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.

Faith

Jack

Alexis

Alexis, Jack, and Faith at 9 months / 7 adjusted

Faith, Graham, Jack, and Alexis posing for Graham's 7 month photos. The older kids suddenly look huge!

Graham at 6 Months

Graham is 6 months old! It's crazy to think we are halfway to a one-year-old. Jack wanted to join in on the photos again. He sure loves his baby brother!

Happy sitter

Rolling all of the time!

With his lion blanket

Our boys

Buds

Alexis gave me this idea as she was flipping through a magazine and saw a photo of a baby like this. It turned out cute!

Age: 6 months

Weight: 14 lbs 6.5 oz (A lightweight, but he continues to gain about the same amount each month and he weighs more than any of his siblings did at 8 months / 6 months adjusted)

Length: about 25.25 inches

Size Clothes: 6 months, although he has outgrown some 6 month PJs and he is now wearing some 9 month PJs.

Naps: These have gotten so much better! Graham is taking three naps a day. The first and last nap of the day are usually around 45 minutes each and the middle nap is about 1.5 hours, although the duration does vary from day to day. We don't have a schedule but we have gotten in a pretty good routine where I put him down for a nap about 2 hours after he wakes up, give or take 30 minutes. Of course preschool drop off and pick up does make things a little difficult as sometimes he's ready for a nap when we aren't home and other times I need to wake him so we can leave the house. Such is life as the younger child. I do feed him before his nap, but he doesn't always fall asleep. If he's awake when I lay him down he might fuss for a minute or two. If it's much longer I usually end up going back in to rock him to sleep (something I said I would never do because I want him to know how to self soothe, but with this baby I have to do what's easiest in the moment since I have three other kids that need me). The longest he has ever napped in his crib is 2.5 hours. I hope to see more of those in the future!

Ready for a nap and sucking on his favorite fingers

Night Sleep: On 9/25, just three days after Graham turned 5 months old, we moved him to his own room. Mostly this has been great as we all seem to sleep a little better this way since we aren't waking each other up. Graham still wakes up 1-2 times a night, but things seem to be getting a little better as he is able to fall back asleep quickly after eating most of the time (although in the last week there have been a couple of nights that he was up for 1-1.5 hours before he fell asleep again, but this might be due to sickness as he has a mild cold and cough and he's been back in our room as my parents have been in town, so maybe that is hindering his sleep). Unfortunately his bedtime hasn't been going that great as although he'll generally go to bed between 7:00 and 8:00, many nights he wakes up 30-60 minutes later and he is wide awake so I end up waiting awhile to put him down again. I think our busy days and lack of schedule are making it a little hard for him to settle for the night, but I'm hoping this will get better as he starts napping longer and takes fewer naps a day since it will be easier to organize our day around his sleeping.

One of the nights where he went to bed only to wake up a little while later wide awake. Who could turn down this happy boy?!

Eating: Graham eats about 10 times (about 8x a day and 2x at night) in a 24 hour period for a total of 1.5-2 hours a day. We aren't in an exact routine with his eating since it depends on the length of his naps. I generally feed him before a nap, and if he takes a long nap I feed him again when he wakes up. If he takes a short nap, though, I usually wait to feed him until he is ready for another nap a couple of hours later. When I write it out it seems like he still eats fairly often, but this has been working for us. Our other kids were bottle fed and I felt like I had to get them to eat a full bottle every time they ate so that they got enough calories. Although at this age they only drank 5 bottles a day, compared to Graham eating 10  times a day, I feel less stressed by breastfeeding so it works out. I don't worry about how much he eats at a time as I know I can easily feed him again if he needs it. I don't have to worry about bringing along the right amount of formula when we leave or how we are going to heat up bottles. Breastfeeding is just so simple (minus the fact that I've had to change my diet so drastically). I'm so happy it has worked to breastfeed Graham for the first six months of his life, and I plan to continue to do so for another six months.

Food Intolerances: Nothing new here. I want to start solids because he seems really interested, but I'm so nervous that more food intolerances or allergies will show up. So far the issues he's had have been through breastmilk, so I'm worried that eating foods directly will cause more reactions.

Likes: Graham has continued to use his fingers to self soothe and I actually don't even keep a pacifier in his bed anymore. He does still use the pacifier in his car seat, but it's definitely not his preferred soother. He continues to like his piano activity mat and his exersaucer. He has also enjoys his toys. Although I haven't been reading to him as much as I should be, he does enjoy books. Graham spends a lot of time watching his siblings and I think he's looking forward to joining them in their play someday.

He's been enjoying the sofa covers as they make great makeshift toys

Watching the bigs color

"Playing" train with the bigs

We try to spend a little time in the backyard each day so that Graham gets some fresh air in hopes that he sleeps better. He loves watching the big kids ride their bikes, jump on the trampoline, and play other games.

Playing with Alexis and her prized Snoopy

Playing with Faith. Faith has really listened when I talk about Graham's food intolerances as she knows that she can't touch his toys when she's eating. This was during a snack so she was pressing the musical keys with her elbow!

The play mat is still fun!

Watching our cat Sienna

Reading before bed

Playing in the backyard

Dislikes: Graham does not like his nose messed with, which is hard since he's had a minor cold. He is also getting a little afraid of strangers if someone unfamiliar holds him. Overall, though, he is a laid back happy baby.

Milestones: Graham grabs his feet. He can switch toys from one hand to the other. He babbles a "ga" sound and he's working on the "mmm" sound. He can now roll from back to tummy and he does it all of the time! He also sits fairly well when I put him in a sitting position. I still have to be there to catch him, but he can sit for several minutes by himself. Graham also got baptized on Sunday at our church, and we were thankful that both sets of grandparents could come to town for the occasion.

Grabbing his feet

He took his sock off and stuck it in his mouth!

He is too big for the baby bath tub and I have a little chair for the bath but I found it awkward to use, so he is now being bathed in shallow water on his back like our other kids were at this age. He seems to enjoy being able to splash.

He now sits up well enough to use the stroller without the carseat while I run! Now I just need to start running more regularly.

"I've got this Mom!" He is sitting so well!

It was a little stressful having the other kids up front with us during Graham's baptism as they insisted on playing on the steps and we knew someone could fall and have a meltdown at any moment

And then they almost pulled over the table with the bowl of water when they were vying for the best position to watch...but in the end it all went smoothly without any mishaps. And surprisingly Graham only whimpered when Pastor Justin put the water on him, but he didn't cry!

After the baptism Graham fell asleep. It was an exhausting morning for him!

Places he's been: We really haven't gone anywhere new in the last month, but we did go up to Monte Vista for the fourth time since Graham was born. He also came with me to the eye doctor, which included a short nap in the Ergo, and he happily sat through a 1.5 hour dentist appointment for the other kids (and he was awake the whole time!).

Hanging out in Grammy and Grandpa's front yard

Grass!

Hiking in the foothills near our house

Things he does that makes us smile: Roll over, as that is his newest skill! He also makes us smile when he jumps and screams in his exersaucer. We love to see his interactions with the big kids.

Pre-church photo

Faith and Jack wanted to pose with Graham

Alexis being super sweet with Graham in the backyard 

On a bike ride / walk when I had to take Graham out of the stroller to fold it up and squeeze through a tight spot on our route. Alexis happily volunteered to hold her baby brother.