Dear Max,
For some reason this past month has flown by at a faster than usual rate! Your development seems to be keeping a similar pace, and your Dad and I marvel at how much has changed both physically and with your little personality in the past month. I waffle between feeling really excited about how much fun we are having with you, and feeling sad and nostalgic that your tiny, squeaky baby ways are quickly becoming a thing of the past. It's a great reminder to really live in the present and soak up every day with you, as we never know when you'll be moving on to the next big thing!
Your biggest physical milestone has been learning to sit up! The whole thing seemed to happen really fast, as you went from needing to have pillows around you (or a person behind you) to sitting alone for long periods of time in what seemed like just a week. You look like such a big boy sitting on your own, and it seems to have opened a whole new world for play time. Before, you had to play with a toy while lying on your back, on your tummy, or with one of us holding you in our lap. Now you can sit and reach and play all on your own. Occasionally you'll still take a tumble (at which point we cry "Timber!" haha), but you seem to have a knack for falling gently to your side and back or forward in to tummy time and you do not get upset.
With your new-found freedom, it has been neat to see you rediscover some of your toys as you can now play with them in a new way. You also seem to be getting the hang of figuring out how certain toys work, or how to get them to do what you want them to do. In the past you mostly shook, patted, felt, and tasted your toys. Now you still do all those things, but it seems like you are more intentional and are using problem solving skills. For example, one of your favorite toys is a ring stacker. The blue ring is on the bottom of the stack and you have figured out how to dump the others off so you can get the blue ring. It may sound pretty basic, but it truly is impressive to see problem solving skills at work for the first time.
First visit to the library!
You are also getting the hang of playing
with us as opposed to playing parallel to us. With the same rings I just mentioned, you hold a ring and one of us will hold another. We can tap our ring on your ring, then you do it back to us, and sometimes you'll tap the ring in your other hand, too. You also like to wave it back and forth (flexing your wrist, I might add, instead of just flailing about) then hand it to us to wave, give it back to you, and so on. Again, it sounds so small but it really is neat to see your brain develop in this way. There are so many more examples!
Dad and I are starting to wonder if we have a future musician or dancer on our hands! When you get excited about something you do a little dance where you wiggle your head and shoulders side to side. It's adorable and whoever you are "dancing" for (us, family, friends, strangers who smile at you, anyone!) gets a big smile on their face and without fail the person says, "Awww!" and laughs. You also really like to pat things with your hand. We were visiting at Grandmommy and Granddaddy's house recently and your Uncle John started playing the guitar. You loved watching him pluck the strings and at one point you started patting your leg in time with the music! It could have been a coincidence, but it's fun to think that maybe it was on purpose.
Your "vocabulary" has expanded quite a bit, and you continue to explore your volume levels, too (often when we are hoping you'll be quiet-- ha!). More consonant sounds escape your lips, and we think (wishfully, perhaps) that you are getting close to saying "Mama" and "Dada"! Sometimes when you are hungry or upset you'll reach your arms up and say "mamamamamama!", and sometimes when we're hanging with your Dad you'll say "da! da! da!" and then it turns in to other sounds. You'll make these same sounds at other times, too, so we're not completely convinced that you're addressing us by name. We'll often ask you questions or have "conversations" with you and always laugh when it sounds like you are saying words like: "Yeah", "Hey", "Hi Dad", etc.
Future baby model alert! You turned your hat and posed like this on your own! haha
The two teeth that came in right at your six month birthday have continued to grow and look so cute! They are finally big enough that they are easily visible when you smile and babble. The drooling seems to have halted for now, so maybe we've got a bit of a break before the next round of teething. Despite the fact that you are less drool-y these days, your face and hands are still often damp. You figured out how to stick out your tongue (it is long!!), and you like to wave it all around and hold it with your fingers. It's so funny! Sometimes you try to babble with your tongue stuck out and you seem to enjoy all the different sounds you can make with your tongue.
You like to "help" with the laundry.
The day after you turned six months old we started solid foods. Over the course of the month we've made your baby oatmeal less runny (at first it was more like thick milk, and now its like the consistency of thin pudding), and you also eat a pretty good variety of fruits and vegetables. We've been following the pediatricians recommendation to wait three to five days between new foods so that if you have an allergic reaction to something we will know exactly what it is. You usually eat oatmeal and sometimes a little fruit for breakfast, and one or two vegetables (or a veggie and a fruit) at dinnertime. It's been fun to have you eat dinner with us, and I've enjoyed making all your baby food from scratch. Solid food doesn't seem to get you all that excited. Most of the time you'll open your mouth for it, but sometimes it takes a lot of waiting and coaxing. I'm sure part of it is us still figuring out the best time to feed you the solids in combination with the times when you nurse. If your tiny belly is full of milk there isn't much room for solid food!
You love avocado!
Over the course of the month you have dropped your 10:00pm nursing session and now you breastfeed five times a day. We didn't do anything to wean you off that feeding, we just tried skipping it one night and you never woke up hungry in the night. I guess I thought you would wake up hungry at some point that night, so I never had a "one last time" 10:00pm nursing session with you. I wish I had known that our last time was our actual last time so I could have really burned the memory of nursing a sleepy baby in the dark in my brain. It has been a bittersweet transition for me, and I'm tearing up a bit as I write this now.
I love being able to hang out with your Dad or with my friends and not worry about hustling back to the house to feed you, or cut a movie or activity short because I need to head up to your nursery. In that way it is incredibly freeing. On the other hand, it makes me a little sad that you are growing up and don't "need me" for that feeding anymore. I also miss the extra sleepy baby snuggles I have enjoyed for so many months before I climb in to bed myself. I hate putting you to bed in the evening because I know I won't get to hold you and snuggle you again until morning! Most nights I end up saying, "I miss Max" when your Dad and I are saying goodnight to each other.
As a tiny baby you laid on your back on this play mat and batted the hanging toys around. It's like a whole new world playing with it sitting up!
Fortunately you are always happy and ready for hugs and a long nursing session when you wake up in the morning. It's become one of my favorite times of day! When I get you out of your crib in the morning you always hug me back and nuzzle your sweet face into my neck as your eyes adjust to the light. Then you pull back and get a good look at my face before bouncing up and down in my arms and looking around the room. After our little "Good morning!" exchange I change your diaper. If you start crying because you realize how hungry you are I'll zip up your pajamas and nurse, or if you look like you can hold off a few minutes longer I'll go ahead and get you dressed for the day before nursing.
Just lounging around playing with your train!
Here are some facts about you as a seven month old boy...
Nicknames: M.J., Muffin, Sugar Muffin, Pumpkin, Munchkin, Sweet Boy, Sugar Plum, Snuggle Muffin (apparently I'm really in to baked goods right now- haha!)
Loves: Jumping in your jumper or in someone's arms, sitting up, playing with your ring stacker, singing
Dislikes: Having your nose wiped and/or suctioned, getting your nails trimmed (really, I think it's having someone hold your hand still)
Height, Weight, and Head Circumference: No pediatrician visit this month, so I'm not sure!
Clothing Size: 3 - 6 month, 6 month, size 3 diapers
New Foods: Oatmeal, bananas, peas, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, avocados, prunes, and pears
I know it sounds cheesy, but your Dad and I fall more in love with you each day. We adore being your parents and are so happy to share our lives with you.
Love,
Mom
