7 Months with Carter

April 28th-May 27th

I seriously cannot believe that my little guy is already 7 months old...that's the downhill slide to one.whole.year and I just can't even begin to think about having a one year old!  It already is starting to feel like I have more of a kid than a baby so I am just trying my best to soak in those fleeting moments where he lets me cuddle him close to give him a bottle or rock him to sleep.

Our little Carter man is still fitting in size 3-6 mos and 6 month clothes & size 2 diapers (size 3 at bedtime) but I'm thinking we need to go up to the next sizes ASAP.  Mommy may have to do a little shopping for some bigger clothes as most of what we got at the baby showers were size 3 or 6 months.

With Auntie Claire before her 8th grade formal

This month has been a big one in the eating category.  Carter has tried all sorts of new foods!  We started with sweet potatoes, then moved on to green peas, carrots, squash, and green beans.  Then closer to the end of the month we introduced some fruits...so far he has had prunes and pears. His favorites are definitely sweet potatoes and peas, with any fruit coming in at a close third!  He is really not picky at all.  The only issue we have is getting the next bite to his mouth fast enough to please him!  We were only feeding him fruits/veggies at supper time, but closer to the end of the month I began having the babysitter feed him a second meal at lunch.

He is also drinking an ounce or two of apple juice a day.  With the juice, everyday it is different.  Some days he will gulp it down and want more and others he will barely touch it.  I don't force it on him, just let him do as he pleases with it.  We are also still on the soy formula; he is taking 8 ounces each in a bedtime & morning bottle and three to four 6 ounce bottles throughout the day. 

Carter began sleeping from 8/8:30pm to 5/6am since starting solids! It's amazing to get an hour or two to myself at night and to still get a good night of sleep!  He's even down to once or twice a week when I actually have to get up in the middle of the night to give him his passy or even go to his room at all.  His only problem area in sleep is naps.  He can't stand to miss a thing, so it's hard to get him to nap on the go or at the babysitters.  I wish he could get on a nap schedule, but for now he just does as he pleases.  Let's just hope this sleeping through the night thing doesn't change too much when his first teeth start popping through!

Then vs. Now

Speaking of teeth, none have shown up yet.  Some days I can tell the teething pain is worse than others so on bad days we do teething tablets (a Godsend for us) and on really bad days we do tylenol.  Sophie the Giraffe is really getting her money's worth though.  I remember thinking how a silly giraffe toy could never be worth $20, but really, we love her around here!

Carter bug really learned how to get around more this month.  He is so funny!  He will "stand" on the top of his head and his feet with his back and neck arched in the air to scoot around.  We call it his crab walk because it is the closest thing we can think of to call such a strange movement.  He is also rolling all over and even beginning to pull himself up to his hands and knees in the crawling position.  I think by next month we will have a crawler!  Guess I need to be hitting up the babyproofing section next time I go shopping.

He has very little interest in sitting up still.  He has the strength to do it, as he will do it every once in awhile on his own.  I think since he can't be moving while sitting he just doesn't want to!  So instead, he is constantly on his back or belly rolling over or standing and jumping or walking while he hold his hands/arms.  This is making bath time very challenging for mommy because he doesn't want to lounge in his bath seat, but he doesn't want to sit in the bath tub either.  He doesn't understand he shouldn't roll into the water or that mommy can't bathe him while he stands and jumps in it!

Another thing that has become a major battle is diaper changes.  If I thought changing a tiny newborn was hard, you know I'm having a tough time now changing a baby twice that size and probably ten times as strong!  He is constantly trying to roll over on me and he has found his boy parts.  Every time the diaper comes off, his hands are down there.  I tell him each time that nothing went anywhere, he doesn't have to check...but he must be going through a phase because he just won't stop!  

In general, I think he is just going through this wild, crazy child phase.  He is really beating up on mommy & wallering us like crazy.  He has gotten really bad about pinching our faces/necks too.  I really think he is just exploring, but it has put lots of bruises and scratches on his momma!  We are trying to tell him "no" and smack his little hand to break him of it, but of course he gives us a big sweet smile and it's hard to discipline such a cute baby!  Thankfully, he has been giving lots of open mouth, slobbery baby kisses to make up for it!

But overall we have such a happy boy.  Everyone comments on how he is such a good boy & mommy has finally gotten more comfortable taking him places this month.  I took him to a fitting for my friend Heather's bridesmaid dresses with me one Saturday morning, then on the way home we even ventured out to the grocery on our own for our first big grocery shopping trip alone together.  He did so good!

This month we celebrated my first Mother's Day.  Unfortunately, Brent was the best man in one of our friend's wedding the night before, and we had a babysitter and had a little too much fun, so this momma was not feeling so great that morning.  Thankfully, Brent took good care of Carter man for me and by lunch I was back to myself and we were able to go to our family get-togethers and celebrate the moms in our lives.  Brent surprised me with a Pandora bracelet with a mom charm and a little boy on it!  He did great!

Daddy finished his apprenticeship school with the pipefitters' union this month so we will have him back the two nights per week he is usually at school!  Carter is actually going to get to see his daddy those days...and mommy is going to get to have some help! :)  But really, I am so proud of him for finishing the 5 years of work and school he has put in!  I'm very thankful for him having such a great job and for the fact that he really enjoys it.

Among the other big happenings this month was Carter's first pool "swim"!  The pool was way too cold for a true swim, but Auntie Claire held him and walked him around the pool with his feet/legs in.  He loved kicking and splashing, and he actually looked like a little dolphin the way he was wiggling!  Here's to hoping he continues to be a water baby, because mommy loves her pool time.  Soon after his little "swim" he passed out on a blanket in the shade! 

We also attended Carter's first Everita Bass Tournament, the annual Wilson family bass fishing tournament named after my great grandparents Everett & Anna Rita.  They had 15 children who went on to have tons of kids and grandkids so the extended family is very,very large!  After they both passed, the family started the annual fishing tournament to get everyone together and do something they enjoyed.  Everyone draws a partner to keep it all fair and different every year, and this year Brent got my cousin Mitchell.  They caught some great fish, but ended up in 5th place.  We had to get Carter in on the pictures at the weigh in.  Daddy wanted Carter to hold a fish and mommy shot that request down very fast!

Whew, we had a busy month!  I'm hoping to get back to posting more regularly if we can ever get things settled down around here....like that's going to happen!