Our Little Casita: Toby: 7 Months!

Another FUN month! It really does get better every month, I swear! Best thing about this month is how independent he is getting but he’s still non-mobile – I’m soaking it up while I can. He loves playing on the floor and will keep himself entertained for awhile so I can cook, clean, and actually eat breakfast and lunch at normal times. Since he can sit well unassisted, he’s been able to try out more stuff. He’s sat in a restaurant high chair and in the front of shopping carts, so going out and doing errands has gotten a bit easier. He also is able to swing at the park now! So cute.

He prefers to sit instead of being on his belly right now so he hasn’t made much progress with crawling. He has started to rock back and forth on his knees but it only lasts for a minute or two before his arms give out and he starts fussing. He has slowly managed to creep forward a few inches but that’s only happened in the past day, and it’s more of a weird army crawl on his tummy.

I have also noticed how happy he is now – he smiles and laughs out loud all the time and you don’t have to work hard to get him to do either. I remember throwing one of his soft blocks up in the air and he burst out giggling like I showed him the coolest thing ever. He’s still very serious, especially when focusing on playing with a toy, but he’s definitely more smiley these days.

Something else that has really changed this month is his schedule. He pretty much put himself on a schedule once he started waking up consistently at 6:45ish. He is good with eating every four hours now and can stay awake for 2-3 hours at a time so we are following a 2-3-4 schedule (first nap 2 hours after he wakes, second nap 3 hours after he wakes from first nap, then sleep 4 hours after he wakes from 2nd nap). It’s nice knowing how our day will typically go ahead of time so I can squeeze in some errands or park time in between naps.

Things we have to look forward to for next month…yoga and swim classes! Yes, we will be busy, busy, busy but it’s all good. He is moving up to the Tots class for yoga since he’s almost crawling so I’m curious to see if there will be any other babies his age or if they’ll be older since this class goes up to 24 months. And swimming starts in February – Hubby will be doing that class with him. It’ll be fun to see how Toby likes being in the water.

Weight: Guessing around 16 and 1/2 pounds? Was 15.9 at the doctor’s on New Year’s Eve.

Height: Has to be at least 27 inches.

Medical Issues: Skin is finally clearing up! A combination of hydrocortisone cream, Vaseline and eczema lotion finally helped. Now we just keep up with applying regular Aveeno baby lotion in the AM and PM but other than that he’s good! Haven’t had to use an eczema bath packet in awhile. Trying to be careful with his eyelids and make sure they’re not too dry – on New Year’s Eve, his eyes were swollen when he woke up and he kept them closed during a diaper change which was really weird. He was okay after that, but then started crying while he was playing and was shutting his eyes again, so I called the doctor and they recommended he come in. He didn’t have pink eye or any other kind of infection so she thinks it was his eczema flaring up…which basically means a little Vaseline goes on his eyelids.

Sleep: Can’t complain in this department. He sleeps from 7:45PM until about 6:45AM. Straight through! Wooo! He very rarely wakes up and requires one of us to go in and soothe him. I can only think of a couple times it’s happened in the past month and both times were before 10pm so I was still up. Sometimes he will randomly wake up at 5:30am but he plays quietly in his crib and talks to himself and then usually falls back asleep. Naps are good, as well – taking one in the morning at 9am and one in the afternoon at 1:30pm. I would say 75% of the time he naps for 90 minutes at a time, but sometimes he does wake up after 45 minutes and won’t fall back asleep. I’ve noticed if he takes a long morning nap he doesn’t always take a long afternoon nap. Also, if I sing the ABC’s to him while putting him in his sleep sack, he won’t fuss as much.

Clothes/Diapers: I thought he’d be in 6 month stuff for awhile but so many 9 month and 6-12 month outfits fit already and they are not that baggy! All 6 month pants and one piece jumpsuits were retired. Can still fit in 6 month onesies though the arms are a bit short. He’s in size 2 for diapers but oh man are they tight. Thankfully we only have 20 left to go and then we can move on up to 3’s. He’s also been leaking the overnight diapers this past week so we’ll probably have to move up to 4’s in those. I’ve tried doubling up diapers overnight and he still pees through them!

Diet: Gets four 7oz bottles a day at 7AM, 11AM, 3PM and 7:15PM. We made it 6.5 months with breastfeeding (was down to one nursing session in the AM and pumping once a night and then I officially stopped). Also eating solids twice a day – has oatmeal or yogurt in the morning at 8:15AM. Then has a fruit or veggie or meat puree for dinner at 5PM. Usually eating about 3-4oz for each meal. New foods he has tried this past month include peas, pineapple (with pear), prunes, mashed potatoes, turkey (puree with sweet potatoes), blueberry yogurt, pumpkin with cinnamon, chicken (puree with apples). He’s loved everything except for mashed potatoes. Hated them – did some serious sour faces and then ending up crying after the third day of trying. Maybe that means he won’t be a fan of french fries? ;)

Baby Gear Love: Rings toy, blocks, teethers. High chair is being used multiple times a day now and I’m glad we got a space saver one.

Milestones/Firsts: Sat in a restaurant high chair right before Christmas. Starting sitting in shopping carts in late December. Started practicing using a sippy cup on 12/23. Starting saying “K” sounds in early January (like “kite” or “kiss). Started to get up on his knees and rock back and forth but hasn’t really moved forward yet. Stopped using a pacifier in early January (basically weaned himself as he was never hooked on them).

Likes: Playing “Peekaboo” when you drape a burp cloth over his face. He will take it off fast and then look at you all surprised. Still loves looking at board books, jumping, helping you clap your hands (he grabs onto each hand while you clap but doesn’t clap on his own yet) and sitting on the floor playing.

Dislikes: When a garbage plastic liner is opened very fast – hates the noise and will start crying. Will only want to be on his belly for a short time before fussing. We are trying to see if he’ll start crawling but he’s more interested in sitting at this point.

Things I don’t want to forget: How sometimes he sits on the floor and flaps his arms really fast like a little bird. How he’s been a little shy once in a while and will rest his head against my shoulder and try to hide. How much he giggled when he was swinging in a park swing for the first time. How ticklish he is! And how he will smile really big when he sees one of the kitties walk by. I can tell they’re going to be in trouble once he’s officially on the move.