In an effort to find more organization on this blog of mine, Monday are now dedicated to my mom posts. You’ll find a little bit of work/life balance, a little advice but mainly just me sharing what life is now like with an infant.
Officially 7 months old, Tommy is crawling really well. In fact, this morning he crawled up 7 stairs on his own, of course with a spotter behind him. Since we were in the cape most of July and the beginning of August, our house is yet to be child proofed which is a little unnerving. I hadn’t expected the need to do it so soon.
FOOD
We also have been feeding Tommy solids. I’m using a mixed approach of baby-led weaning and spoon feeding, because I haven’t had the time to read a book on either method. Tommy seems to enjoy soft chunks of food more than purees so we’ve been giving him avocado, banana, carrots, and sweet potato. As for pouches, his favorites, no lie, have been the Happybaby clearly crafted apple, kale and avocado flavor and a Carrot + Broccoli (which smells disgusting) by Earth’s Best. Of course, I tried to buy the veggie pouches hoping he would like them and he really does like the green ones best. He also likes the Earth’s Best multi-grain cereal in the morning as long as it is warm. I’ll try to mix in a fruit puree sometimes too.
We also have given him mum mums, Plum Organics Little Yums and HappyBaby superfood puffs, all of which he loves. He likes to feed himself and these are easy for him to do that with.
TEETH
Just this last week, I spotted Tommy’s first tooth coming through. He hasn’t been overly fussy yet and I think it did finally break through. His most upset episodes come when driving in the car though. I sat with him in the backseat during our drive home from Portland, Maine last night letting him watch Paw Patrol and Daniel Tiger on my iPhone after he woke up from a nap. It was the only thing that kept him from crying and even then, he still had little outbursts which made me think his teeth were bothering him.
The 2 hour normal drive did take 3 however.
That brings me to another hot topic, TV…
So, I don’t put the TV on at home usually. I’m not an anti screen type person, but I try to use the TV or iPhone when I need a couple of minutes to finish a blog post, take a rest or in a jam like the car situation above. This means, the TV usually comes on at 5pm at our house a couple of days a week. He’ll only watch like 10 minutes, but sitting on the couch with him for those ten minutes are so relaxing for me. It’s like I’m recharging my batteries before the exhausting bed time routine.
SLEEP
We still are not sleeping through the night. Last night he only got up once at 4 but otherwise slept 7 to 7. This is a great night for me. He’s been getting up twice. The good thing is that he goes down pretty quick. I know I need to wean him off of nursing in the night but again, I hate changing routine without knowing the right way to do it and I just don’t have the time to read books right now.
Look at this face though!? How could I not just give him what he wants if it means he’ll let me go back to sleep?
Naps are getting longer which is great since he was cat like before with short naps throughout the day. He takes 2 or 3 these days depending on length and can go comfortably 3 hours of being awake before crashing again. He’s taking a 90 minute morning nap right now as I write this!
When he’s awake, he wants to investigate everything and everyone. I call him the welcoming committee because he has to check out all the new people, sounds or objects in the room. He loves to crawl on other children and has taught me to be an annoying mother who is constantly saying, “Gentle” and always ready to remove Tommy from any situation if he gets to grabby.
I think that this month we have probably seen the most changes in Tommy than ever. From verbal to mobile action, it’s just insane what he is now capable of doing compared to the beginning of July.
The biggest change for me is that I can’t do work unless he is sleeping or with a babysitter which I wrote about here, what was I thinking?
His personality is definitely starting to really shine through and it’s so much fun to watch. As of today, he is an easy going, smiley guy who likes to climb, grunt and be outside. I hope this continues!!!
I read 12 hours by 12 weeks this past week. I haven’t implemented it yet but it seems like a very good system. Since you would really only need to read the section 8-12 weeks it would probably only take you 30 minutes to read it. Just FYI! He’s a cutie!
Thanks for the tip. A friend used it and it worked wonders for her. Maybe I’ll check it out.
I’m right there with you on needing organization to blog. My son is turning 10 months this week and I’m finally finding my groove again. Having a “Mom Talk” series helps to keep things contained. 🙂
I nurse my 4-month old to sleep also in the middle of the night. So much easier than having to get up and rock her to sleep. I also worry to that maybe she is hungry, then she will just wake up again in an hour. Seriously, why are the sleep books so darn long?! I don’t have to energy to read one right now! And the cat naps of 30-45 minutes tops are torturous! Good to see that these naps will get longer when she gets older (hopefully).
I’m less than 3 weeks away from my due date and find myself having the same issue of not having the time to read all these baby or new mommy books. Thankfully I found a couple of solutions; 1. Video presentations (courtesy of my hospital) 2. Audible books on Amazon. I just downloaded the one Michelle recommended. It’s a little over 2 hours long but you can get stuff done like blogging, answering emails, scheduling social media posts etc while listening to it.
Keep up the Mommy updates and fitness posts. It’s been helping me a lot with my baby preparations 🙂
Hi Sarah!
I love reading your baby updates. My baby girl just turned 7 months and we a seem to be in similar situations as you! My question is what is yours and his nursing “schedule” like? Is he almost too distracted to eat (mine is). looking for tips!! Thank you
I am the worst about having a schedule. He doesn’t have one except that he goes to bed at 7. I try to feed him every 3-4 hours but he is mobile at this age and can pretty much tell me when he’s hungry. He does get distracted eating! It’s frustrating but if he pulls away and wants to play, I let him. I just know that I’ll probably have to feed him sooner than I would if he got in a full feeding. I googled “typical schedule” and found a few good ones but Tommy can’t seem to keep anything consistent.
Hi! My daughter just turned 6 Months old this past week and has been exclusively breastfed (can’t believe we made it!!). On her “6 month birthday” we started her on solids. I gave her rice cereal. After 4 days she went from having 2-3 BMs a day to 0 and developed a questionable hive on her cheek. Not giving cereal for a few days now at the advice
Of the pediatrician. Considering I was so focused on exclusively breastfeeding her, I can’t believe how lax I was about the kind of solids I gave her. I have been giving her Gerber rice cereal…I didn’t scrutinize the ingredients list and didn’t realize it has a soy in it. Have you ever used Gerber products with your son? What brands do you stand by since this post? I am now interested in baby led weaning and was wondering how you made your own food to do this! Thanks for any advice!