Ethan is 7 months!!

Oh Boy! Life is getting busy around our household. Ethan is such a blessing and truly the happiest little baby. He smiles at just about anyone and is so social. We always get praises from the church nursery at how happy he is. He is learning so much each day that I am having trouble wrapping my mind around how quickly he is changing. Just now as I was sitting to type about the past month with Ethan, he decided to pull up in his crib and chew on the railing... Uh oh! Wish you could've seen how happy he was with himself! Ha! I had to run downstairs and protect the wood railings with the cloth "teether guards" that were still in his closet, and lay him back down (he didn't seem to think this was a good idea and still sat back up and played for a bit). This is actually the first nap he has protested in quite some time, but I suppose he believes there are more fun things to do and discover right now than nap. It was just last week he sat up in his crib for the first time, so accomplishments happen fast! 

So, here are other things going on with Ethan in the past month:

• Clicking noise with tongue- last week of March
• Crinkling his nose (funniest looking face)- last week of March
• Sitting unassisted- last week of March
• Starting to "dance" bouncing up and down to certain music (especially old McDonald)
• Pushing to sitting from on his tummy- April 14th
• Consistently pulling knees up under himself and pushing up with arms like a crawling position.
• He scoots backwards, but not forward yet except when on his bottom "bouncing"
• Plays peekaboo by pulling up and down a blanket or clothing article during diaper changing time, also pulls down bumper in crib then hides behind. He giggles like he is doing the funniest thing.
• Moves around his crib like crazy and has started pulling down the bumpers to look out after nap/bedtime
• Nothing seems to give him more joy that seeing the kitty or getting to pet him (except maybe brother Ryan- he always gets laughs and great big smiles too!) Also loves the giant teddy in his room
• Ethan got his first two teeth this month. Bottom right the day after turning 6 months, then the 2nd on bottom 5-6 days later.

New Foods:
Carrots, baked potato, dates/raisins (in a mixed jar), peas, prunes, blueberries, Cheerios, whole milk yogurt, rice cereal. He still loves his cereals mixed with breast milk and avocado. Peas and Carrots have gone over really well with him as well as squash. He makes a face with the fruit, especially if it is slightly tart, but he still eats it. I am still crossing my fingers that he will be a better eater than his big brother and will maybe "peer pressure" him into trying a few more/new things in the next year or two.

Schedule:
Ethan's schedule hasn't really changed much in the past month. He is maybe waking up a little bit earlier on average. He used to sleep routinely until 8am (occasionally later), but more often now he is awake around 7:15am, though I typically don't go and get him until at least 7:30 since he will just sit in his crib and play. Last month with starting solids I got into a better routine giving him a meal at lunch and dinner as we were easing into the whole "solid food" thing, but now he seems to be doing really well with it and I am trying to make it more constant to feed him breakfast also. This seems to be most difficult on Sundays with church and (T/Th) school mornings as we are often a little pressed for time. I am trying to get up a little earlier to get myself ready which does help in our morning schedule, but this can prove to be very challenging when our oldest is waking up at 5:45am, 6:05, or 6:15am... sheesh! If I could just get Ryan to sleep until 7:30 life would be easier (oh yes and Ethan sleeping through the night again would be great too....) Anyways, back to Ethan. He nurses around 8am, 12pm, 3pm, 6pm, & 7:30pm/bedtime. He naps around 9:45am for anywhere from 45min-1.5hr. His long nap typically falls in the afternoon around 1:30pm (sometimes 2pm) and is 2 hrs long almost always. I have pretty much gotten away from putting him down for a 3rd nap. The only exception is if we are out running a lot and his naps are short. If he is up before 4pm from his last nap then he will likely either need a 3rd nap (short) or will go to bed at 7pm. A typically bedtime for him is 7:30/7:45pm. We have been struggling with our overnights for awhile and last weekend I let him cry it out again. That was off and on for 2 hrs one night which was brutal. I was trying to get him past a 11:30/midnight routine wake up (like every night for a few weeks...) After CIO, the next night he slept until 2:30am before waking up, then 5:30am the following night, so it was progress! The past 2 nights have been rough as his top 4 teeth appear to be coming in and that whole section of gums is REALLY SWOLLEN! When he woke one night I went in trying to console him and reached up just to feel if maybe one had come through and he went CRAZY crying! It was obvious that his gums hurt, so Tylenol, Orajel, and yes nursing him for soothing then he was right back to bed. I swore I wouldn't have another infant nursing overnight at 9 months, but sure looks like we are headed that way... He just knows how to make me feel so bad for him and I guess I know it is an easy fix and way for me to get right back to bed for some much needed sleep. I am promising myself after these 4 teeth come through, I am going to go back to getting him to sleep through the night again! I always chuckle to myself when people tell me Ethan seems like always the happiest baby and the easiest baby (and truly he is), because the one time of day when he is just not himself and so so so fussy is when he wakes up overnight. It is truly like he is a different person. I guess me and Mike are the only ones that get to experience that though. I could truly use a good (uninterrupted) night sleep soon, but have been trying to savor the moments with him at night and just holding him a minute longer and really watching his sweet face as he calms down and drifts back to dreamland. These moments are truly fleeting and while this phase can be exhausting, it is precious and I just want to hold my baby tight while I can.

Growth:
There is no well check at 7 months, but I can imagine that Ethan is likely to be around 19lbs at this point. He is wearing size 3 diapers and all 6-9 and 9 month clothing. I even had to go out and purchase some 9 month sleepers as I only had 2 from Ryan and 2 given to me by a friend. I'm really not sure if I just went straight to 12 mo with Ryan or what??! Size 2 shoes still fit, though we will hopefully get into size 3 soon since most of his sandals are that size.
Enjoy some photos of our sweet 7 month old boy. (and I really did narrow them down, but couldn't pick just one!! He is too cute!)