7 Months Old

My little man is 7 months old today! I know that people say it all the time, but I just can't believe how fast the time flies. I can barely remember what it was like during the first few months of sleep deprivation and nursing struggles. And no smiling or laughing! Although there are still sleep and nursing issues, they're fairly manageable. Noah's naps are somewhat predictable, and we can usually expect him to go to bed some time between 7 and 8pm and then wake up some time between 6 and 7 am. Sometimes he'll wake up in the middle of the night crying for about 10 min then go back to sleep and sometimes he'll wake up at around 5am, nurse, then go back to sleep. About a week ago he went through a "phase" of crying for about 30 minutes before every nap and bedtime. I don't really know what was going on, but I'm glad he's moved on from that for now. As for nursing, he doesn't always nurse very well because he always wants to look around and move around, but I think he's getting enough. Some days he has a lot of milk, other days (like today) not as much. Since he's also eating more solids now I'm not that worried about him starving. I am a bit concerned about him not getting enough nutrients though, because I don't think the relatively small amounts of fruits and vegetables that he eats are really nutrient-rich, but I guess all I can do is keep trying. I just make sure to push the cereals, which are fortified with vitamins and minerals (if there are any moms feeding, I welcome any tips/thoughts in this area). I had originally planned to wean him from breastmilk at around 6 months but when he finally turned 6 months, I was reluctant to let go. I really don't think I can make it to a year, but maybe I'll try to keep at it until he starts eating meat. To be honest, I think the idea of washing all of those bottles everyday is really what turns me off from weaning.

In my attempts to provide more nutrients through solids, as well as broadening Noah's palate, I've been trying to make baby food at home. I got the Beaba Babycook as a gift (thanks Sarah!) and it is awesome. Above is a mixture of leeks, spinach, peas, and sweet potato. I'm trying to expose Noah to a lot of green foods in the hopes that it might help him eat more vegetables when he gets older. I hope it works! When pureed, it is basically a dark green color. It doesn't look that delicious, but it smells good and Noah seems to enjoy it. I found the recipe in Top 100 Baby Purees by Annabel Karmel. A bunch of her recipes involve making your own chicken or vegetable stock which is kind of a pain (and I haven't tried them), but so far I like the less labor intensive recipes.

Noah doesn't have any teeth yet, but he's been gumming on just about everything. Whatever he can get his hands on, he tries to stuff into his mouth or wave around. He also has recently started putting his toes in his mouth and sucking on his thumb (it took him a while to find it). Noah continues to enjoy rolling around, and even has started rolling to his right as well as his left.

Here he is, mesmerized by the TV, while doing some kind of leg workout because he doesn't like to just stay still. Like father like son, I guess. Dad says that he used up all his energy when he was young; now he just wants to sit around all the time and do nothing.

Finally, swimming pictures!