Little Buddy: seven months!

 your 7 month photo montage

You have changed so much in a month (6 month post), well now it's been nearly two months since I wrote, and it blows my mind just how much change happens in you in just a few days, let alone a month.  I figured I better write something soon considering you are almost eight months - and it's hard to not write about the things you accomplished even today!

from one month to seven months

What have you done this month?  You are eating solids!  And I've been enjoying making your baby food and introducing you to new flavors.  I love seeing your facial expressions when you taste something new.  We started you on rice cereal and then started feeding you sweet potatoes, avocados, cauliflower, etc.  I was a little ambitious, probably introducing your digestive system to a few more things than it was ready to be introduced to, considering you didn't poop for days!  You love to sit in your highchair and you get so excited in anticipation for food - you kick your chair and wave your little arms. 

What else?  Your pediatrician recommended that you see a development specialist (something she recommends for all her preemie patients).  And your dad and I spent FOUR hours at the Center for Development and Disability - the physical therapist was very nice and she tested you for all sorts of things - can you grab a block, a ring, a string, do you track certain sounds, do you look at yourself in the mirror, can you roll over from front to back and back to front, can you sit up, etc.  Mom and dad walked away with all sorts of ideas and new ways to engage you.  And after all was said and done, you tested low on a few things (things having to do with motor development - you aren't sitting up yet and that was worth a whole lot of points!)  And she suggested we have you evaluated again because you might qualify for time with an occupational therapist.  Well, the OT's came out to test you and guess what ...you qualified and considering we have already paid all that we can to the insurance company, we figured we should take full advantage of these services.  What's the worst that could happen right?  They come to our home and it's basically a glorified playdate, plus they will give us tools to equip us to better care for you.  How can we say no to that?  I'm excited!  More to come about this in the next post.

You are fully moved into your little closet space and sleeping in your crib!  The rock n play sleeper was great while we had it, but I am now ready to give it back to it's previous owner.  We have now converted to a pack n play for overnighters away from home, and I must say I can't believe I didn't use that item sooner.  Love it!

We have fully embraced our routine and everyone is benefiting from it.  The routine is becoming our new normal, which is fantastic!  As I have mentioned before, you fall asleep at night fairly easy.  You may fuss for just a bit, but eventually, after a minute or so, you give into the sheer tiredness and the eye rubbing and the fussing ceases.  We are blessed - your dad and I know that 7/7:30 on is our time, and yes you may wake up at 10:30 or 1:30, but for the most part, we can count on those first 3 hours.

What else?  You celebrated your great- Grandma Glady's 90th birthday, and you met Bekah for the FIRST time - still can't believe you had to wait 6.5 months to meet her.  And your mom signed up to run a half marathon - only gave herself 8 weeks to train, and you have been the one benefiting from this - just means more runs with mama!

Jack Emmet - we love you dearly and we are so blessed to have you in our lives!!  And we are just so proud of you - you are moving further and further away from the 4 lb preemie we first met on January 6th.

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Stay tuned for more Jack updates!  He's 8 months on September 6th!  Nearly 2/3 of the way through his first year - now that is just CRAZY!

xoxo,

Malia