7 months old!

A baby past 6 months of age seems like an "older" baby to me. While we are so excited for all the future will bring and enjoy the continued interaction each new day brings, it sad to think Luke will never be any smaller, will never be a tiny baby again. I know you mothers who have already been there feel this and more! Call me sentimental, but I get a little teary thinking about how fast he grows and changes!

We feel so blessed to have a happy and healthy 7 month old! Here are our updates:

• Weight approx 19.2 lbs (next formal check-up is at 9 months so I weighed him on our scale)
• Wears some large 6 month, 6-9 month and 9 month sizes
• Wears size 3 diapers (had to switch from Pampers to organic Huggies as the fragrance in Pampers was irritating his skin; Huggies does not have a size 2-3, so we moved to size 3)
• In a big boy car seat! Still does not like to be strapped down, but prefers this car seat over the infant seat because he can see the world around him much better.
• Eats his toes -- this is so cute!
• Blows raspberries and does so to signal he is not happy. He will blow when he is done eating and does not want any more or when crying. It's actually kind of funny.
• Smiles and laughs ALL the time. In fact, we get stopped almost everywhere we go as people comment on what a happy baby he is. It is true, he is definitely a very happy baby. Not sure I would say he is an easy baby, but definitely a happy baby.
• Babbles a lot -- "da, da, da" or "ba, ba" or "buh, buh" are the most frequent. He babbles when both happy and talking to himself or when unhappy and crying.
• Still drools copiously. We keep thinking he is on the verge of teething, but no teeth yet.
• Jumping bean! While he has been playing in his jumperoo and doorway jumper for a while now, only in the last couple weeks has he really learned to jump in them. He loves it!
• LOVES to sit in the shopping cart now that he can sit up on his own! Enjoys looking at everything and everyone all around him.
• Diaper changing in now such a challenge for 2 main reasons: 1) he likes to roll over the minute you put him on his back and we cannot get him to stay still to get his diaper changed. I keep a couple toys by his changing table to try to occupy him long enough to get a diaper changed. 2) The kid has what Daddy calls incredible Jujitsu moves. He wraps both his legs around the arm you are using to change him or dress him and turns his body. He is STRONG! Of course, if he really did end up a master of Jujitsu, Daddy would be so proud! Perhaps another black belt in the family??
• When he is nursing or taking a bottle he flaps his free, outside arm up and down. I have no idea what this is all about , but it is pretty funny. Since he does it fairly consistently, thought I needed to add it to the list of updates.
• Eats solids for breakfast and dinner and continues to do well with this. Loves all fruits and orange veggies, but will only eat the green veggies when I blend them with the orange (like peas and carrots). Have you ever tasted the green veggies? I taste everything I give him and they have a nasty aftertaste. I wouldn't want to eat them alone either! We haven't tried any new foods recently, our Pediatrician told us to stick with single foods, not to give him any blended foods just yet to ensure he has no alleriges. I only blend the ones he has already tried successfully.
• Biggest update -- Luke is sleeping through the night!! Hallelujah! Our nightly routine is as follows: dinnertime, playtime, bathtime, nursing and bedtime around 7 pm; "dream feed" (called such because he stays asleep) at 10 pm before I go to bed and one last diaper change; he wakes between 5:30-6:30 am to eat again, then goes back to sleep until 7:30-8:30 am. I started the dream feed because he was waking at 2 or 3 am to eat again, which was not cool. I found that if I just gave him one more feeding before I went to bed, he could make it until early morning. What a difference it makes to have a little more rest!

Here are some of the moments we most enjoyed over the last month (outside of our trip to see grandparents!):

Just as he won't stay still for a diaper change, he won't let us dry him off either without rolling all over the counter! You really have to keep a good hand on him!

In his big boy car seat!

He was exhausted one day after being at Tali's and fell asleep with my sweater while I cooked dinner. Too cute.

We get so many smiles that I had to post a couple other faces. (note the drool all over his shirt.)

Reading the book Grammie gave him. We are trying to encourage good habits. ;)

While I am sad our baby will never be a tiny baby again, he is SO much fun and we both love the time we get to spend with him each day. Love you, Lucas A.!!