7 months old!

Orion Alexander, it's hard to believe 7 months have gone by. Some days are long but my time with you as my tiny, sweet baby sure is going by quickly.

You are super sweet. You love your mama more than anything in the world. If mama is holding you or close, all is right in the world. You're still a shy boy but you like to flirt. You smile and bat your eyes at someone then bury your head in mama's chest.

Month 6 was horrible for sleep and month 4 and 5 weren't great for sleep either. The last two weeks of November were the worst yet with 4-6 wake ups per night and horrible screaming from teething pain. Just when mama thought she couldn't take the sleep deprivation anymore she tried a few new tricks (super early bedtime and sleeping with both our doors open instead of the monitor) and like magic you started sleeping great. Going to bed at 6pm and starting the bedtime routine at 5:30pm isn't easy with three big kids in the house. We've been doing 4:45 or 5pm dinner and daddy's been helping drive the big kids to and from their activities but we're making it work. You are such a happier baby now that you are getting enough sleep.

Speaking of teething. Man, those teeth coming in sure bother you, sweet boy. Your top left tooth finally cut through November 19th after a week of misery. Mama was certain your 4th tooth was only days behind since it looked so swollen and inflamed but it still hasn't cut through yet.

You're also becoming quite the good eater. Well, you've always loved your breastmilk but this past few weeks we've started solids with Baby Led Weaning, which should be a post of it's own. Typical of Baby Led Weaning babies you had a slow start with solids, not swallowing a ton, and gagging a lot, but food before one is for fun and breastmilk is your main source of nutrients so I didn't worry. You still nurse 6-8 times per day.  Your favorites so far are baked potato, baked sweet potato, roasted butternut squash, carrots, and avocado. You've also had plums, pears, apples, applesauce, oatmeal, bananas, peaches, mango, watermelon, and broccoli, plus tastes of our food like meatballs and rice and chicken pot pie, though I don't think you've swallowed a ton of our dinners. You like your veggies for now. You can also now have small amounts of water and drink well out of a straw and sippy cup.

You didn't roll tummy to back until right before 6 months but once you did we were in trouble. You are now all over the place. You roll non-stop and can also scoot. You scoot better on the hardwood floors and move backwards better than forward but if there's something you want across the room you'll go get it.

You've been sitting well since 4.5-5 months so you do a lot of play time sitting up when you're not rolling around the room. Some favorite toys right now are ones you can play with sitting up: the cookie jar, the singing flowers, the drum, and the laugh and learn house. You also chew on everything so soft toys or things that are good to chew on are your favorites too.

Mommy has been practicing sign language with you several times per day the last month and this last week you started signing "milk" back to me. You did it three days in a row too. Mommy is so excited and can't wait to teach you more signs. In fact today mommy showed you the signs for "eat" and "drink".

You're growing like a weed. Some of your 9 month clothes are starting to get too small and you can already wear some of your 12 month clothes. What a big boy! Mommy isn't sure of your weight but surely over 18 pounds. I think now that you move so much your weight is going to slow down a little but you're still getting tall quickly.

Mommy loves you so much Orion. Every day with you is such a blessing! Happy 7 months my cutie bear.