Brady, you turned 7 months old at the end of May 2013.  This is a big milestone. Before I had you I knew that 6 months & on would be my favorite stages…. sure enough I was right! Now that you’re 7 months old, you’re officially on your way to being a “real boy”. Before, you were just a baby. Now’s it’s becoming real. You’re not just a “baby blob”… you can do stuff.

You stick your tongue out and spit/make “toot” noises with your mouth as you’re discovering new sounds you can make. You also make a lot of moaning noises.  It’s fun to see and hear you explore new sounds. The best lately is the long exhale-sigh with a furrowed brow like you’re telling me something until you run out of breath – haha.  We can always tell when you’re winding yourself down to sleep, because you make this gentle sweet repetitive moan (with the pacifier in). You do it most often in the car seat.

Nursing has been interesting. You’re still pretty quick (15 minutes total), but very distracted, which makes it all the more fun. (Sarcasm).  You have this cute little impatient fake cry when you know you’re about to nurse followed by a wide open mouth and a scrunched nose as you latch. Sometimes you make a cute noise that equates to and “Ahh” sigh, like “Finally! Milk!”  You slap/pat (gently), pinch, and declare with your voice in the middle of nursing.  Then, you’ll go right back to nursing or squirm around to see whatever it is you want to look at or try to roll onto your tummy from your side laying nursing position. It’s cute… but you do this almost every nursing session.  I actually enjoy nursing now. It only took 6 months to get there ;). Then, right before you hit 7 months old, you went on a nursing “strike” for about 1-2 weeks. Each day was different, there was no telling when you would or wouldn’t want to nurse. It was definitely a test of my patience. It was also very difficult to pinpoint why you were striking. During these times I would pump, while trying to manage you (now mobile), and then bottle feed you what I pumped or freeze that (to build my supply for upcoming travels without you) and feed you a formula bottle – which you had no problems downing.

Lately you are up 1-3x a night, child.  You nurse 1-2x of those wakings (mostly b/c I just want to go back to sleep and I know that will most likely work). Although, since your doctor said you do not need a middle of the night feeding – that it’s only a comfort habit, I’ve been weaning you from this feeding. You wake between 1-3 AM crying on and off for up to 1.5 hours until we put you in bed with us. This only lasted for about a week until you slept through the night at 6.5 months old (PRAISE THE LORD, HALLELUJAH, CUE THE ANGELS SINGING!) Most mornings when you wake up we can hear you talking to yourself while you hang out in your crib. It’s such a sweet sound to wake up to.  I think I might do a photo series on your various sleeping positions in your crib. It’s hilarious when I peek in on you – there’s no telling what weird position you’ll be in.

You’re still spitting up a lot. We had a 2 week period where it slowed a bit, then came right back.  In addition to baby oatmeal, the first real food you tried was avocado. You did NOT enjoy that. You kept trying to like it, but your gag reflex kicked in. We’ll try it again sometime. I’ve been making your purees from scratch based on Annabel Karmel’s Top 100 Baby Purees. I’ve made a few large batches to stay efficient, but you eat so much I have to make large batches every other week it seems.  By the end of this month/phase you’ve eaten: sweet potatos, spinach, carrots, leeks, onions, peas, banana, avocado.

Whenever I’m holding you and try to drink from my cup, you also try to reach and grab for the cup and open your mouth wide. It’s hilarious! We occasionally give you a sip. It’s amazing to see how you connect things like that so quickly, especially since we don’t offer you drinks much (since you nurse).

Your hair is getting longer. You still have a natural mohawk. We can’t figure out what color your hair is, though. Is it medium blonde? Strawberry blonde? Are you a ginger? It changes with each lighting scenario. There are so many different colors in your hair – we’re excited to see how it turns out over time. You’ve developed these adorable little fat rolls on your upper thighs and knees and have baby cellulite on your butt.

Now you take baths in the “big” claw foot bath tub and you like it. There’s a few rubber ducky toys that you play with and chew on while I bathe you. Your dad helps me lift you out of the tub afterwards since you’re like a greased pig and I don’t wanna drop you. He also helps put on your pajamas before I nurse you to sleep.

I had my first complete night away from you! Your dad and I stayed the night at a nice hotel in Fort Worth after a friend’s wedding while Ra Ra stayed with you overnight at our house. You did great! I missed you for sure, but it was a nice little adult break.

At 25 weeks old you got your first little cold. You were congested and sneezy but it didn’t seem to bother you otherwise. No fever either, which was nice.

You’ve started sitting supported – still a bit wobbly, but you’re making progress! We sit outside on a blanket most days since the weather is so nice and Spring is in the air before the deathly hot summer arrives. You like the texture of the grass. You do not like the bright sunlight in your eyes. You squint your eyes shut so hard whenever you see the sun and bring your hands up to your eyes and try to immediately roll over to hide from it – hah.

You like “reading” books with mom and dad.  You laugh at us when we make funny animals noises to go along with the story.

Uh oh… hold onto your seats folks… Brady did his first (army) crawl on May 18. Slow down, child! Does this mean I should baby proof the house?

We went to Katy to stay with my dad and the family for Memorial Day weekend. It was so nice. We’re usually limited to a quick visit when we’re in town for a wedding or another purpose. We especially planned for this weekend just so we could hang out and have quality time with everyone. It was a treat! This was also your first experience swimming. I’m slightly obsessed with how adorable you are in swim gear! I probably over dress you, but what the heck – it’s cute! You really like the water. It’s almost scary how adventurous and curious you are. You would taken off had we not strapped you into a baby float and navigated you around the pool or held you on the top step to splash the water. You enjoyed lounging in the float.

You are so much fun to photograph these days, especially since you’re sitting up and doing things. You are still so smiley and it’s contagious.

 

 

 

 

 

Brady on INSTAGRAM