GROWTH

Weight: 21 lbs. 6 oz. (95%)
Length: 27.5" (75%)
Head: 17"
Clothing size: 6-12 months or 12-18 months
Diaper size: 4

LOVES

Mirrors
Toys
Putting things in his mouth
Smiling
Sitting
Standing (with help)

DISLIKES

5:00 pm (fussy time)
Shopping
When mommy walks away or leaves the room

FIRSTS

Tooth
Fever
Sink bath
Pulling up to stand
Ear infection
Christmas

EATING

We are still nursing! I'm so glad we have stuck with it. It is so much easier now than it was in the early days/weeks/months. Not that it doesn't continually have its challenges, because it does (clogged ducts and teeth this month), but he can eat in as little as 4 minutes! And we can we pretty spontaneous as a family without having to think about food for him. He eats about every three hours. He can go longer, but then usually makes up for it later in the day.

For baby food he has had sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans. For table food, he has had a banana, scrambled eggs and celery. He does better when his food is puréed and served on a spoon, but his attention span is still pretty short.

SLEEPING

This month we were successful in transitioning him from the swing to a pack n play! It got to a point where he started rolling over in the swing! Yikes. So I think he was finally just ready to have some more room and to sleep on his tummy. It's a huge step for us!

He goes to bed around 7:00 pm and I nurse him to sleep (sometimes I regret starting that habit). He gets up 2-4 times a night to comfort nurse, but he gave me the best Christmas gift possible by sleeping 6.5 hours straight! Now if only it could be more consistent...

He takes three short (20-40 minutes) naps. We usually rock him to sleep and just hold him. He will also nap in his car seat if we are running errands.

PLAYING

Can pull himself up to stand
Army crawls to get toys
Is so brave...and will surely be the reason we end up in the ER someday

HEALTH

I've been a parent for almost four years, and this was the first month I've given one of my kids an antibiotic (and wouldn't you know, it's the one who is breastfed!). Finch was just not acting like himself a couple weeks ago. :-( After a few days of not sleeping, I took him to the doctor and he was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and double ear infection. We like to treat things naturally as much as possible, but we value sleep above all else! He also had his 6-month appointment and shots this month.

PARENTING

An onlooker in Applebee's recently asked us, "How can he smile and cry at the same time?" and it made me so happy that someone else saw my boy and put him into words so well. He's SUCH a happy guy - often smiling between cries. I am amazed by him every day.

Also, this parents-of-two thing is NO JOKE!

LOOKING FORWARD TO...

Moving him to his own bedroom for sleeping
Sleep training
Watching him figure out how to crawl and stand (although I may regret that one...)

Finch, 7 months