Grow, Grow, Grow

The past month or two has been so full of 'new' things happening in Isaiah's life that I wanted to document them a bit so I remember.  It's AMAZING how quickly babies learn new things!  He's now just over 7 months.

SOLIDS/SIPPY CUP:

Lovin' the sweet potatoes!

I started him on solid food ( baby brown rice cereal) about a week before he turned 6 months. After the second bite he was a pro at the open-mouth-for-spoon, close-mouth-around-spoon-to-swallow business.  Next was avocados (he wasn't a huge fan), then sweet potatoes.  I'm making all of my own baby food for him, which has been much easier than anticipated.  I actually keep forgetting that in a pinch I could go get a couple jars of baby food at the store....ha!

Anyway, he now eats the baby rice cereal, oatmeal (ground up from steel-cut oats), avocados, sweet potatoes, pears, green beans, bananas, and plums. There were about two weeks where I didn't introduce anything new because we were travelling/recovering from travelling, and it wasn't until last week I realized - yikes, I really need to get with the program! He doesn't eat much variety for having been eating solids for a month and half already, which is totally my fault.  So far he hasn't had any reactions or digestive problems, and has taken pretty well to each food. He even loved the plums, which are quite tart!  He's not a huge eater though - I think he gets bored with it?

We gave him the sippy cup right away with his solids, because we are excited for him to get the hang of it.  Isaiah hasn't taken a bottle since he was 3 months (this is a story in and of itself), and so that means I have to be around for his every mealtime....which is obviously a bit limiting for my activities.  It wasn't until a couple weeks ago he finally figured out that he could suck it (before, he would mostly chew on it) and something would come out!  He usually chokes a bit on what he gets, but I think we're moving in the right direction.  He is also slightly obsessed with drinking out of cups - he LOVES to drink water from a cup!  It's very cute to watch how tightly he clutches with both hands on a cup to drink.

MOBILITY:

Hands and Knees!

Oh boy, oh boy, am I going to be in trouble soon!  He is MOTIVATED to move.  In his 5th month he started rolling front to back and back to front; in his 6th month, he started doing a bit of an army crawl to the left or right, and also started sitting up on his own.  In the last two weeks, he has started to get up on his hands and knees, rock back and forth (it reminds me of the beginning of a bobsled race, like from Cool Runnings), and then lurch forward after whatever it is he wants to get.  If a toy if too far a way, he will streeeeetch like crazy to get it, wiggle around, do a roll, army crawl, etc....any combo that will help!  I don't think it will be long before he starts crawling!

He also figured out 4 days ago how to sit up by himself.  He has only done it in his crib so far.  He somehow gets his legs underneath him while rolling around, and then walks his hands backwards until he's sitting up.  It's hard to explain...but pretty interesting to watch!  One night around 2 am Andrew went into his room because he was crying, and there he was, on his bum, totally folded in half with his head in-between his feet, and stuck.  Thankfully he hasn't gotten stuck since then.

SLEEP:
Somehow, somewhere, I got this notion in my head before giving birth that basically all babies could, and would, sleep through the night for sure by 3 months. Wow, was I wrong! Isaiah was a good night sleeper from early on, and he still does well.  He goes to bed by 7 or 7:15pm each night, wakes up once (normally) to eat between 3-4am, and then goes back to sleep until 7am.  He's been doing that since he was 3-4 months old.  Which is great, I really can't complain.

At the end of month 5, he was starting to lengthen his early morning feed to 5am, 5:15, 5:30am...and I really thought soon he would be make it all the way to 7am. I'm not quite sure what happened, but we moved backwards to 1:30am, 2am, etc for a while.  THEN, after a solid month of a 3-4am feed, two nights ago he woke up at 5:15am instead.  The next night, he slept from 7:30pm - 6am!  Success!  It felt soooo wonderful to get 7 straight hours of sleep.  We are really hoping it will soon become the 'norm', because from what I've read, by 9 months, babies definitely don't need to eat in the middle of the night any more.  We are looking forward to that day. :)

FUSSINESS:

I took this picture for those who think he never cries...... :)

Isaiah has never been a fussy baby.  He has surprised many with his ability to sit, or be held, and play quietly for up to an hour. He loves to watch what's happening around him, so usually he's been content to just quietly observe what's going on.  (If there's no one to watch or nothing happening, then he does get bored and squirmy.)  Well, the fussiness has been developing the last couple weeks.  Last night he starting whining/screaming for a few minutes...and I had no idea why!  It was very strange for him.  I think he is also in the beginning stages of developing a bit of separation anxiety.

*sigh*

As he gets older, I keep realizing that just when I think I have it all figured out.....there is SO MUCH MUCH TO LEARN!  Andrew calls me a baby-information junkie. :)  I don't think I'm quite there, but babies are so fascinating!  I remain so incredibly thankful that God is letting us be a part of Isaiah's precious life.

Isaiah's favorite toy: a hammer!  Think he'll take after his daddy??! :)