Seven Months.

My kid is seven months old.  It just sounds older.  I have to say that six and seven months is my favorite by far. And I think it will remain my favorite of the "baby" months.  Gideon is so fun and full of personality but somewhat immobile still.  And not for long.  All bets are off once this boy starts crawling.

Stats:

At his six month check-up he weighed 17 pounds, 8 ounces and was 27 and 1/4 inches long.  He is in the 50th percentile for weight, 75th for height and 90th for head circumference. Our baby has a big head!  A week and a half after that appointment we had his GI specialist appointment and he weighed 18 pounds 2 ounces. His GI doctor walked in the room and the first thing he stated was that we clearly aren't having trouble with weight gain. He is growing for sure!

Sleep:

Sleep is going AMAZING around these parts.  Gideon slept through the night one night two weeks ago.  It was glorious.  I had to double check the clock when I heard him begin to stir and saw that it was almost six.  Most nights he wakes up once around 4:30 and I have been trying hard not to feed him but to give him a bottle of water, rock him a minute and lay him back down.  Sometimes he goes right back to sleep and sometimes he cries.  If he cries for a bit or really loud I will feed him.  His bedtime is around 7:30 and he usually wakes up anywhere between 7 and 8 in the morning.  I really couldn't be more pleased with his nighttime sleep!

I recently shared about the trouble with naps we were having, but I am happy to say that has improved as well.  He takes a great morning nap, usually around 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours and just last week started laying down in the afternoon for about an hour or more (OK and sometimes less).  I know they aren't super long naps (according to baby books, but we all know how I feel about comparing.)  With his night sleep going so well, I am not as worried about long daytime naps especially when he is not fussy.

Eating:

Gideon eats like a champ.  At his six month visit, his doctor said we could start giving him table foods whenever we wanted.  I haven't really done this yet, mainly because I don't want to rush it and haven't really cooked anything recently that I felt would be easily pureed.  We are moving him to three solid meals a day and cutting a nursing so we are down to four.  It is working really well so far.

I made baby food for the first time.  I steamed and pureed sweet potato, squash and carrots and froze them but am having trouble getting Gideon to eat it.  He tightens his lips and makes a frown.  I will keep working on it.  I also pureed some blueberries and he had no interest.  He will eat the purchased baby food (I was still having some difficulty with that this week, so I think he is being picky right now), but loves his oatmeal cereal and fruits.

Tidbits:

Gideon started to say "dada" this month.  The Friday before Father's Day so it was perfect timing.  But he also said "nana" for Nala the cat the day before he said "dada."  He is sitting so well unassisted and likes to sit and play now.  Especially in his baby pool.  He rolls and rolls and rolls to get wherever he wants.  We find him with his legs stuck under the ottoman or chair, just hanging out. He is pushing up on all fours and rocking, but has yet to push himself forward or crawl. I anticipate it very soon though.  He is LOUD. He found his voice and just likes to "babble" but at high levels. It is kind of embarrassing when we are out eating or shopping.  We are about to get a convertible car seat because he has pretty  much outgrown his (height anyways!).  At the beginning of this week, Gideon began using his pincer grasp by picking up Puffs I put on his highchair and actually getting a few in his mouth!

Likes: 

Sitting up, "petting" Nala, pools (especially a big pool!), oatmeal, Puffs, his name song that we sing, peek-a-boo (or any kind of "boo" game), nursery, iPhones (more than toys), Praise baby videos, popsicles, watching us play Wii tennis, pickles.

Dislikes:

His car seat (it's a fight every time now), when he is left in a room alone, peas.

Current "words":

mama, dada, and nana (for Nala our kitty!)

Extra:

Gideon's GI specialist does think he has milk protein intolerance. Not a full-blown dairy allergy, but trouble processing the protein from the cow's milk.  I have pretty much been eating dairy-free anyways (exception with the occasional chocolate fix), but now that we know, I am trying my best to stay away from it.  He just gets fussy and I can tell his tummy hurts if I do have any.  The doctor is confident that he will outgrow this and said most babies can handle it around 9 months so we will try reintroducing it at that point.

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