Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Life With Gray: 7 Months


Ultimate snow day over here! It's Nia's first and in the excitement we almost forgot Grayson turned 7 months old today. He's excited to have his family all around him (although he's down for his morning nap at the time I'm writing this). We have huge fish bowl windows and earlier this morning he was content to stare at the swirling snow outside. Seeing the wonder in his huge, saucer eyes is adorable!

Here's this month's update: 
  • Baby's weight: Grayson is 16lbs 6oz (he was just over 15lbs at his 4 month visit); he's a lightweight just like his sister. The dr. wants him to bulk up but looking back at Nia's chart and considering his genes, I highly doubt he'll ever be a chunker!
  • Baby's height:  27" just as I thought
  • What size of clothing does baby wear? Still in 6 months, but lengthwise he's ready or 9 months, but just can't fill it out quite yet
    • Special outings baby had during the month:  Our return trip to NYC was exciting - Gray was a good sport on the bus (hooray for nursing!) and traipsing around the city
    • What are your thoughts on this past month?: I can't get over just how calm he is - reminds me so much of his dad! Teething is still rough, and he's not as good of a sleeper as he used to be, but I keep reminding myself that it's temporary. I'm also trying to find relief for his eczema. We're using Aquaphor and Aveeno for now, but I feel so bad for how broken out his chest his. Thankfully, it's not on his face. 
    He definitely lets me know when he's had enough bouncing!
    • What was baby's routine? He's still in bed between 8-9p.m. at the same time as his sister, but he's starting to cry harder in a more talking kind of way when we lay him down and walk away. He really sounds like his feelings are hurt! He gets up in the night and does this weird thing where he just tosses and turn with his eyes closed and teeth clenched. Sometimes it's gas and other times it seems like a kind of sleep walking. He doesn't really seem interested in nursing when he does this. Either Uka or I will hold him with white noise but it's extremely disruptive and goes on for an hour or two with getting up and back down. Sometimes I can just put him back down in his bed with a pat and that's that, other times I bring him to our bed and he just tosses and turns. Despite all this he's usually up for the day around 7, the time we're getting ready for Nia to go to school. He sleeps on the drive and goes to our Y's childcare while I work out. He usually sleeps then or afterwards right before I have lunch at home. I'll give him a solid to try and some rice crackers, but need to get on the ball with 3 meals a day - the dr. thinks he can handle it now especially with teeth. Some days we make it to story time after the Y and in the afternoon we play or he falls asleep again before we get his sister at 3. The rest of the day he's so happy to be in Nia's presence and will happily sit on his playmate or in his bouncer with her nearby. He gets a bath weekly and then we do storytime and devotionals together - he really does pay attention!
    • Any milestones baby reached during the month?: Sitting up for longer periods of time. He still gets wobbly with his large head and even face planted recently, hence the fat lip in his main picture this month. Also, his babbles are starting to sound like words - Uka swears he heard him call "Dada!"He's also tried banana, avocado and sweet potato. His favorite is definitely sweet potato as you can see here
    • Reflect about the highlights of the month: His first month of swimming lessons is going well (she the quick clip above!). Granted he's only gone to one class due to me forgetting that Saturdays are nearly impossible for us to ever do anything extra. Oops! He'll be back on track starting this Saturday though. His first class went well - no tears at all despite going under water. Going to his first show, Disney on Ice. I wasn't sure how he'd react but he really got into it and started doing his bouncy dance. He stayed awake and watched with interest for the full two hours! Also taking the bus down to New York was a highlight. He gets so wide-eyed for new experiences and was a happy passenger! 
    • Did any big changes occur? Nope
    • What are baby's favorites - toy, food, person, etc... Still in love with Nia! While he's mostly quiet, when she comes around he smiles and squeals. Uka's been roughing him up too and he likes it. Lots of jiggles, tosses and tickles!
    • What I'm looking forward to? 
      • Starting cloth diapers - they are somewhere in a box still (along with my favorite saucepan that I just can't seem to find)but thankfully I have quite a few gifted disposables left that we're working our way through so I have some time to find them
      • Crawling - I don't dread it like I hear many other parents do. I think his mobility will help Gray play with Nia more - she really wants a playmate! I also think the reason he recently face planted was that he was trying to reach something. I'm sure he'll figure it out soon! 
      • Signing - he was doing milk but stopped. I can tell he understands though because when I sign to him 
      • I'm excited to head back down to NYC in a few weeks for another visit. It'll be Gray's 3rd flight! 
    Curious to see what big sister Nia was up to at 7 months? Click here