Seven Months

best photo of the "shoot" and it was at the beginning without his white onesie and sticker

 Rolling around instead of getting dressed

No matter what I did, I could not get Andrew to sit, smile, and be 'normal.'

Pushing himself against the chair as hard as he could

Climbing up on everything

This might have to be our 'official' seven month picture.

Hiding under the lion eating his hands...

"Mom took my sticker off, so I'm going to pout."

Maybe if we're upside down... nope, still not smiling towards the camera

 
New Developmental Milestones this Month: Andrew has so many different skills now it is hard to make a list of them.  For the sake of space (and my time), here are the new age-appropriate developmental things that he can do: turn in the direction of his name, feed himself puffs, sit unassisted (without needing his hands for support), get himself into a sitting position from his tummy/back, pull himself up on pretty much anything, and crawl anywhere he wants. He also is showing much more recognition of mommy when he gets picked up from daycare each day.

• He is still working on his bottom two teeth (and has been for the last three months), I'd expect them to come out any day now. You can see them right under the surface, who knows when they'll actually come out.



At the end he gave up the fight... but I'd already removed the sticker.

• He still isn't making much disgustable sounds (like vowels and consonant combos like "ah-goo"), but has been more verbal. The doctor said it was normal for boys and they don't worry about it until nine months, but even then, it isn't normally an issue.

Physical Growth this Month: A few less doctor's visits this month, but still WAY too many.  Andrew has spent the month losing weight. He is eating significantly less formula; we aren't sure if this is because he doesn't feel good or his new acid reflux meds are working.  The priolec seems working well and he's throwing up a lot less.

• November 5: 18 lbs, 0 oz
• October 18: 18 lbs, 6.4 oz
• October 13: 18 lbs, 5.8 oz, 27.5 inches
• October 11: 18 lbs, 11.2 oz, 27.5 inches

Doctor's Trips: I feel like a broken record now, Andrew has spent most of his seventh (and sixth and fifth) month of life has been about being sick, trying to get better, and seeing doctors.  We've been to the doctor's less this month because frankly, we know what he has and exactly how they are going to tell us to treat it.  The croup returned on his sixth month birthday, which turned into brochiolitis again, which meant prednisone and breathing treatments again.  This time we have done breathing treatments MUCH longer than previous rounds. We have FOUR refills on the abuterol for the BT, so obviously the pediatrician thinks this is going to continue.  Even though his cough is almost gone, Andrew still has breathing treatments every morning and evening before bed.

Things Andrew likes: Andrew likes everything to do with people and moving.  He is not content to sit on your lap, but instead wants to bounce, jump, walk, crawl, and move in general.  Instead of smiling at strangers now, he just stares and takes it all in.  Target capivates his attention and he doesn't stop looking the whole time.  He follows people by moving his head around objects and mommy.  He doesn't want to be "put" in anything that stops his crawling/standing game, which includes the jumperoo and high chair (although he'll be content for 5 minutes or so). 

Things Andrew doesn't like: Being left alone in his room when he's awake.  There is no such thing as playing in the crib.  Remember the picture of him standing up holding on the edge?  Yeah, he does that and screams for out attention until we get him.  Andrew also has starting hating the 'going to sleep' process for naps--not that he doesn't nap, but he cries and throws his head back as he's "relaxing" into sleep.

Sleeping: When the sickness was said and done, Andrew went back to being mommy's kick butt night sleeper.  He's been adding an extra hour in the morning (sleeping until 6:30 most days), which is amazing.  His "normal" sleep schedule is 8 pm-6:30 am.

• Naps at daycare have FINALLY started to improve.  He normally takes one short catnap in the morning (30-45 minutes) and one longer nap in the afternoon (60-120 minutes). Depending on how late he takes the second nap, he'll take a third nap with me from 4-5 pm or he'll stay up... this third nap has become unpredictable.
• The swaddle is officially gone.  Andrew has been sleeping in a Carter's sleep sack on top of his pjs to stay warm, but with his extra long body, they are getting too short.  I just bought a Halo Sleep Sack for him (in Large!). 

Eating: Andrew has decreased his intake significantly (resulting in weight loss) this month.  The doctor isn't concerned because he's still in the highest range.  Whereas we was eating 8-9 ounces every four hours during the day, now he's only finishing 5-6 oz with the exception of bedtime bottle where he still finishes the full 9.  He hasn't slowed on "real food;" he eats 6 tbsp of oatmeal and 2 oz of fruit for breakfast at daycare and another 4 tbsp of oatmeal and 2-4 oz of veggies and/or food for dinner. 

• He has pretty much had every normal fruit and veggie.  We introduced everything one at a time, over a three day time period, to make sure he showed no allergies. It felt like it took forever to get everything covered, but now I don't have to worry if I grab a jar of mango, pear, oatmeal combo because I know he can have all three things without an issue.
• His ultimate favorites so far seems to be squash and carrots.  He likes pretty much everything he's tried with the exception of peas and green beans.
• He likes his food thicker than expected; we've moved on to stage 2 foods in the jars and from the little I have left that I made, I have to add oatmeal to it to make it thicker.

Playing: Andrew plays peek-a-boo and loves to be sang to.  He loves his music table because it lights up, sings, and gives him something to stand up on. Crawling over to the TV stand and banging on it is another favorite activity despite Daddy's efforts to get him NOT to do it.   He crawls all over everything, pulls himself up on our legs, or the wall.  He really, really wants to be in the kitchen, but without cabinet doors it is still off limits. Following mommy around the house is funny to him.

Diapers: Still in size 3s--we've used 384 diapers (670 total in size 3).

Clothing: Andrew is wearing 6-9 month clothing with a few of my favorite 3-6 month outfits thrown in there.