Judah William what a BUSY month it has been! I feel like you have learned so much this month - you are doing so many things on your own now like such a big boy. You can go from lying down to sitting to standing in a matter of seconds, you crawl super fast, play with your toys with dexterity, climb all over everything, and get into trouble! You manage to get into everything... phewsh. We are getting a work out with you to chase after!
These pictures are getting harder each month. You do NOT want to sit still on your chair anymore!
I plonked you down and got one good picture with your sticker showing
And then you were off...
"Hi mom!"
"Uh-oh... I think I'm falling off the chair..."
I tried sitting you down again... no such luck.
You were especially fascinated with the camera this month... kept trying to get at it.
"Can I pleeeeease see that camera, mom?"
"You know you want to let me play with it, mom."
And then you changed it up and tried to climb over the side of the chair.
The majority of the pictures are either blurry because I was trying to stop you from falling, or they had my hand in them, like these:
The only way I got you to sit still for a few seconds was to let you play with your giraffey... but then we can't see your sticker. Ah well.
By this point you were grumpy and done with pictures so we took a break.
And then Daddy got home! He entertained you while I tried to get a couple more good ones. The lighting wasn't as good because it was later in the day, but you were as cute as ever.
"Dada is home!"
Telling him alllllllll about your day.
"Aha! Freedom!"
Cuteness.
At your 7-month shots (09/17/2012) you weighed 21lbs 2oz - you gained exactly a pound since your 6-month appointment! We didn't get a height but hopefully we'll get that next month. You are in 6-9 and 9-12 month clothes. We do size 3 disposables during the day, and size 4 at night. When you're in cloth diapers you're on the mid-rise snap setting, and 3 snaps in on each side.
What you LOVE:
Water - You're just a water baby. You LOVE swimming, bath time, running faucets, rain, puddles, rivers, fountains, ponds, lakes, the ocean... you could sit and watch water running/bubbling/splashing for ages. Now that you're mobile and pulling up, bath time is hard work because I have to keep sitting you down on your bottom, as I repeat to you, "We don't stand up in the bath!"
Being on your feet - you LOVE to be standing, jumping, bouncing, "walking" holding onto our hands, cruising around the furniture.
Computer/wires/cords/electrical outlets/Xbox/ anything that you're NOT allowed to play with - what is with the fascination with things that are off limits, even at this young age?!
Eating - you're starting to be more interested in the food that I put in front of you, and more of it gets into your mouth rather than smashed into your hair. This month your favorites have been strawberries, plums, avocado, broccoli, and yogurt.
Looking through the door peephole - we have a little peephole in our front door, and you are completely fascinated with it. You love to look through it and try to figure out what it is.
When Daddy comes home from work - Your little play area in our living room is right by a window that reaches almost to the ground and looks out to where the front door is. You're often playing there when Daddy comes home and as soon as you see him getting out of the car your whole body starts wriggling and squirming in anticipation - you crawl over the window as quick as you can and pull up and start banging on it. Daddy comes over and says hi to you through the window and you squeal with delight! And then he comes through the door and you won't stop jumping and wriggling until he picks you up, to more squeals of delight!
Windows and doors! - you just love to look through windows - this could occupy you for hours at a time. You also love to open and close and go through doors and play with shiny door knobs.
Turning light switches on and off - momma has been letting you "help" her by turning light switches on and off and you just think you're such a big boy. Whenever we walk past a switch now you launch yourself at it.
Pingu - sometimes I let you watch a few minutes of Pingu and you LOVE it! Your whole body wriggles and your legs kick with excitement as soon as you hear the music... and you squeal with laughter when you see Pingu the little claymation penguin :)
Music - you get so excited whenever you hear "bouncy" types of music, and relaxed when you hear soothing music. I often dance around the room with you to music and you giggle and squeal. You have developed a few favorite songs this month - you love anything from Mumford & Sons (your face literally lights up when you hear them!), and you LOVE to dance around to the "Dog Days" song by Florence and the Machine! You also love jazzy music like songs by Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra and other "old school" musicians. I sing "Hey Jude" by the Beatles to you ALL the time... it's part of the reason I named you Judah with your nickname Jude :)
Chewing on your bottom lip - It seems like you constantly have your bottom lip sucked in and are chewing on it. Recently you also figured out that you have a top lip and sometimes you suck that in and make a smacking/kissing noise with it. You're just adorable :)
Nursing - since you refuse to take a bottle or a pacifier, I am your only source of milk & comfort. I feed you on demand day and night, it's usually every 2-4 hours during the day and you usually wake up once or twice to nurse at night. Since you are too distracted to nurse for long during the day when you're playing, I often nurse you to sleep for naps and you nurse for a long time in the evenings and during the night when you wake up. Nursing is often the only time you will sit still and snuggle these days, so I love that you are still going strong! You always sign for "milk" when you're tired or hungry, and when you've fallen and bumped your head or something (which happens a lot now that you're mobile!). I love being able to comfort you and calm you. Sometimes you just crawl/climb right into my lap and ask to nurse!
