7 Months! Updates on sleeping, EATING, and playing

I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but these monthly posts are my "baby book" so the details I give are not because I think you people care about what or how many times Ryan eats in a day. ;) This post is definitely long and detailed for my own memory's sake, so feel free to skip down to the pictures... since I know you're all dying to see those- kidding, kidding. Okay, here goes:

Our little man is officially closer to ONE than he is to being a newborn now. And I'm still not sure how the time is moving by so quickly!

He is the best part of days and is just so much fun. This 6-7 month stretch has been filled with so much new interaction, sweet smiles, attempts at waving and crawling, laughs that have produced slightly more sound and have lasted, on occasion, for more than two seconds ;), and a love for food that seems to be endless.

We are so in love with this boy, it's nuts. :)

7 Month Updates and Changes:

Eating EVERYTHING!
Drinking water from a sippy cup (but not always by himself)

Sitting up without support

Likes tapping two objects together and gets tickled every time they make a noise

Loves his car and looks up at us with a smile every time he presses a button that makes a noise

Clasps his hands together when he's sitting (the cutest!)

Is fascinated by clapping and snapping- is it magic?!

Loves reading books before naps and especially loves lift-flap books

Does what we call "the inch worm" crawl: up on all fours, rock, throw belly forward, pull knees in, repeat. He makes pretty good forward progress with it too!

Transitioned out of the sink tub- HA! It was time. ;) He loves splashing in the big tub now and playing with a few toys. He also loves dipping his head forward under the water and letting it run down his head and back.

Giggles at peek-a-boo and always looks for you in the last place you were no matter how long you repeat the pattern. ;)

Dates to Remember:

2/13- started 3 solid meals/day + 4 breastfed meals

2/20- slept 11 hours (7:15-6:15)- What?! ...but it hasn't happened again since, haha

2/22- ate at the table with us for brunch at Mimi's house and basically ate everything we were eating- definitely a "big boy moment" for him and for me. I told Matt that it was one of my favorite days since he was born- there was just something about how big he seemed and how much he was interacting that made me feel extra thankful and want to freeze time.

Our General Daily Routine:

7:15- wake up and eat

8:30- solids

9:00- nap

11:00- eat

12:30- solids

1:00- nap

3:00- eat

4:30- solids

5:00 (sometimes a nap)

6:30- bath

7:00- eat and bed

He's waking up once in the night to eat, usually after a 7+ hour stretch, and the boy CHOWS and goes right back to bed. Once I feel like he's waking out of habit and not out of hunger, I will start to ease him off of the night feeds, but for now I'm thankful they're quick and that he goes back down without a problem.

What He's Eating:

He eats a combination of whole foods and mashed foods. What he eats during a meal time honestly depends on how much time I have and how messy I want the meal to be. If I'm cooking dinner while he's eating, I usually strip him down and put him in the bumbo next to me on the counter, give him a tray of tomatoes, zucchini, and carrots, and let him have it while I cook beside him. If it's breakfast and we're heading out the door after he eats, I usually do plain yogurt that I blend with strawberry, blueberry, and mango, or I mash a banana and mix it with either natural peanut butter or Trader Joe's fig butter and spoon feed him the meal- no mess and quick.

Here is a list of what he's eating currently (that I can remember):

sweet potato
tomatoes
zucchini
yellow squash
carrots
edamame
eggs
feta cheese
locatelli parmesan (duh) ;)
butternut squash
salmon
avocado
apples
pears
prunes
bananas
blueberries
strawberries

Out of those foods, the salmon and avocado are his least favorite- feel pretty certain it's a texture thing. He liked avocado better mixed with sweet potato and only tried the salmon prepared one way (the same way we ate it) but reheated, so I'm going to try that again when it's fresh since I'm not a fan of reheated fish either!

His favorite foods are tomatoes (he LOVES tomatoes!), sweet potato, and bananas mixed with peanut butter or fig butter. He also loves when I roast veggies in balsamic for him.

Pictures from the past month:

Ryan and Tally Pics:
Tally follows Ryan everywhere. It is so sweet. I can't wait for these two to interact more as Ryan gets older. Right now Ryan tries to figure out what Tally's paws and fur are and thankfully Tally just lets Ryan pull and poke him.

Ryan's first selfie ;)

We love Nonna!

This is what Tally does whenever I nurse Ryan in the chair in our living room. His sneaks up beside me and gives me this look like, "Are you almost done?" He's like the jealous older sibling, I swear.

Tally waits til Ryan gets all the way to him and then goes in for the kill (licking his face) until I make him stop

Saturday morning and Ryan was ready to play ;)

Stare down, annnnd lick! I know it's gross... I really do step in. But it's cute for a second. :)

Every night, Tally sits beside the tub while we bathe Ryan. This night, he decided to get in. :) And the random travel coffee mug was all I could find to cover him before I posted this pic to instagram, haha!

Playdates:

I haven't been the best at taking photos during our playdates this month, but here are the ones I did get!

We love Mimi and Papa and cousins Riley and Jackson!

Love watching these two get to know each other!

Food pics:

Ryan's first time riding in the cart like a big boy! And total concentration on his next meals :)

Other pics from the month:

This was after an extra messy meal- we just transferred the bumbo to the tub!

He loves biting on one cup while we use the other one to drip water over him. The little stackable cups with holes in the bottom are great!

Watching Jackson's sport class and practicing his crawl! (on the nasty gym floor- oops) :)

Sweet snuggles

Lunch date with Heidi! And not pictured Kirsten and Caroline

Our little Valentine

Maybe I should get the buddy a pillow?! He's done this multiple times this month and sometimes I worry he'll get a crick in his neck so I go in and scoot him down. Sweet snuggler. :)