Hellobee

I thought month six was eventful with the start of baby led weaning and our tossing the swaddle. But month six has nothing on month seven!

We started off month seven with daddy, but he left for a shorter trip just a couple days into the month. Then just ten days into month seven, momma packed up the car, Mamie Jayne showed up and we took off to Maine for the summer! We left just as every corner of the country was hit with a heat wave… except Maine. The weather has been glorious!

Travel
Our big adventure took 14 hours and we did the drive all in one day. We stopped a few times for pit-stops and twice for picnics – once for lunch and once for dinner. At the dinner stop we set up our picnic blanket in a grassy area of a Target parking lot. We did as much of our evening routine as possible, pj’s nursing and all.

Baby Stroller was an awesome traveler. We had one adult and Feeney in the back seat, and we’d pull out a new toy every few minutes. He slept a lot, played a lot and sang a lot. There was barely any fussing at all and once we reached Mamie and PawPaw’s house, Baby S went straight to sleep in his Maine nursery and slept through the whole night.

While in Maine, we went to Mamie and PawPaw’s mountain cabin. Baby S proved to be a superstar traveler once again. We did the drive alone and he cried a little during the drive, so I stopped to nurse in a WalMart parking lot before continuing on to the mountains. We went a second time near the end of the month and took his 7 month photos on the couch at the cabin. Baby S loves new places; everything is so interesting and so fun!

Sleep
Baby S moved into a big baby crib this month! He looks so small in his big crib as compared to his cradle, but I know that won’t last. Even though he curls up in one corner of the crib to sleep, he loves all the extra space he has to play when he wakes up. With so much room to roll around and move, Baby S has started to sleep on his belly.

We give Baby S his lovey, L.E.Phant at night now instead of just during naps. He holds onto her all night long, dragging her around the crib as he rolls around and cozying up with her just before drifting off to sleep. It’s so cute.

Just before Baby S turned 6 months old, he suddenly stopped taking micro naps and started to nap for an hour or more at a time. This month we saw the start of two long naps daily. He usually starts to get sleepy for his morning nap two hours after waking up. We read a story and rock together until he’s drowsy and then he’ll sleep for 1 – 1.5 hours, a couple times for over two hours. He gets tired for an afternoon nap three hours after waking up from his morning nap. This month I usually nursed him to sleep for his afternoon nap. They lasted anywhere from an hour to two hours long.

Bath
The night before we left for Maine, Baby S had his last bath in his blue bucket.

He’s starting to be able to stand up while he’s in it and it’s unstable when he stands, so we decided not to pack it. Mamie bought him a larger bucket for Maine, but it was a disaster the first time we tried it because he couldn’t sit yet! I bought him an 11 gallon flexible garden tote and it worked a little better because I could hold him in a seated position a little more easily. However, we discovered that the shower works best of all, and he loves it!

Eat

The whole gluten sensitivity threw me through a loop at the beginning of the month. But we slowly got back on track and Baby S has been gaining confidence with his eating as I have with my gluten-free cooking. He’s tried a whole bunch of fruits and veggies, including cantaloupe, watermelon, bananas (no peel-handle anymore!) pancakes, waffles and his favorite, puffs with hummus. He likes his foods super flavorful and spicy! He doesn’t have a pincher grip yet so everything is in big pieces.

He likes it when I dip his puffs in hummus and place them in his mouth like a little bird. He’s absolutely obsessed with Greek yogurt, but because I let him guide the spoon into his mouth, it’s very, very messy.

Breastfeeding is going really well, which I am so grateful for after our rocky start. I think we’re going to keep it up until he self-weans, even if that means we’re Time Magazine cover material. Ask me how I feel about that next summer though. If he’s even a little bit hungry and spots momma, he freaks out and start to fuss. He makes a “mmmmm” sound that might be “momma,” “milkies,” or just  “mmmm give me some food NOW.” Who knows. Kind of funny, he insists on having his milkies immediately following any water event be it swimming, bath or shower. Again, ask me how funny I think that is in a year.

Play
At the beginning of the month, Mr. S and I took a day off from work and went to the tall ships in Baltimore. Baby S watched from his stroller. He’s a big fan of boats.

We have a new nanny in Maine for the summer. She showed up on her first day having only met my parents. She gave Baby S a huge smile, said, “hi little buddy” and he smiled back. They’ve been best buddies ever since. They spend their time playing on his outdoor blanket under a tree by the pool, going on walks, practicing crawling and playing the piano. We have quite the little baby Mozart.

