7 months old

 

 

Dear Rickybear,

 

It’s Christmas morning and you have just turned 7 months old today.  You are at such a great age right now, even if you are still more interested in the ceiling fan than the twinkling Christmas lights we have decorated the house with.  We have not yet opened presents, but I know you will be a pro at unwrapping them and eating the wrapping paper. 

 

You have had a pretty exciting month.  You went to Bass Pro and visited Santa.  You didn’t cry, but you tugged on his beard.  You had another photo shoot.  You were such a champ even though mommy and daddy were both cranky.  You were fast asleep in the back seat when we saw a Christmas light show that coordinated with music, but afterwards I woke you up and carried you in the sling so we could visit the Messengers, a family who completely decorates their house and yard and welcome hundreds of people every night to come look at their displays.  It was super cold, but we had you wrapped up warmly in a blankie.  You did a great job at keeping mommy warm!  Finally, you made another trip up to work to visit all of the doting ladies.  You weren’t your usual animated self because you skipped your morning nap, but no one seemed to mind when you spit up on them or had a meltdown (or two or three…).  They still thought you were the most adorable lil man.

You are wearing size 6 month clothes.  You can wear 9s, but they are a little long on you. You still never wear shoes, but if you did, you would have on size 2s.  Your Maw Maw bought you the cutest pair of LSU shoes this month!

You wear size 2/3 diapers.  I think that the grandmothers have switched over to using Pampers as well.  You wear Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive during the day and Pampers Baby Dry overnight. 

You still have no teeth.  You seem to be teething because you gnaw on EVERYTHING right now, but I don’t feel any teeth under the gums.

Mommy and daddy are still working overtime so your daily routine is still the same.  Daddy made a "pajama song" that we sing to you ready for your nighttime routine.  We did add fish watching, reading a bedtime story, and singing a song or two to your regime.  We try to get you in bed no later than 9:30 pm.

You are mainly sleeping through the night now.  You occasionally wake up insisting on a bottle, but you can usually make it through.  Your biggest problem is that you scoot all the way up and smash your face into the side of the pack 'n play and then can't really move and you get irritated and start whining.  Or else you flip to your belly and start whining.  Usually I can talk to you and you drift back off to sleep, but sometime I have to adjust your position and lay you back down.

You are a ROLLY POLLY boy right now.  You flip back and forth and back and forth.  It’s too cute!  Except when we are trying to change your diaper and you roll all over…


You like to “talk” a lot now.  LOUDLY.The biggest change has been your eating habits this month since you started eating solids.   You have started having 3 meals a day and that means you aren’t drinking as much formula. You drink 5 oz bottles (on average) of Similac during the day and you take a bottle of Enfamil AR at night.  You are trying pretty hard to pull yourself to standing, but you still need my help to do it.

Making your baby food has been a success so far and I am really proud that I can do that for you.  So far you have tried avocado, oatmeal, green beans, sweet potato, yellow squash, butternut squash, banana, apple, and YoBaby Organic vanilla yogurt.  I have a bunch of fruits frozen in ice cubes just waiting for you to try!  Oh, and some carrots and peas, too.  I hope you like them better than you liked those green beans!  I want you to try everything!

Still no success with a sippy cup.

The cat tolerates you a little better now.  If mommy is nearby then she will sit close enough for you to touch her.  If I don’t help you pet her gently, you tend to yank out a big chunk of her hair and she runs away.  You scare her when you do your happy shriek and flap your arms.  She doesn’t know you do it because you are excited to see her.

You can push up on to all fours and rock back and forth.  No crawling yet, thank goodness.

I think that pretty much sums up your progress for now.  It’s time to go open presents at Maw Maw’s now.  I can’t wait until Christmas next year when you will have a better idea of what’s going on.  I can’t wait to see your excitement!

Love,
Mommy

Dear Rickybear, you are six months old!

You are the most exciting little ball of energy right now.  No really, you keep going and going even when you are exhausted and just need to nap.  You don't want to miss a thing.

You are wearing size 6 month clothes.  You never wear shoes, but if you did, you would have on size 2s.

You wear size 2 diapers.  You wear Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive when mommy changes you.  Nana uses Huggies and MawMaw uses Luvs. 

You have no teeth yet.

In the morning you wake around 5am.  Mommy changes you and loads you into the car seat and you are out of the door by 5:15am to see MawMaw or Nana.  Lately, due to working late, mommy has been picking you up around 7:30p during the week.  That gives us an hour to PLAY PLAY PLAY until you drop.  Daddy usually makes it home by this time, so we get you "nighttime ready", which means you get changed into Pampers Dry Max, get massaged with some Johnson's Bedtime Lotion, and bundled into a cute little footed sleeper (who knew mommy would love those silly things so much?!?!).  You get your nighttime bottle which is 3 oz of Similac Advanced with 3 oz of Enfamil A.R. and are tucked into the Pack N Play by mommy's side of the bed.  You are always tucked in with your froggy, your Pooh blankie, and your seahorse.  You usually wake up at 2am for another 4 oz bottle.

You eat anywhere from 4 oz to 7 oz at a time.  You eat about 28 oz total a day.  You prefer Similac to any other formula.  I know this because you have a lot less spit up with that formula.  You can hold your own bottle now and, with concentration, can put it in and take it out of your mouth.

Your favorite things to do are to JUMP JUMP JUMP either in the rainforest jumper or your doorway bouncer.  Even when we stand you up on your feet you bend and straighten your legs and try to jump.

When you are sitting on your tush, if we hold your hands you can pull yourself up onto your feet.

You are very vocal and screech like hawk.

You reach to get your toys and to nearly break your neck trying to find the tv in a room.

You love watching football with your daddy.

You like to grab noses and ears and cheeks and hair.

You still like to lay back with your hands clasped behind your head.

You like to pet the cat when she comes close enough to you.

You seem to always be waiting for us to make you laugh.  You are quick to give us a giggle.

You love the giggling babydoll at MawMaw's house... you love to laugh with her.

You do not like naptime at all.

You can reach and grab for toys. 

You have started to drop/throw your toys, maybe to see if we will pick them up for you? 

You can sit unassisted.

Mommy and daddy are very proud of you and can't wait to see what you can do next!

Love,
Mommy