7 Months Old

This post is a little late because Reed was sick on March 12. I also figured the cute little St. Patrick's day picture could serve as a 7-month photo, but I went ahead and took another one.

The tail end of this month brought Reed's first fever, most likely due to an ear infection (see post below). That was a new experience. He spent his first few days away from daycare, thanks to Grandma DeLong, who stayed home and watched him. Mom said she and Reed spent so much time rocking in the chair in his bedroom that they probably "rocked to Kansas City" those few days.

The antibiotics seemed to have worked although he still has the sniffles and a bit of a cough. Will this child never have a dry nose??

He is now an independent sitter. Though he did fall yesterday when he got so excited about mommy asking him if he wanted some milk that he flailed his arms and fell straight backward. Ouch! That hurt. Mom and Dad are making him spend lots of time on his tummy in the hopes that he will start to pick up on rolling and crawling. Just in the past week, he has been able to roll over several times from tummy to back (a feat not previously accomplished). He learned to hold his arm out straight like he's reaching for something and that helps give him the leverage he needs. He still doesn't do it consistently and sometimes cries out of frustration when he can't figure it out, but he's getting there.

He has also scooted a few times - mostly backward. He doesn't really end up anywhere, but I have seen him push up onto his knees a few times so perhaps we aren't too far away from crawling. Suprisingly, he actually does a great job of standing. I let him stand up holding onto the couch a few weeks ago. He let go and actually stood free standing for about 5 seconds. Jenna noticed the same thing last night when she was over and had him standing between her legs. Perhaps he will be a walker rather than a crawler??

He has popped two bottom teeth. I think he may be working on some uppers as well. It was a hell of a time trying to get a picture of those teeth, but I got this one. He likes to push his tongue out when you try to see them.

He is eating lots of solids now, and we've even started feeding him some small pieces of our food. He still hasn't quite mastered the pincer grasp - holding a piece of food between his thumb and pointer finger - so he isn't able to feed himself most times. He "rakes" his hand over the food with all five fingers and pulls the food in to his hand. Sometimes he's managed to get the food in between his fingers but then he forgets and doesn't bring them to his mouth. So mom & dad still give him most of his food.

Of the real pieces of food, he's had banana (likes it a lot), asparagus, carrot, pancake and peas. The peas rolled around in his mouth for a few minutes, we thought they were gone, but then a sneeze or an extra big smile would come and the peas fell out.

He is babbling a lot and has started saying "dadadadada." Not at Beau, but just in general. He giggles and laughs a lot, and mommy knows just what to do to get him going! Sometimes we will even giggle at each other back and forth.

His memory is really improving. There is a selection of about four books that we rotate and read each night, and we can tell he recalls the story. He will sit back and let you read and sometimes even turn the page. When we read Pat the Bunny, he goes right for the activity on each page since he remembers what to do. The same is true for a couple of the other books. As we turn the page, he looks expectantly at the side of the page with the moving piece or sound, waiting for us.

He and Cubby's relationship is improving as well. As Reed gets older, Cubby is more inclined to come closer and even let Reed pet him. We still observe closely to make sure everything is kosher, but overall they are starting to forge a relationship. Today, Cubby came up and gave Reed's ear a good licking! Ew!

We've observed a little bit of stranger and separation anxiety, but it's been really minor. He's been a little wary with some relatives, but warms up within a minute. And there's been a few times where Beau or I will leave Reed's line of sight in the house, and he starts to cry, but when we pop back around the corner, all smiles!

Happy seven months, baby boy!

Click on any of the photos to see more.