7 months old!

dear miles,
today you are 7 months old. yesterday i bought you your first pair of blue jeans to celebrate the occasion...they are super cute! but when i came home today and saw you wearing them i was super sad...they make you look so grown up! my little baby is starting to look like a little boy. i can't believe we are on the downhill march to your first birthday. i can still remember the first time i held you like it just happened yesterday.

eat
you are still nursing 4-7 times each day. you are eating stage 2 foods now, usually 1/2 jar to 1 whole jar in the mid-morning. i think i'm going to start feeding you 2 times a day now that you are 7 months old. your favorites are bananas, applesauce, and sweet potatoes. yesterday at the store i bought some mum mum rice cakes. i handed one to you and you knew exactly what to do with it! it dissolves in your mouth pretty much and it keeps you occupied in your high chair for a good 30min....at least it did until brady stole it right off your tray today and ate it...oops! you are beginning to enjoy drinking water from your cups...you have one sippy cup and one cup with a straw. you can pick them up and drink from them. it's super cute!

sleep
besides one week this month when you were on amoxicilin and you DID NOT NAP AT ALL, you are a pretty good sleeper. you sleep about 10-12hrs at night (though you wake up every 4hrs to eat still :( ) and take several naps during the day. you fall asleep pretty easily for naps if i lay you in your crib when you appear tired, but at night time you sometimes have a hard time settling down unless i give you a bath and read you a few books first. as long as we do those 2 things, you go right to sleep once i lay you down. if you are not tired when we lay you down, you roll right over to your back and chatter to yourself. you also do this when you wake up for the most part, it is so adorable! and definitely beats crying!!!

skills
1. rolling over...though we don't see you do much rolling from back to front. you usually just contort your body instead to reach whatever you are grasping for
2. drinking from a straw.
3. sitting with support. you are getting better every day. the other day you sat up with a straight back for 30seconds. but you are usually more interested in eating your toes or going after some toy.
4. grabbing EVERYTHING. you are in a stage that you want to take everything and put it in your mouth. as soon as something comes close to you, both your hands stretch out and you start trying to grab it. nothing is safe!
5. scooching. you have mastered the art of wiggling around in circles/turning yourself to reach slightly out of reach toys.
6. feed yourself a cracker.
7. babble. you are quite the talker!
8. laugh and giggle. you are the happiest baby i've ever seen. you love to laugh and give out big smiles...except when we are out in public. you then become very stoic, taking in all that is going on around you.

favorites
1. you still love baths
2. you are starting to enjoy playing with interesting "toys"...a spatula, playstation controller, wrapped granola bars...you love the crinkle!
3. you love your puppies
4. your daddy. you always have a huge smile ready whenever you see him. plus, you love to touch his beard.
5. drinking water from straws at restaurants
6. your jumper
7. sitting in the bumbo watching people
8. listening to music
9. being tickled...i love your giggles!
10. lips!!! you are very interested in lips right now. you stare at them, move your own lips...and sometimes try to grab them!

what we did
i was in basketball season so you came to school several times and met all the girls. you spent time with your daddy while i was at games and tournaments. we got to spend time with your mommom and auntie jen while your daddy was travelling for business. we celebrated thanksgiving in college station. we went christmas shopping. and most of all, we just enjoyed being with you! you are the coolest!

10 things i only do because i'm a mom

1. wake up before noon on saturdays. 7am to be precise.
2. sing the national anthem opera style in an attempt to keep a 2ft tall person entertained while he is sitting in his bouncer watching me cook dinner
3. take 30min to get ready to leave the house to run 1 errand
4. avoid places without a drivethrough - subway, chipotle, 7-11 ( i miss you slurpees!), other convenience stores, etc
5. come into contact with someone else's nasty bodily fluids...vomit, snot, poo - you name it.
6. work part-time.
7. wake up at midnite and 3am to give someone a snack...every nite for the past 7 months.
8. get annoyed at people who park in the "customer with child" reserved parking spots when, in fact, they do not have a child accompanying them
9. read the same book 5x in a row...in 5 minutes
10. sneak in and watch someone sleep because they are the most adorable little dude in the world!

sleepless in austin

i'm not sure why it happened, but yesterday miles decided he no longer needs very much sleep. my sweet boy who took 4-5 naps per day and wakes up every 3-4hrs to eat at night but is excused because he sleeps up to 12hrs at night, falling asleep right after his snacks are over...this sweet boy has hardly slept in 2 days. yesterday i came home from volunteering at church and was surprised to learn miles had been awake the entire time i was gone, but didn't think much of it...i figured he would take a really long afternoon nap. not so much. it's not that he wasn't tired- eye rubbing, yawning, laying his head down...but as soon as i put him in his crib he would flip over and have a party. i tried all afternoon to get him to nap to no avail. finally at 6pm he fell asleep until 9pm. i fed him and tried to put him back in bed as he had fallen asleep exhausted i'm sure...and he laid in his crib talking to himself (not fussing, not playing with toys - just talking) until 11pm when he finally went to sleep again until 7am (with one snack at 3.30am).

i figured he would catch up on his sleep today. again, not so much. he only slept 30min all morning for his babysitter and was still awake at 2pm!! at this point he took a whopping 30min nap. he did take a hour nap later this afternoon and has just now fallen asleep after his bath and stories around 8.30pm. he partied in his crib for about 20min and is now finally asleep for what i hope is a really really really long time. because that's what i want to do...sleep!!!!

first thanksgiving and more

oops! i have really slacked off this month in posting. a lot has happened the past 3 weeks, most notably thanksgiving. we went to my aunt & uncle's house as usual and played our backyard football game and ross and i attended the aggie game while my mom (and some helpers!) watched miles. miles was very interested to see everyone, so excited he hardly slept the whole time we were there. i was fading in and out of sleep after a 1am feeding only to realize it was 2.30am and miles was still having a party in his pack n play with his stuffed bear. he and i both took a four hour nap when we got home on friday and he continued to catch up on his sleep on saturday once we were back at our house and things were less exciting/interesting!

miles has also been struggling with a cold for the past 2 weeks which has been quite frustrating. he is currently taking antibiotics for a possible sinus infection so hopefully it will kick in during the next few days and we can all return to a happier, more restful state.

he is getting closer and closer to sitting. the other day he sat up with a straight back for 15 seconds unassisted. usually though he just folds himself in half to eat a toy or his toes, it is too funny, he is very flexible! he has much more interesting things to do than sit up. when we go out i always put him in a highchair or cart and he is happy to do so for a few minutes, but then wants to get out after about 5 min. last night we went out to dinner and after his stint in the high chair, he sat with me and was quite content to crinkle a package of crackers and drink sips of water from the end of a straw.

i will try to do a better job of keeping you updated during the upcoming weeks!