Eland at Seven Months

Time flies. My little boy is not an infant, and very close to not even being a baby. Sheesh - five months until he's one year old. What?! And depending on when he walks he might very well qualify as a toddler sooner than that.

Eland is, simply put, one smiley, delightful, amazing seven-month-old. He's such a sweetie. Eland smiles big smiles to almost anyone now, but especially Auggie, Dada, Mama, and Stella Dog. Swoon.. :)

Sleep
With the exception of three nights ago when he woke up every two hours, and two nights ago when he slept for 10 hours straight, Eland is has gone back into the twice-a-night waking pattern with two solid naps during the day. He is weeks, perhaps even days, away from cutting his upper right big tooth, so the poor guy may be in pain, but he really doesn't show it. I stopped giving him Motril and Hyland's, and Eland seems to handle the pain just as well without.

The one thing that really wakes this kid up at night is pooping. I'm not sure why nighttime is the best time to poop, but he'll work out a turd around 3am, and since they're so solid, I don't smell it and will try to nurse him back to sleep. Instead he'll roll around awake, because who wants to sleep with a nice solid poop in between their butt cheeks, until I finally realize that I need to change his diaper. And that happens perhaps an hour or so later, with no one sleeping during that hour due to happy hey-I-have-poop-in-my-diaper awake noises coming from Eland's room. Such is life, I suppose.

Play
Toys are now a big part of Eland's life, and unlike when Auggie was a baby, he's exposed to bigger kid toys on a regular basis and he loves them. He loves balls! We have these fun rubber balls covered in little bumps (thanks, Aunt Jenni!) that make it easy for little guys to hold them, and Eland thinks they're so interesting!  He loves watching them roll, too. Eland is already an avid Duplo boy, with his favorite piece being the gas station hose because the ridges on it must feel extra nice on his gums. ;) Eland is still a big fan of the exersaucer, and I am upset that we have nowhere to hang the Johnny Jump-Up, because he'd be flying in that thing right about now! (Maybe a closet door upstairs??)

Eland loves taking baths with Auggie, especially when Auggie splashes

Yay bath toys!

Mobility

Mobility-wise, Eland can roll anywhere he wants to go. He only recently started pushing up on his arms all the way, which means that his little hiney may make its way up to the pre-crawling position sometime soon. (Eland's cousin Haylee, 10 days younger than him, is already crawling! Go Haylee!!!) He also still very much enjoys playing while sitting up, although because of our tile floors, I only let him do that with supervision - I'd hate to have him bang his head on the floor.

With all of his rolling, crib mobility has recently become an issue. Eland typically sleeps on his back in his crib, although I once tried nap time with him on his stomach and he didn't seem to like it. Anyway, he'll roll around until he's perpendicular to the long sides of the crib and has his head touching one long rail and his feet touching the other. This isn't a big deal when he's wearing his sleep sack to bed, but if his legs are free he sometimes gets them stuck in the rails and screams bloody murder until I come rescue him. (Side note: There is a marked difference between Eland's slightly unhappy cry and his something is wrong cry, which is nice for me. I know when to panic.) Just yesterday he wedged himself into the corner of the crib with both his head and one long side of his body against the rails in the corner. He had no idea how to get himself out and screamed until I rescued him - that was a nap cut too short.

One last mobility note that cracks me up. Maybe it's not mobility, but large motor skills instead? At bedtime I lay Eland on a changing pad on the floor and sit with him in between my legs and start his bedtime routine from there. And as of late, Eland has earned himself the bedtime nickname of Thumper because he swings his legs high up into the air and thumps them on the floor. He's so loud that you can hear the quaking thuds from downstairs, and it certainly doesn't sound like a sound that a baby would be capable of making. He just thumps and thumps and thumps, and makes diaper changes and getting pajama legs snapped a challenge requiring major mama judo. Good thing I have major mama judo.

Rock 'n Roll, Baby!

Check out my top right tooth - I'm this close to cutting it!

