Seven Month Update

7 Months ago today we welcomed this bundle of joy into our lives.  It's been an amazing seven months! He is growing and changing rapidly these days, and way too fast for this mom and dad.  This was, by far, the hardest month yet to take his monthly photos.  It took me two days to get enough decent shots to do this post.  He's just too wiggly and interested in any and every thing to sit still and smile for the camera.  He's a busy little boy and those hands are never still.  Some days are hard, but there has not been a day yet that we have not thanked the Lord for him.  He is a true blessing to us both!

WHAT HAS HE BEEN UP TO LATELY?

*  He weighs 21 lbs. 4+ ounces

*  He is 28 inches long

*  He wears a size 3 diaper

*  He wears 6-9 month clothes

*  He wears a size 3 shoe

*  His eyes are blue/ gray

*  His hair has grown a lot this month.  sometimes it looks blond, sometimes light brown, and sometimes red,

    depending on the light 

*  He is very easily distracted.  He hears everything and looks around all the time.  It makes meal times

    difficult, especially if we are eating out.  He would much rather check out what is going on around him

    than to stop and eat.  He thinks everybody is supposed to stop and talk to him (most of them do).

*  He never meets a stranger and will go to anyone who will hold him.  Almost every outing we take, a local

    will walk up to me and want to hold him.  He eats up the attention!

*  He loves to play on his stomach and sleep on his side/ stomach.  Almost every morning when we go get

    him he is laying on his belly with his face next to his moon pillow. 

*  His favorite toys these days are his walker and his bilingual maracas.  He also LOVES Salvavidas water

    bottles.  I am not sure if it is because they are blue, but he will fight to get to ours.  We let him play

    with our empty ones and recently filled one with rocks and another with bubbles for him to play with.

 (this month he discovered the sticker on his shirt and REALLY wanted to play with it, eat it, and tear it up)

*  He loves playing with his toes and putting them in his mouth
*  He uses his feet like extra hands when playing with his toys
*  He LOVES tags- any kind.  If there is a tag on a toy, blanket, bib, anything, he will find it and try to eat it. 
    He will sit real still and play with it and rub it with his fingers.  It tickles us.
*  He loves music.  He likes to listen to it and for us to sing to him.  We love to sing and dance with him.  It
    makes all of us smile.  We keep music playing in the house all day.  I also sing him to sleep every night
    while rocking him.  His favorites for me to sing are "Jesus loves me", "Jesus loves the little children", and 
    "Zaccheus".  I also like to sing "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus", "Oh how I love Jesus", "Tis so sweet to trust in
    Jesus", and any other hymn that comes to mind.  Notice the theme.  When we begin to rock I'll say, "you
    want Mama to sing the songs about Jesus?" and he will just look at me and flash that sweet grin.  Oh how
    we pray that he will come to know the Jesus that we sing about at a young age and be used greatly by
    Him.

 (he was not wanting to sit still and take photos this month)

*  He likes toys that make noise and to make noise himself.  He's pretty noisy these days.

*  He still loves his bath time.  He likes to splash the water and play.  He doesn't like getting his face wiped

    though.  He will fuss about that a little.

*  Not only are his hands always moving trying to grab something, but he waves and slaps his arms

    around a lot.  He is becoming a busy body.

*  He has started fighting sleep lately.  Not so much at bed time but for his naps.  He will be soo very tired

    but doesn't want to stop and take a rest.  He used to take a pacifier (which we call his pepi) at nap time,

    but he now relates it to sleeping and doesn't want it.  Every now and then he will but it's rare.  He now

    only gets it if we are in the car and that's the only thing to calm him.  We had him just about free of it until

    our LONG trip into Guatemala City recently. 

*  At the first of December he was saying ma ma ma ma and then he changed to ba ba ba ba.  There were 

    also a few times we thought we heard him say maaammma.  Melts my heart!

*  He has always been hard to burp and still is.

 *  He likes to prop his feet up on things.  He will lay sideways in his crib and prop his feet up on the bed. 
     He props them up on the table when eating, and on the chair rail when nursing and rocking.  He is such
     a "laid back" baby and it is too funny.
*  He can sit up by himself.  If he falls over he can't get himself back up but can sit alone and play by himself.
*  He has started scooting across the floor (and we just think we are tired now, haha).  He is going to be
    mobile very soon.
*  He has started making a new whiny face and makes a sound like he is dying.  It is so annoying yet hilarious
     at the same time.  He will whine and whine and when he gets what he wants he will look at us and grin. 
     BAD TO THE BONE!
*  He is eating solid food well.  New foods he has had this month include avocado, zucchini, pears, and
    peaches.  He also started using a sippie cup and has had white grape juice and pear juice.  At times he will
    blow his food out.  He thinks he is playing but it absolutely annoys us.  David is teaching him to say "mmm"
    when he eats because it keeps his mouth closed.  He now eats three meals a day- a fruit and cereal for
    breakfast, a fruit and vegetable for lunch, and vegetable and cereal for dinner.  He also still nurses four
    times a day.
*  He loves to gurgle.
*  I don't like him to play bare footed in his walker.  I guess because I don't want his feet to get dirty, or any
    part of him for that matter, haha.  I'll keep him clean as long as I can.  I know those days are numbered. 
    Anyway, when he is in his walker we put socks on him (only old socks or socks I don't want him to wear
    in public).  One of those is a pair of grey socks that are like long tube socks.  They are big and bulky and
    remind me of leg warmers we wore in junior high school.  David calls them lumberjack socks and we
    have laughed about those socks many days.  (this memory was more for us to remember than anything
    else)

We are having a ball watching him grow and develop his personality.  He is so funny, happy, and silly at the same time.  We laugh a lot around our house both at him and at ourselves.  This parenting is challenging, but a lot of fun as well.  We are so very blessed to be experiencing all that he adds to our lives.  We surely can't imagine life without him. 

HAPPY SEVEN MONTH BIRTHDAY, CRUZ

Mama and Daddy think you hung the moon!

WHAT ME GROW-