Graham: Seven Month Update

Every month that passes with our little G has been going so soo fast. I wish I could just slow down time a little bit and bottle up some of these precious moments while he is still in the baby phase of life. Not that toddler-hood isn't fun too...at times...but I in particular enjoy the little moments of quiet snuggles, smiles, belly laughs, and overall go-with-the-flow attitude that comes along with being seven months old.

THE STATS:

Age: 7 months

Diaper size: 3

Clothing: 6-12 months or 9 months...just eeking into 12 months...yikes!

DEVELOPMENTAL ACTIVITY:

This has been a big month for little G! He has started to scoot around, and is edging closer every day to putting together the crawling motion. He has the arm part completely down, and can push his whole body up off the floor, but he hasn't yet figured out how to get his knees under him or propel himself forward. When I show him how, he just laughs and laughs...must have ticklish thighs (something I don't mind at all since he also is the proud owner of two roll-ee pole-ee pudgy little thunder thighs that are a delight to tickle)! In other big developments, G is on the verge of sitting unassisted. He is plagued with the same long torso as big brother C, so some of these gross motor skills are going to take a bit longer for him as his center of gravity is pretty high, and his legs haven't caught up yet. He has been able to sit unassisted very briefly starting at about 6.75 months, but we are always sure to have a nice soft landing spot for him when he inevitably tips over.

SCHEDULE:

7:30-8 a.m. // Wake up! Nurse. Play.

9:30 a.m. // Eat. 6-8oz bottle formula

10:30-12:30 // Naptime

12:30 p.m. // Eat. 6-8 oz bottle formula

3 p.m. // Eat. 6-8 oz bottle formula

3:30/4-5 p.m. // Naptime

5:30 p.m. // Oatmeal and/or trying new solid food

7:30 p.m. // Get ready for bed. Nurse. 4-6 oz bottle formula

8-8:15 p.m. // Bedtime. 

This has been our basic schedule this month. G is usually ready for bed (temperament speaking) about 6:30, so I am considering adjusting our schedule this month so that he starts his bedtime routine around 6:30, and is in bed by 7 p.m. Before big brother C. I am hesitant to go this route as I love my quiet calm one-on-one time with G before bed, but I realize this is just me being selfish and keeping him awake longer than he needs or wants to be. What this means for our dinner schedule is hard to know! I think I need to get more serious about using my slow cooker, and prepping meals during the afternoon while C is napping so that it isn't 6:30 p.m. and we still have nothing planned for dinner. MAYBE this will mean more frozen pizza or ham and cheese sandwiches in our life, but at least that is something I know C will eat, and it requires minimal prep time (a.k.a. LOW STRESS) for me leaving more time for fun things like story time, games, or playing outside.

FAVORITE TOY:

G continues to love his playmat and jumparoo this month. He is going through a jumping phase, and is the definition of a bouncing baby boy. He also has loved these teethers that I surprised him with on our vacation.

STORYTIME:

While G does enjoy listening while I'm reading a book, he is really still more interested in eating books this month than he is in reading them. He continues to like the Amazing Baby Feel and Learn teething books, and also enjoys the soft Jellycat books. He got his hands on one of C's paper books this month, and had a whole corner of a page gone before I rescued it away from him. It it usually pretty chaotic around here at the end of the day, and G is usually SUPER sleepy after his final bottle of the day, so I have not yet introduced storytime to our bedtime routine, but hope to soon.

CUISINE:

As noted in our schedule, G is down to only nursing 2x per day. I am considering cutting back to once a day since in the evening I end up supplementing his final meal with a near full bottle already. He has been doing good with oatmeal (aside from the first couple weeks of bites when he still has a major gag reflex), but has so far HATED veggies. So, far, he has only tried sweet potatoes and peas, but it was not a very 'good' try, and his reaction was in line with how you might react after tasting the worst thing you've ever tasted in your entire life. For real.

7 MONTH FAVORITES

Big Brother C

Bath time 

I started bathing the boys together this month, and they both LOVE it!

Jumping

7 MONTH LEAST FAVORITES

Being tired or hungry

Loud noises (a.k.a. big brother yelling for attention)

Veggies (no sweet potatoes or peas for this little guy!)

Waking up...

G is a bit of a bear in the morning and after nap times. He wants to eat pretty much the instant his eyes flutter open. On a side note, his little sleepy baby blues are absolutely adorable when he gets woken up unexpectedly (usually by C, and another least favorite of the month), and it's like watching someone see the world for the very first time.

