Howard Trio Plus One: Graham at 7 Months

We've been traveling for Thanksgiving, so this blog post is a little late, but we've enjoyed our time in the Denver area with family and friends. Graham did great with his night sleep and naps for the majority of the time during our trip, which was a huge relief to me since I was worried that traveling would hurt his sleep. He enjoyed watching his siblings and his cousins, and hanging out with his aunt and grandparents. He was also very curious about his new baby cousin who is about 6 months younger than him.

Age: 7 months

Weight: 15 lbs 5 oz

Length: 25.75 inches

Size Clothes: He's starting to grow into some 9 month clothes and PJs, although most of the 6 month stuff still fits too.

Naps: Graham takes 2-3 naps a day, although the third one is hit or miss. His morning nap is usually around 9:15 and he sleeps anywhere from 45-90 minutes. He goes down for his afternoon nap between 12 and 1:30, depending on how long he slept for his morning nap and whether or not I have to pick up the kids from preschool at 1:00. This nap is also 45-90 minutes. I attempt a third nap between 4:30 and 5:00, and this one is about 30 minutes.

Night Sleep: Although nights have been difficult for most of the month, with Graham waking 2-3 times a night and sometimes not falling back asleep very easily, the last few nights have been great with him only waking 1-2 times a night. With the wakings being more spread out, I have been getting at least one 4 hour block of sleep. Believe me when I say this is a huge improvement over what I've been getting for most of Graham's life. Graham has not been very consistent with his bedtime though. I try to put him to bed between 7:00 and 8:00 depending on how he napped during the day. Most nights he falls asleep but then wakes up 30-40 minutes later wide awake. Most of the time he is screaming and does not want to go back to sleep so I end up getting him up for awhile. He has also been rolling onto his tummy in bed but won't roll onto his back, and he gets frustrated when he's stuck. Someday he'll go to bed with the rest of the kids and actually sleep through the night, right?!

Eating: Graham usually eats 9 times in a 24 hour period. He eats when he wakes in the morning, before his three naps, an extra time during the afternoon, around 6:00 pm, before he goes to bed for the night, plus a couple of night time feeds. He also tried solids for the first time this month. I haven't been very consistent with solids yet, since he doesn't seem that excited about eating them and I know that breastmilk should be his main source of calories for awhile, but he has tried sweet potatoes, carrots, and applesauce purees. He really enjoys chewing on a spoon while we eat dinner, whether or not there is food on it.

Not impressed with sweet potatoes at first

"Feeding" himself applesauce

Food Intolerances: I have eaten onions in recipes and he seems to do okay with them. I recently ate a little chocolate with soy lecithin in it, but the next day his diaper was a little off so I'm pretty certain he can't handle it yet. I am still avoiding dairy, soy, gluten, and beef.

Teeth: Graham cut his first (bottom left) tooth on 11/15. His bottom right tooth looks like it will pop through very soon!

First tooth!

Likes: Graham likes when the big kids are being goofy, which is pretty much always. Playing peekaboo. Being "tossed" in the air or raised above our heads. Silly noises. Chewing on everything. Being on his tummy. Sleeping on his right side, which started about a month ago. Screeching just to make noise, especially when he is in the exersaucer (which makes it really hard to talk to anyone else in the noise). Making a gurgling noise. Blowing bubbles with his tongue.

Graham enjoys sitting at the table with all of us at dinner time

Micah made dinner one night when I was out and everyone was happy

Playing in his room

Chewing on his book

The big kids put on a puppet show

Playing in the backyard

Dislikes: Going to bed at night. Not being able to reach his toys (hopefully he figures out how to scoot soon!). For the most part, though, he's still easy going!

Milestones: He's pivoting really well to reach toys and to see what is going on in different parts of the room. He looks like he could start scooting anytime. He rolled from tummy to back for a few days this month, and then he stopped. One of the times he rolled onto his back he clunked his head on the tile floor and hurt himself, so maybe that scared him? He does scoot around the floor a little on his back. This past week he took a bath with Jack for the first time ever.

He tried the swing at the park but he wasn't impressed

Rolling around in the closet

He's fairly solid at sitting

Places he's been: No place new this month (although we left for Denver the day he turned 7 months old).

Things he does that makes us smile: Smile, laugh, pivot on his belly, bounce in his exersaucer, make noises, and interact with his siblings.

Other photos from the month...

He fell asleep at the Trunk or Treat event the Sunday before Halloween

Halloween night

Happy Halloween!

On a run with Mommy

At the Botanic Garden

With Faith

With Jack

With Alexis

With Grammy

In the backyard

At the climbing gym after taking a nice long nap while Mommy climbed

We moved into our current house just before Alexis, Jack, and Faith turned 9-months-old, which was when they were 7-months-old adjusted since they were born two months early. Here are some 9 month / 7 month adjusted photos.