7 months old

Preston,

You are seven months old today!

You are such a big boy. Mom and dad guess you weigh around 16.5 or 17 lbs now. You are sleeping 10-12 hours each night - hooray! You are a funny sleeper. You are ALL OVER the crib. Your favorite sleeping position is on your belly, with your legs tucked under you, and your bottom sticking up in the air. You roll around a lot throughout the night, and your mommy and daddy have even caught you mumbling in your sleep. You must be having baby dreams!

It's amazing to how far you are in development. You crawl very fast and you pull up on everything in site. This has caused a few bumps and bruises, but you are learning to catch yourself better everyday. You also cruise along furniture, and have even moved from furniture to furniture a couple times. About a week ago, you stood in place, not holding onto anything for several seconds. As much as your mom and dad can't believe, we think you might be walking soon. Your mom and Mimi walked at seven months, so we will have to see.

So far, you have one little tooth that broke the surface Saturday, August 27. It is your bottom left tooth, in the middle. You have some Mum-Mum rice husks to chew on and some Orajel for relief. You've felt a little warm a few times, so your mom and dad gave you some Motrin for swelling and fever. Your drool is out of control. You have been a little fussy, but nothing too bad.

Eating is still a favorite pastime. Now, you give yourself your own bottles! You have become great at holding the bottle and feeding yourself from start to finish. You are eating 6 oz. bottles every 4 hours or so, and for lunch you have fruit and for dinner you have veggies and graham crackers or mum-mums. Pretty soon, you'll start on finger foods, maybe starting with pizza crusts and larger items so you don't choke. You are so funny in your highchair. When mommy is getting your food ready, you bang your hands on the highchair and give this look like "Give me food NOW!!" You know what the highchair means, and you have absolutely no patience.

You are still spitting up ALL.THE.TIME. It's mostly just annoying for the rest of your family, but it doesn't bother you one bit. You are gaining weight fine even with the spitting. Your doctor told us it will probably last a year, for severe spitters (which you are). Your mom and dad are thinking of buying stock in Resolve. That or completely replacing their wardrobes after this spitting business is done.

You are babbling a lot. You say "dada", "ayayaya", "agoo" and a few other sounds. Sometimes, you say them so emphatically! The other day, you were going on and on about something very intensely and then just looked at your mom and dad as if to say, "Well... what do you think?" It was so cute! Oh, and even though you say "dada" a lot, your dad is pretty sure you don't associate it with him yet, it's just a sound you like.

Another cool thing your dad and mom have noticed is that you have really figured out roles. For instance, your dad just looks at you and you bust out laughing. He is the funniest person in the world. He throws you, plays on the floor with you, wrestles you, plays peek-a-boo and you love every second of it. If mom tries to do those things with you, you aren't as into it. You want your mom to cuddle you, feed you and rock you. You smile at your mom completely differently than you smile at anyone else. You look at your mom and dad differently, which is cool to see.

Your current favorite toys are kitchen cabinets, the brick surrounding the fireplace, every sharp edge you can find, magazines and newspapers, Brother, Brother's toys, fringe on rugs, mommy's hair and jewelry, boxes, and things that made loud noises. Your home is surrounded by nothing but the best in baby toys, yet you want danger and dirty things. Oh, the joys of raising a boy!

You are getting cuter and cuter by the minute. Your personality is just adorable. You smile at everyone all the time! And you laugh a lot too. You have such a happy disposition, which is a far cry from where you started as a newborn. You love to be around crowds and you love lots of activity and stimulation. At Kroger the other day, you were so happy! Sitting in the front of the cart like a big boy, just taking it all in with wide eyes. You LOVED it and smiled at everyone who looked at you. Your mommy and daddy talk all the time about what a blessing you are. You bring so much joy and they love you more than you can ever imagine.

Happy seven months baby boy!