What you don't like:
Your changing table - you protest the second I lay you down on your changing table.
Diaper or clothes changes in general - I think you just don't like having to keep still for that "long"!
When Daddy leaves - Daddy comes home for 15 minutes between work and his grad classes on Tuesday and Thursday and you get so excited that he is home, thinking he is just home from work for the evening. And then he has to leave for his classes, and you often just burst into tears as he walks out the door :(
Sharing Momma - this past month momma has started watching another little baby during the day, and my oh my, you do not like to share your momma's attention! If baby Caleb is on momma's lap, you have to be on momma's lap too. If baby Caleb has a certain toy, you have to have that exact one. And even though you don't take a bottle or a pacifier, you always try to steal Caleb's bottles and pacis from him! Jealous little boy!
What you've been up to this month:
You are a very strong-willed little fellow, and that has become more apparent in the past month as you are mobile and very determined to get at what you want. You've started throwing little temper tantrums when I take you away from something that you're not allowed to play with! And you'll often head straight back for whatever it is, even if I try to distract you with a different location/toy. Your favorite thing to do is to speed over to the Xbox and touch the big shiny silver button that turns it on and off (still figuring out how to babyproof that area). You've turned it on and off many times. I think we're going to have our hands full with you, baby!
At the beginning of the month you started doing this super cute thing where you would open and close your mouth silently and think that you were talking to us. You would watch us talking and then starting moving your mouth like you were talking. Or when we were singing to you you would copy our mouths too, often without making any sounds :) As the month went on, though, you got louder again!
You said "dada" for the first time on 08/18/2012... you've said it many times since and more often when Daddy is around, but I'm not sure you quite have the connection down yet. You mostly use it to get our attention "dadadadadada!" as in "pay attention to me!"
On 08/23/2012 you pulled up to a standing position all by yourself for the first time. Now you're a pro at it.
On 8/25/2012 you started doing the "milk" sign (baby sign language)! We're working on a couple more - "all done" and "more", and I'm going to look up a few more like "mommy" and "daddy", "playtime", "bath time" etc.
On 8/31/2012 you clapped your hands for the first time! It's pretty stinkin' adorable. Now you're a clapping pro. You clap for yourself when you do something you think is awesome, like getting up into a sitting position. You clap when we say "Clap your hands! Yay!". You clap for everyone that visits like "look what I can do!". You clap for your grandparents and uncles over Skype!
Speaking of Skype, you know exactly what's about to happen when you hear the Skype ringtone! You get all excited, bouncing up and down if you're standing, or kicking your leg and waving your arms if I'm holding you. And as soon as you hear a familiar voice or see a familiar face on the screen you smile big and often squeal with delight :) I find it quite amazing that you can respond to and talk to people thousands of miles away through a computer screen - babies are much smarter than we think!
You got super fast at army crawling this month... hard to keep up with you! And then around 9/08/2012 you started to figure out "classic" hands and knees crawling and starting doing that rather than army crawling.
You've started using your "pincer" grasp (thumb and first finger) to pick up food and eat it, which is much more efficient than grabbing it with your whole hand and smashing it into you face :)
You started saying "mama" when you're tired/hungry/upset and you want me on 9/08/2012. Unlike when you say "dadadada", when you say "mama" it definitely means me, which of course I LOVE. All you have to do is say "mama" and I come running! Later on that week you started saying "mama" when you're just happy to see me too :)
You figured out how to get up from a lying down position to sitting up all by yourself on 9/10/2012.
On your 7 month birthday (09/13/2012) we ended up flying up to Oregon again, but this time for the sad occasion of Daddy's Uncle Steve's memorial service. You did very well, even though it was just a short 3-day trip with a 2-hour time difference each way. I'm glad we could go with you, because although it was a sad time, you brought some lightness and joy to the situation with your sweet & playful & cuddly self.
The day after your 7 month birthday (09/14/2012) you got up on your hands and feet for the first time, with your little bottom sticking up in the air... you just hung out like that for a little while and looked around trying to figure out what had happened!
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Seven months old... wow. I can't believe we're on the other side of half a year. Time is just racing, baby boy. I'm figuring out how to enjoy each moment and not be too sad that you're growing up so fast. You are becoming such a little character - you have to be in on all the action. You have to join in on our conversations, you give us cheeky smiles when you know you're doing something you're not allowed to, you deliberately charm people with your cute smile (and you KNOW you're cute), you crawl around getting into things like you own the place, and you throw little fits when you don't get your way! Like I've said before, we're going to have our hands full with you! But I honest-to-goodness love every minute of it - getting to watch you explore and figure the world out before my eyes, and gently guiding you.
We love you Judah William, so much it feels like our hearts could burst... and yet they just keep on getting bigger and loving you more.
