7 Months with William

Length: need to measure him, they didn't at his doctor's appointment yesterday
Weight: 19 lbs.
New Talents & Milestones: The past month has been a super busy one for Will.  He crawled across the carpet at 6 months in quest for a puppy toy~ a drooly squeaky teddy bear that I moved out of the way and traded for a baby toy which was clearly not as exciting to him.  He loves laughing at himself in the mirror and rolling/crawling everywhere, all the time.  He has no trouble at all moving around his crib and when I peek in on him as he wakes up, he scoots to the end of the crib nearest the door and pulls his bumper down and smiles at me through the crib slats... looking like a sweet little jailbird!  Just last weekend he stood up in his crib all by himself, and today he was crawling to various pieces of furniture and using them as support to help himself stand up... this blows my mind~ I thought we had more time before such a mobile William came along! We're proud of this little bugger!
Likes: puppy toys, Clementine, off-limits items are super exciting to him (power cords are highly coveted, wood stove, dog toys, an empty Chick pea can, etc...), the breeze outside, watching us eat crunchy things, tearing paper, tossing his stacking cups on the floor from his high chair, having you breathe a soft breath in his face~ he squints his eyes and giggles, hilarious! I could go on an on, he's just so interested in everything around him and life is pretty fun!  
Dislikes: napping for longer than 20-30 minutes, unless we're in the car~ he is napping better in the car these days which is greatly appreciated!
Clothing Size: he's all over the place in the clothing department, some 12 month clothes fit him (boo!) while some 6 month items are still in the rotation, although not many.  
Special Events: Meeting cousin Catherine!
Sleep: Fingers crossed this great stretch of sleep is here to stay!  He seems to sleep far better & longer when we start our bedtime routine early, I think this is because he isn't a big napper, so he is really tired by the end of the day.  He loves his tubby time around 5:30, then I give him a massage with lavender bedtime lotion, then jammies, books and songs and he is usually sleeping by 6-6:30.  On nights when our schedule is different and he gets to sleep later he doesn't sleep as well and wakes up frequently, so I try to stick to our routine.  

Eating: We're still nursing (every 3-4 hours during the day and 1-2 times during the night) and plan to continue for as long as possible, and he has also been loving solids.  He's had most of the stage one foods and seems to really love avocado, sweet potato, banana, peas, carrots, and combinations of those foods.  We tried pears but he got kind of rashy right afterwards, so we've decided to try them again later and see if there's any difference. 

Looking Forward to: warm weather so we can get outside for walks and exploring, this mama is getting cabin fever from being stuck inside.  I am also looking forward to meeting my new niece "Baby C" in the next week, and my sister's baby shower next month to celebrate my other niece, Adaline, who is due in April.    

Carrots & Lullabies

Ewwwwww!

So carrots happened today, and as you can see above, they were a BIG hit... ha!  Not so much, poor little nugget!  I thought the pictures were way too hilarious not to share, William may not agree with me, we'll ask him when he's a teenager. ;0)  My favorite pic is the one where he is very clearly communicating "WTF Mama?" (bottom left corner, obviously!)  His face makes my heart smile, whatever expression he's making!  I'm having a blast making baby food for him and it's nice to know that by making homemade baby food, I know exactly what's going into his little tummy.

In other, completely unrelated news, we have some big, big, big news that I am afraid to even talk about in case it breaks the spell, almost like saying "Beetlejuice" three times, or mentioning the name of "He who shall not be named" (Harry Potter people will get the reference).  I'm willing to risk it though, because I just gotta bust out my literary happy dance, it's too wonderful not to share...

William is SLEEPING!!! 

Stop the presses, hold the phone, hallelujah!  For the past week + he's gone to bed by 6:30-7ish and slept like a total champ until midnight (sometimes as late as 2am) then wakes to nurse, sleeps another 3-4 hours, nurses again, and then sleeps until 7ish, today until 9 am!!!! It's amazing what a few night's sleep can do!  It's been like winning the lottery only better, more money wouldn't change a baby's mind about sleeping.  At first I was worried he was getting sick or having a growth spurt... the mythical growth spurt that every mama attributes every change in their baby to, that and teething, they are behind all the nasty little sleepless nights and crying fits.  I'd like to think this change is going to be a lasting one (Crap! I doomed myself by saying that! (Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice!!!) and would be happy to attribute it to our attempts at sleep training.  I'll admit many times I've been a sleep training slacker... Will would go in his crib for the first part of the night, then after the first nursing session we just cuddled the rest of the night in our bed because what could be better than snuggling with a sweet baby boy? I'll tell you... clean sheets with no pee on them!  Will is a prolific nighttime pee-er (is that even a word?) and we have given up on cloth diapers at night and gone to nighttime disposables, but he still pees through them unless we change them 2-3 times.  Plus, he seems pretty happy in his bed, so we'll go with it because although I love co-sleeping, I always have to get up in the middle of the night to deal with the puppies and I can't trust Will to be okay & safe in our bed now that he's super wiggly.  I've been really devoted to helping him sleep in his crib for over the past month and it seems to be working.  As you already know, this mama thinks CIO ("Crying It Out") is ridiculous beyond description, so we've used a sort of "no-tears" sleep training approach which also embraces co-sleeping after 5 am.  Another thing that's been helpful is our nightly routine of having a bath (every other night or so), massage with lavender lotion, books, songs while nursing and then, most importantly, sleep.  I probably cursed myself by even writing this post, but happiness needs to be shared!

While we're on the topic of sleep (I know what you're thinking, how'd we get there from starting with carrots?  Train-of-thought-derailed!) here are some of my favorite lullabies/anytime songs to sing to the Willy Man in my totally non-talented singing voice:

Brahm's Lullaby, I sing the same lyrics my grammy ("Fushy", pronounced like sushi with an f) sang to my sister & I when we were small :)
Pretty Little Horses this instrumental version is beautiful
Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show, my favorite song, an Appalachian Trail anthem & reminder of good times hiking many miles with good friends, also a fun bedtime song while this mama rocks her baby
You Are My Sunshine
What A Wonderful World
Goodnight, Laurie Berkner
Ho Hey, Lumineers, not a lullaby but a really great song nonetheless
All I Really Need, Raffi, reminds me of a little boy with Autism I used to know who had "angel kisses" (freckles) & we loved singing it together in my big red Jeep
Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra, I am in love with this instrumental version
The Rainbow Connection, this version by Willie Nelson is a hug in music form :)

There are many, many more because we're a music lovin' kinda house, but these are just a little snapshot.

Oh, one more funny story... Kev & I were sitting on the couch talking about how awesome Will is and already named our next kiddo (boy's name and/or girl's name) Can't share that until MUCH later when we decide the time is right, but it's fun just thinking about it.  

Happy weekend everyone!  Tomorrow, carrots attempt #2... I have high hopes and at the very least, we'll get a good belly laugh and everyone needs a good belly laugh every now and then!