, I am just too afraid he will fall off--and it is a long way to the floor.  Tonight I tried a different approach (a "No-Cry Method"), which seemed to work pretty well.  It took about an hour and fifteen minutes from start to finish, which is long, but I know will shorten with time.  He's been asleep about half an hour right now, so I am crossing my fingers . . . .

I love this little boy so much.  I cannot even put it into words how happy I am that he has come into our lives.  Even with all of the challenges (and believe me, there are challenges), I would not trade a single moment of this experience. 

Happy seven months, baby.