Stats
Eland had his six-month well-baby visit when he was 6 1/2 months. He weighed in at 19lbs 6oz and was 27.5" long. This boy is rockin'!


Foods
My little munchkin is a great eater and has a growing repertoire of favorite foods. Although I learned recently that he's not a big texture guy - he wouldn't eat avocado until it was perfectly smooth. Hey, no biggie, right? I can do that. I'm looking forward to introducing him to veggies beyond the sweet-potato-squash-carrot category. Auggie used to (please take note of the past tense) love spinach, so I'm hoping Eland feels the same way.

Eland is still a fantastic nurser. His two favorite things to do while nursing are flail his free arm or get a handful of my hair and stroke/pull it.

Vocalization
He babbles! At the doctor's office you have to fill out a form that says what your baby is up to, and just two weeks ago Eland did not yet babble, so I didn't check that box. But just a day or two later he went beyond the sweet baby coos and started babbling. It's really cute, but he also makes not-so-cute noises too. He is, still, LOUD. He yells and shrieks happily (and often ends up getting called a pterodactyl baby ;), but the worst part is when Auggie joins in the noise. With both boys performing with their best heavy metal singing voices, my ears are literally ringing. My ears are ringing right now just thinking about it. Ahhhh!!

Ha, he just woke up and is "Ay Yi Yi-ing" into the monitor.

High Suck Needs
Mister E still, still, still sucks the first and middle fingers of his left hand. If that hand happens to be busy, then maybe he'll settle for a thumb, but as soon as those fingers open up again he's back to sucking on them. He doesn't suck on them all day long, but just during times that he needs comfort - nap time, bedtime, or when he's stuck on the floor or the exersaucer crying to be picked up and I can't get to him soon enough. Like last night when I was working on dinner and had chicken all over my hands.

I'm not sure what to think about this finger sucking business. It's such an easy way for Eland to calm himself, and it makes putting him to bed without nursing very convenient. The question is, how do you take fingers away?

In our Bradley birthing class we were taught not to use pacifiers for the first two weeks to make sure that your kiddo creates a strong milk supply for mama, but preferably not to use them at all. That wasn't a problem for Auggie, I guess his suck needs weren't all that great. But apparently Eland falls into the "high suck needs" category and really would have liked a pacifier. The thing I always thought would be great about not having my kids suck on pacifiers all the time, besides being able to vocalize earlier–and Auggie's speech is without a doubt tremendous, is not having to wake five times a night to put it back in their mouths, and not having to do the whole taking away the pacifier thing. And yet, how do you take away fingers? I have a friend whose son used to do the same thing and she says he only sucks on his fingers at night now, and maybe not even then. (He'll be five in three months.) I am praying Eland will eventually grow out of this. I'd hate to have to do the whole hot pepper sauce and yucky tasting nail polish song and dance.. All this to say, I guess you can't avoid sucking if your baby has high suck needs?? Who knows.

iPhone Addiction
One last thing. I am addicted to my Total Baby app. Addicted. I need to join Total Baby Apps Anonymous. Seriously. Addicted. ... I get to record every time Eland pees, poops, eats, bathes, and takes meds. I can time naps, and even nursing according to which side he's nuring on - all with the click of a button. I kept a little sheet of paper when Auggie was a baby and wrote down the above for his first three months of life, and then I decided I was OCD and needed to stop. But since it's so easy on my iPhone, I can't stop!!! I told myself I'd stop timing nursings at 6 months, but I haven't. Moms, what do you do??? How long have you used your apps for, and how did you break the wicked cycle of addiction? I feel a little embarrassed timing a 7-month-old's nursings in the church nursery, but not embarrassed enough to stop. Ahhhh!!!!! Help!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... I think timing nap times and solid food feedings would be completely legit right now, baths too since Eland only gets bathed twice a week, but beyond that? Not necessary. I know, I know..... But. I. Can't. Stop.

Wearing one of Gramps' many hats