Seven Months

Eating
Trey is still primarily breastfed and he eats about every three hours for about 10-15 min. Breastfeeding has been one of the most indescribable bonding experiences ever. I have enjoyed every minute of it and feel very blessed to be able to nurse him. He is very easily distracted while eating, so we usually go to his room where it's nice and quiet. He recently started patting my chest while he eats and it is just precious. I plan on nursing him until he is 12 months. He started baby food as of 6 months. For stage 1 foods he was pretty picky. I blame it on him getting sick off old baby food (bad mommy). The only thing I could get him to eat were carrots, pears, and sweet potatoes. He wouldn't touch peas, prunes, peaches or any sort of cereal. Slowly but surely, he is coming around and he's now eating applesauce and bananas. This week we've started some stage 2 combos like bananas, apples, and pears and he loves corn mixed with sweet potatoes. He goes through one container of food in a day or two. It looks like he's going to be a big eater.

Playing
Trey loves to hang out in his exersaucer. It has so many components on it that speaks and sings songs. It definitely keeps him entertained for a while. He's totally outgrown his bouncy seat so we've put that away. He's way too wiggly for that. I started laying out a blanket with lots of toys on there and I sit him down in the middle of it and he'll keep himself busy for quite a while if he's in the mood. Lots of times, he ends up rolling off the blanket and half way across the room. It's great! And once he starts rolling around, he's occupied for forever. One of his favorite things to do is sit in the Bumbo seat in the kitchen and watch me cook or clean. He is so content there. Sometimes, when I'm cleaning in his room, I will put him in his bed with his stuffed animals and he will play. He gets very verbal. I love it. He absolutely loves his swing. He will usually swing and take a nap once a day - sometimes staying in there for 2 hours. He will doze in and out of sleep and usually stares into space, in his own world, very content.

Sleeping
At 6 months, Trey was on a great schedule. He would go to bed around 8:00 and sleep about 5 hours, eat, then go back to sleep for another 5 hours, eat, then sleep for another 2. In addition he would take two naps and sleep about 2 hours each. It was ideal and worked great for me. Of course there were those occasional nights where he would wake up unexpectedly and I would go check on him. I was using a baby monitor and tended to go check on him when he cried. He would usually go right back to sleep and I was so used to getting up that it really didn't bother me. There were a few times where there seemed to be nothing I could do to make him happy, so I would just let him cry it out. Well, around 2 weeks ago, that ideal schedule went out the window. I didn't know what was going on. He was waking up so much during the night - at least every 3 hours. And his naps turned in to two 30 min naps. It was like he didn't even like to sleep. You would think this lack of sleep would make him irritable during the day, but he was happy as a lark. In the middle of this phase, we were in Alabama for a week. This took a toll on mommy and daddy who were sleeping in the same room as him. There wasn't exactly a door we could shut to let him cry it out. I was so tired I was beginning to not even feel like myself. I was hoping the problem was just the change in scenery. Now that we are back home, he seems to be doing better and we are making our way back to that perfect schedule. The first night back in Utah, I put him to sleep and went to sleep myself with no baby monitor. I have no idea if he cried or not. I just know I needed sleep. Of course, my body wouldn't let me sleep very long, so I woke up to feed him around 2 and again at 7. It was very liberating. My mom told me I worry about him too much. I would always say "what if he's hungry? what if he's cold? what if he just needs his passy?" I'm trying to let go of that worry. I'm praying for peace, comfort and sleep - for both of us. Maybe I will try leaving both of our doors open. But I no longer sleep with the baby monitor. I rock him to sleep and then leave him be - waking up on my own to feed him. In the morning he's alive and happy.

Talking
It's been so interesting to watch how babies progress with their verbalization. Trey has been super verbal even when he was younger. He started making sounds around 2 months and hasn't stopped. He makes very distinct sounds and we swear he's said "hey" and "hi" to us. Once, he reached out his little arms to me and said "ma". This weekend he started saying "mama" - I've been trying really hard to get him to say "mama" by patting on my chest and saying it over and over. I absolutely melted when he coherently said it for the first time. He has said it several times since then. He is so precious.

Moving Around
Trey can sit up on his own for a long while, usually toppling over if he's reaching for something. He started rolling all the way over at 6 months and is his current mode of transportation. He wants to crawl so badly. At around 6 1/2 months he started getting up on all fours, but hasn't quite figured it out yet. He does this squirmy type moves that resembles a glow worm. He seems to be trying to use his feet instead of his knees. I feel like he will get it soon. His absolute favorite thing to do is stand up. Of course, he can't do it on his own, but all is right with the world when you are holding his hands letting him stand. He shuffles his feet around like he's doing a dance - I call it the Elvis because his hips sway back and forth. It's so cute. We're working on balance. Recently he has started pulling up from sitting to standing. Bruce started walking when he was 8 1/2 months, and I feel like Trey might be an early walker. I guess we will see.

Quirks and Special Notes
Trey is such a luvbug. He started giving kisses about a week ago. If you put your lips in front of his, he will lean in with his mouth wide open and plant a big slobbery one on you. It's definitely my new favorite thing of his.

Trey is definitely a pacifier baby. He loves that thing. He doesn't have it in all the time, but when he wants it, you better give it to him. He will lay there and chew on it like it's a chew toy - and not just the side with the nipple. He can pick it up and put it in his mouth and when it drops, he has to pick it right back up. He has to have it to fall asleep, but I'm totally grateful for it. I can see an attachment forming. Which, to be honest, doesn't bother me in the least bit. A pacifier, unlike a thumb, is something you can easily take away when the time is right.

At about 6 months, Trey started this funny thing where he would look at you and then cock his head to the side. It is hilarious. It's so extreme you think he's about to tumble over, but he'll just cock that head to the side and smile his big cheesy smile.

Which leads me to my next thought - Trey has started this big cheesy smile lately. He will tip his head back, squint his eyes and smile this big gummy smile that will melt your heart and make you laugh. I feel like he has such a lighthearted personality and a great temperament. He laughs a lot and it is the cutest laugh you'll ever hear.

Trey is very sociable. He will let anyone hold him and will be so happy and playful. However, within the last couple of weeks, he has become really mommy-fied. He wants me to hold him all the time. It's especially worse when he's fussy. If you're holding him and he sees me or hears me, he will stop everything and fuss until I hold him. But if I leave the room, and he can't see me anymore, he's fine. While it's totally endearing to be loved and wanted so much, I hope it's a phase. It wears me out!!

I love morning time with Trey. He will usually wake up in a great mood and just lay in his bed talking. I will walk in his room and peek in his bed and he is either on his tummy with his head up or playing with his feet, just talking away. It is absolutely adorable. I will feed him and then bring him in the bed with me and we usually go back to sleep together (since daddy is already gone to work.) I love it. He'll sleep for a couple of hours and then wake up in the same great mood again, just talking.

When you blow in Trey's face, his eyes bug out and he sucks in wind like you knocked the breath out of him. It's really funny to watch.

Trey loves for me to sing to him. He will be as fussy as ever and when I start singing to him, he calms down and stops crying. I love to sing and dance for him (in the privacy of our home, of course) because it makes him laugh. Silly mommy. Some of his favorite lullabies are Hush Little Baby, Mommy Loves Her Little Trey (this is a Kristi original), the Bluebird song, and What a Wonderful World. Some of my favorite, most precious moments are when I rock him to sleep and sing to him. I wouldn't trade them for the world.

Trey weighs about 20 lbs, wears size 9 months clothes and size 3 diapers.