7 Months!

Little Boy. How did you get to be 7 months old already?

Just had a doctor’s appointment this morning to get a crusty ear checked out and it turns out you weigh 20.5 pounds. Only one and a half more pounds until you officially outgrow your infant car seat.

You have become such a boy this month. You’re gross motor skills are amazing. You can sit up very well unassisted, and will even stay on your hands and knees for longer periods of time. Maybe you will crawl after all! You like to stand on your own, just holding onto our fingers for balance. Those meaty thighs must be hiding an awful lot of muscle!

Mostly your new favorite thing to do is jump. We borrowed a jumperoo and you have such fun in that thing. You always want to be on the move! You are still having fun in child care and continue to win the hearts of your teachers. In fact, you win-over just about any adult that you see. In the elevator on the way to the doctor’s this morning you made eye contact with a lady and kept flashing her your gummy grin. She smiled back and you and you were positively giddy. Such a flirt! You proceeded to do the same thing with the office manager and nurse, and then three people at the pharmacy while waiting for a prescription to be filled. You just love looking at people and I love watching you bring happiness to people—even perfect strangers. We’re still slowly trying to add foods into your repertoire with apple sauce being the latest, although not apparently a huge favorite. In addition to your baby food, Ms. Roz at the center gave you a tray full of Cheerios to play with and you managed to get one in your mouth a few days ago. It was very hard work but you were determined—will work for food!
You love to put things in your mouth (your feet included) and someday we hope that your little teeth will make an appearance. Nothing in sight yet.
You're sleeping is still pretty hit or miss. Most nights you go to bed around 6:30 and wake up at 4:30 to eat and then go back down for another hour or so. Not too bad, when I look back at where you were just a few months ago, but I dream (hah!) of the day when you will consistently sleep 12 hours in a row. Seven to seven would be great, ‘kay?
You started your Saturday morning swim class with Pops during this month and you seem neutral about the experience so far. You are by far the youngest in the class and although you won’t remember a thing about this experience, Pops sure will. You should see the twinkling in his eyes when he sees you Ben. So if you turn out to hate swimming, you can blame me. This is a gift for Pops!

You also had your first trip to the beach last weekend and weren’t a huge fan of the waves in the lake. Hopefully next summer you’ll like it more. We also took you to the Taste of Chicago and while you couldn’t enjoy the food, you seemed to like looking at all of the many people milling around. You are quite a wonderful observer of people.

You played in the turtle pool in the backyard for the first time and got the hang of splashing pretty quickly. The water was nice and warm, in contrast to the frigid beach water, so we think that helped. You had your first bout with diaper rash during this month and you were not happy about this at all. We spent an entire day in the back sunroom having “naked time” to make sure your tushy got lots of air. Fortunately the episode was short-lived.

You continue to be a happy, smiley guy (for the most part) and take in the world through pure (and turning brown) eyes. We love watching you smile and listening to you laugh.

Happy 7 month birthday, Mr. Cheeks. We love you!

Mama

Sore Tushie Creates Community

Poor little guy. Last night started Ben's first bout with diaper rash, and a nasty one at that.
I hate to see him in such pain.

I put out an all points bulletin asking for rash ending suggestions on Facebook this morning and got many great responses, some of which we are currently trying.

While having a boy with a diaper rash is not great, the outpouring of support and ideas that we were able to get quickly from friends on the internet was astonishing.

I bet parenting before the advent of the internet looked much different and was possibly filled with many more trips to the doctor. Don't misunderstand: I know that if Ben were ill or I thought I was dealing with a potentially serious illness, I wouldn't (and haven't) hesitate to bring him in for a check. But knowing I have many friends--real friends, not just internet "residents", help me out with this issue and other minor ones makes parenting a little less isolating.

Fingers crossed the Mr. Cheeks', uh, cheeks heal up real soon.

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!

Yesterday we braved the crowds and brought Ben down to the Taste of Chicago. We attempted to get there right at 11 when the booths first opened but our efforts were thwarted by about 20 minutes by Metra. There were already what seemed like a billion people down there but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.

Today we went to the good old Evanston parade with Grammy and Pops. Even the rain and very loud sirens couldn't stop us from having a good time, and a nap! Then we finished off the day with dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house, celebrating Grandma's 65th birthday. Grandpa sure can make Ben laugh!
We are so lucky to live close to both of Ben's sets of grandparents.