Gideon: 7 Month Update

And just like that, my baby boy is closer to his first birthday, than he is to his birth day.

Granted, he is now getting closer to 8 months, than 7 months, but between Saia launching his masonry business, all of us getting sick, and then Saia’s parents staying with us for a week–we’ve been a bit busy! But I wanted to get this update posted, and then I’ll add his 8 month update in a few weeks! Wow, does time fly!

It is crazy, to me, that he is seven months old, because I was so focused on six months. In those early days of motherhood when day bled into night and I staggered around in a haze, Mom told me that it would get easier at 6 weeks, and 3 months, and 6 months. 6 months seemed so far off, I wasn’t sure I could make it, but make it we did, and Mom was right! It truly got a lot easier around 6 months. I feel well-rested most days. I have a few creative projects in the works. Gideon is napping pretty regularly, and while he still wakes up to nurse a few times, night time isn’t something I dread any more. He has a bit of independence, which makes things a lot easier. He’s happy for a few minutes on his own, so if I need to throw some chicken in the crock pot, or laundry in the dryer I can pop him in his jumperoo, or on his play mat, and he will be okay for a few minutes while I get something done.

He is the sweetest, funniest little guy I have ever seen (I know, I am biased), and my heart just bursts when I look at him. Even now, sitting in a coffee shop across town, as I think of him I want to drive home and squeeze and kiss him. He looks at me, like I am his whole world. He loves his Papa so much, and gets so excited when he hears the door open. 

Age: 7 months

Weight: 21.3 lbs

What to expect this month: By seven months, baby can see  all the colors! His distance vision will have improved, and he might start copying sounds and words (we do think he’s said mama multiple times, and Saia is convinced he’s said Papa as well, ha ha!). He isn’t sitting up on his own quite yet, but he is pretty close. I haven’t noticed that he pinches things between his two fingers yet.

Foods we’ve tried this month: This month, Gideon ate a lot of sweet potatoes, and avocados. We introduced pureed peas (with a bit of bone broth) as well. 

Teeth: He’s still working on those bottom two teeth coming through! I keep thinking he has them already, but I don’t think they’ve ever come all the way through.

Clothing size: Twelve month clothes are starting to get tight.

Favorite clothes: I love little two-piece pajama sets that are made of cotton, and I picked up at Wal-Mart for a dollar each. Especially the batman ones. 

Diaper size: He’s still in 4s, and having a lot of blowouts, so based on Nathana (from The Engaged Home)’s advice, I think I will try switching him back into 3s and see if that helps.

Firsts: I took him to the park for the first time! I walked to a park about 20 minutes away. I thought he’d love the swing and slide, but he was pretty unimpressed by the whole experience. Ha ha! I, also, went on my first hour long walk with him! With the temps being chilly, I’ve tried to just get out for a twenty minute walk when it is in the 40’s and 50’s, but it is a lot of work to get him dressed up, haul down our stroller the flight of stairs, go on a walk, and reverse the whole process. So on this particular day it was almost 60 degrees, and we walked for a whole hour! It felt amazing, and he stayed warm and toasty in his fleece suit under a blanket. He gets so quiet on walks, and hardly makes a peep!

Worries: I am worried about baby proofing! Ha! Our apartment is really a bedroom, plus a bathroom, and then our living room/dining room/kitchen is one big area. I don’t even know how to start baby proofing that area! Aaah! Help!

Sleeping: He sleeps pretty well at night, just waking up 1-2x to nurse, and I barely remember waking up. He still naps two times a day for anywhere from 1-2.5 hours each. 

Feeding: Still breastfeeding, and just started to feed him mashed up veggies a little bit once a day.

Purchases I’ve made: I bought a few pajama outfits at Wal-Mart that were on clearance for $1 each!

Purchases I am thinking about making are: a high chair (I polled my instagram friends on the types of high chairs they recommend, and got a ton of feedback!), a new carseat (his carseat is now stuck to the base, and if we can’t get it detached we will need to get a new one. Any suggestions?), a video camera (I really want to do better about documenting his baby days, I take a ton of pics, but only a few videos. Should I buy a camera or just use my phone, and compile the videos somehow?), and a few baby gates and baby proofing items.

How’s baby proofing going? You guys, I don’t know where to start! We live on the second floor, and so we have a wide staircase leading straight into our living room. It is 53 inches wide, so I will need to find a baby gate meant for stairs that not only screws into the wall, but also is super wide. Our kitchen leads straight into our dining area which leads straight into our living room. I feel like we should block off the kitchen, but we’d need maybe a 15-foot gate to do that? Yikes. Ugg. I, also, need to do a lot of dejunking, and putting things up high. I just need to start somewhere, because he is going to be crawling soon!

What he likes: He is such a little ham! He has the sweetest smiles. And when you are talking to him, a lot of times he will narrow his eyes quickly, or lift his eye brows up and down. He has just started making a big wide open smile (he opens his mouth as wide as he can), and it is the sweetest thing ever! He is super active–he prefers sitting to lying down and standing to sitting. He is at the age where he grabs everything, so I’ve got to be super careful to keep him away from anything dangerous, because he is so grabby!
What he doesn’t like: He still doesn’t like the car seat, or doing anything that doesn’t have someone right there keeping him company.

Don’t want to forget: the way he looks at me! He just melts my heart.

Things I’m looking forward to: spring and summer time! Taking him to the park, and the pool. Going jogging with him in the stroller. 

How’s Mama? I feel like every month I say the same thing, ha ha! Still trying to figure this all out. Trying to figure out how to balance it all, and get most everything done. I am going to give myself a year to totally find my rhythm. Deal? Deal.