Every afternoon when the nanny heads home for the day, Baby S, Mamie, PawPaw and I go for swims in the pool. M is absolutely obsessed with water. He kicks his legs like a froggy and squeals with delight. He does not care how cold the water is; he would stay in kick, kick, kicking all day long if we let him!

He has a little float that he sits in after he does a dozen froggy kick laps back and forth. I use his float as a kickboard and do my own laps while pushing him.

He’s even been swimming in the chilly mountain lakes! The first time we took him he liked the feeling of the sand between his toes, then he started to jump and did a nose dive toward the water. He jumped and squealed until we brought him in for a swim.

Baby S had a few pool parties with friends this month. None of the other babies were as in love with water as baby M! He loves the water so much, we bought him his own special beach towel. He’s going to wear it threadbare in one summer.

On the mobile front, Baby S is a champ at rolling and is getting really good at pushups. Near the end of the month he got up on his knees then down, then pushes ups then down, then knees and back and forth in his crib as we watched on the video monitor. He does his pony hops where he pushes along on the back of his head when he really wants to get somewhere fast, and has started to try pony hops on his forehead.

We went to our local 4th of July parade and it was a huge hit! Baby S bounced in my arms to the beat of the bands and of the yodeler, how funny is that?

Our 4th of July included L.L.Bean’s 100th anniversary celebration. We had books signed by one of our favorite authors, Chris Van Dusen, nursed in a L.L.Bean fitting room, ate lobster rolls in the park and then went to a Rick Charette concert where Baby S bounced to the beat of the music for the entire concert. He was SO into it; this boy likes his tunes!

Our 4th celebration was topped off with an amazing fireworks display. It started long after baby M’s bedtime, so I snuck into his room, transferred him to his car seat, drove to the fireworks, put his seat in the BOB, walked to our spot and watched the entire fireworks without S waking up at all. He didn’t even wake up when the fire truck passed by us, sirens on!

Celebrations
We celebrated Mr. S’s first father’s day!

For Father’s Day we went to Nola & Grandpa’s house for brunch, Baby S wore his new I heart dad shirt. We had baked French toast and berries and gave Baby S the tiniest bite. Unfortunately later in the afternoon he was very sick again, which led our pediatrician to think he has a gluten allergy that I mentioned last month. Thankfully after a few hours of vomiting and a long nap, Baby S was up and at ‘em again and ready for a trip to Mr. S’s parents’ house on the Bay, without his vomit covered I heart dad onesie, unfortunately. Eeewwwwww.

Misc
Baby S loves to stand on his changing table after we change his diaper and reach for the ribbons hanging from his elephant mobile. It’s like he’s suddenly discovered that there’s something very cool hanging above him. He also likes to grab for toys on the bookshelf next to his changing table in his Maine nursery. We keep it stocked with diaper-changing distractions.

Baby S had his last day at daycare for the summer. We said goodbye to Alex, Cici, Avery and Sophie, all of whom will be starting preschool soon. When Baby S returns to daycare in the fall, there will be a whole new batch of kids and he won’t be the only baby anymore. It makes me sad.

I’m pretty sure he said “hi” to PawPaw a few times when PawPaw said hi to him. He says mmmm a lot and it comes out as momma when he’s crying or upset. I definitely think I heard a mama a couple times. I definitely have no idea if there was any intention.

On July 5 Baby S SAT on his own! It was sudden: just like that, he sat.

He was wobbly for a few days, but gradually got much more steady. It’s very cool to be able to sit him down, although I still usually lay him down so he doesn’t bop his head if he falls over.

Baby S grew hair this month! It’s strawberry blonde; he looks like his momma. He still has zero teeth and no signs of any to come any time soon.

When Baby S is really interested in something he tilts his head all the way to one side like he’s trying to look at it vertically. Not really all that noteworthy, but kind of interesting, especially since he does it so much.

BumGenius diapers are still on the smallest rise with the velcro tabs touching or with one row of snaps between the tabs. He’s still wearing Charlie Banana size small diaps too. At night we used size 2 disposables until we ran out near the end of the month when I bought size 3 since we only use one a day, and each package lasts a long time. No height and weight stats this month as we were lucky enough to not have a single trip to the pediatrician for any reason, whew.

Happy seven months, I can’t believe how far we’ve come so quickly!