OH THE MEMORIES

We all had so much fun this year over Winter Games weekend at the lake. G got in on the action all bundled up in his snowsuit while I carried him in the Ergo. We got in some outdoor time at Parks Marina...think helicopters, flag football on the ice, snowmobiles, etc; then headed indoors at the Expo Center for the Chocolate Extravaganza. C enjoyed the Chocolate Extravaganza a bit more than G (thank you event planners for all of the bite-sized toddler friendly sugar morsels), but even though G didn't get to have any chocolate, we're pretty sure he still had fun anyways!

G was baptized this month, and was lucky to have almost all of our family back to help celebrate his special day. He looked so adorable in his little white sweater suit, and did a great job at church. He was a bit f a squirm when it came to the actual baptizing, causing me to nearly drop him into the baptismal font, but we ended up making it through without any mishaps. Afterwards, while our pastor was walking him around the pews, he was very alert and looked very directly into everyone's eyes. A big moment for our little guy!

We took our first big trip as a family of four the last week that G was six months old. Officially, he turned seven months the day we went on a day trip to St. John (see above picture). Not a bad way to spend a milestone day! G did great sleeping in a new environment, and had no problems at all on any of our flights. His overall bedtime and waking times stayed pretty consistent to what they are at home (something we did our best to stick to within reason), but he didn't necessarily get consistent naps carved into the days as we were on the go most of the time. That being said, he did get some pretty quality catnaps on some of the best beaches in the world while lounging in the stroller, so I don't think he can complain too much! I'll be posting a full update on our trip soon, so stay tuned! 

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G's Baptism

In early February, we celebrated our little G's baptism. Unintentionally, we ended up having him baptized almost exactly the same time of year that C was baptized, making it suuuuper convenient for all of our family to travel our way for the event...just kidding. Winter time in Iowa?! Anyways, it was a definite highlight of the otherwise cold and snowy time of year, the weather cooperated, and everyone was able to make the trip to help G celebrate his special day. I had originally been hoping he could wear the same baptism outfit that C wore, but upon digging it out of storage a week or so before the big day, I realized that it wouldn't work as there was some yellowing of the satin fabric on several spots where we must not have gotten all of the drool cleaned up after C wore the outfit. #momfail. Never fear, a quick online search, and I stumbled across an adorable little sweater suit that I knew would be perfect for G's day, and it arrived in pristine condition just two days later. #amazonprimeforthewin

One of my favorites parts about the baptisms at our church is when the pastor invites the kids in the audience to come up to the baptismal font for a closer look as he performs the baptism. Pretty much all of the kids in attendance at the Saturday night service came up to watch, but big brother C got cold feet and opted to watch from the pew with Grandma and Grandpa. G, meanwhile, was quite the squirm, and when it came time to lay him out so that our pastor could baptize him, I nearly dropped him into the baptismal font. He didn't quite know what to think of the bath, and ensuing cross on his forehead with oil! Afterwards, the pastor walked him up and down the pews to introduce him to his church family, and he gave each and every person he paused in front of a good stare down, before diverting his attention the the next person. So serious!

My brother and his wife were little G's baptism sponsors. A.K.A. The Godparents.

T's brothers were able to join us for the special day, and C had so much fun catching up with his Uncles. Also...for anyone wondering...it is near impossible to get a two year old to look at a camera for longer than about a split second.

After the church celebration, everyone came back to our place for a little party. We had caprese skewers, homemade lasagna, Caesar salad, and garlic knots for dinner, then enjoyed a delicious cake for dessert. G was in bed before the party died down, but he enjoyed every minute of all of the extra love and attention from Aunts & Uncles, and Grandmas and Grandpas.

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

Six Month Photos: G

I am soooo glad that we decided to do milestone photos with G, and have been so happy with all of the work our new photographer Jen from Studio1328 has turned out. This girl is seriously soo soo good at what she does! I really don't think I need to explain a whole lot about these six month photos, but to give you a frame of the day: know that they occurred the day after a major ice storm, so we nearly wiped out on the sidewalk on the way into the studio; I had not been planning to take C along as it was T's day off, but of course, he got stuck delivering a new baby, and thus C had to come; and last but not least, C found a football in the toy basket at the studio, and spent the majority of this photoshoot distracting G from the task at hand. All things considered, I absolutely adore these photos, and love that we will have them always to cherish and look back at this special time in G's life.

Photo Credit || Studio1328

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