7 Months

Holden turned 7 months last Friday, July 24th. He just had his well-baby checkup and he is doing great. He weighed in at exactly 20 pounds (almost a 2 pound gain) and is still 27.5 inches long. He didn't grow in length at all! Poor little dude might be a shorty like mommy and daddy. No, actually the doctor said it doesn't mean anything right now and that he could have a major growth spurt and next time be 3 inches longer. Here's to hoping he's tall like Gramps and Great Grandpa Gerald! Let's see, Dr. says he is constipated. He went from 7 in a day to one every 4 to 7 days. He has a lot of difficulty going still so doc says to continue with the suppositories and the "P" foods, such as pears, prunes, peas, sweet potatoes, etc. I can also give him some diluted apple juice to help. He got 3 shots today but seems to be handling them pretty well. He did seem a little warm and a little extra clingy this evening so I gave him some Tylenol right before bed. Hopefully he'll sleep ok. Just got his two bottom teeth in the last week! The right one came up a week ago Monday and the left one just popped through on Tuesday. He's such a smiley boy and we are having soooo much fun with him. He really seems so much happier than the first 4 months of his life.

At 7 months Holden loves to jump up and down (over and over all day long - quite the arm and back workout), play on the floor with his toys (most preferably with someone sitting with him), bounce on a knee, swing outside, swim in the pool, and tickle sessions. He's very vocal and can say mama and dada pretty well. He's fascinated with the fan in our room and the vacuum (I put him in the Bjorn yesterday and he helped me vacuum the house - he loved it and I got something done - win win!!). He's not crawling yet but he is working on pulling himself up. He started doing it in his crib so we had to lower the mattress. He might follow in daddy's footsteps and skip crawling altogether and just walk, but who knows? He has been going down in his crib every night for the past few weeks. Now that he can roll over really well and hold his head up I put him on his tummy to sleep and it has really helped. He'll go down anywhere from 45 minutes to 3.5 hours for the first chunk. I usually nurse him and then put him back in his crib, which lasts anywhere from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours and then he comes to the couch or bed with me where he nurses off and on until morning. His dislikes include getting his diaper changed and getting dressed, oh and being in his car seat for long stretches at a time.

I say this every month and it's so true, I can't believe he's already 7 months old! Holden is the light of my life and I am having so much fun with him. My favorite noise is the sound of him laughing. I can't get enough. Some people are against bringing your baby to bed with you, but I absolutely love waking up next to his smiley face!

Playing with his bus - one of his new favorite toys

Our Monkey boy! He loves when we make monkey noises.

Grabbing onto the table to pull himself up....

Working hard at it....

And he's up (with just a little help from mommy)...

Yay! Look at me - I'm standing!!

The eyes that melt mommy's heart