Grady is SEVEN Months!

Weight: 19 lbs 7 oz according to his doc appt last week  

Size 3 or 4 diapers

size 4 shoes (impossible to find cute boys shoes that dont weigh 40 lbs!)

size 6-12 months, 6-9 and 12 months depending on brand of clothes

Daily Schedule

Grady is ironing out his own napping routine, and even though the time change threw him off a bit, we have determined that he takes two naps a day.  One in the morning and one in the afternoon.  If the morning nap is short (45 minutes), then the afternoon nap is long (1.5 hrs).  If the morning nap is long, then the afternoon nap is short.  It works out nicely on days we are home, and he continues to travel well and easily power through a Walmart run after dropping Whitney off at school.  At nap time, as we walk to his room, he gives the best snuggles, burying his head in my neck and wrapping his tiny arms around my shoulders.  He snuggles up to me and his monkey blanket, rubbing his eyes with the satin and cuddling tight before letting out one last long sigh and drifting off.  I will miss these moments and the sweet "talks" we share before he closes his eyes.  He grabs my nose, pinches my face, talks, smiles, and is just so content to cuddle and ignore the rest of the world.  That is a routine/schedule I cant get enough of!

Activity

I spoke too soon.  Grady is refusing to wait until Christmas to crawl.  He is officially mobile and loving it.  He realllllllllly wants to pull up on us, the couch, the toy box. He hasnt mastered the belly-off-the-ground crawl yet, but we've had a few days on the go, he is battling a ROUGH cold and terrrrrrible cough, and I just think he hasnt had enough time to perfect it yet.  He has the army crawl down and can get across the room in no time, making his way to any toy, crumb, or shoe his little heart desires.  He will intermittently wave on command the same way Whitney did at this age.  If you raise his arm and say "Hi, Grady!" he will wave his little hand about 75% of the time.  The other 25% he just stares and is clearly wondering why we keep asking him to perform on demand.  

He has become increasingly more difficult to bathe this month.  He is soo mobile that he doesnt want to sit still in the blow-up duck tub anymore.  He was trying to reach for the sides of the tub to pull up, grab the shampoo, etc.  I took the duck tub out of the equation and sat Grady in the tub on his own.  He did great! Splashing more, sitting still,...who knew more freedom could lead to better behavior? :) 

Grady is so happy to grocery shop now that he can sit up on his own and make friends down every aisle.  He is still super happy to be left on the floor in the playroom with a basket of toys and books.  I was putting some clothes away in our room yesterday and I called him from our doorway.  He is perfectly capable of making his way across the hall and into our room, but he was content to just keep playing with the toys I had left on the floor in the playroom.  He is just so chill and laid back. 

Football? Check. 

Hammer? Check. 

Remote? Check. 

Favorite Dog? Check. 

Mommy? Check.

Hi. :)

He rolled across the playroom on a mission to get my toes.  Mission: accomplished. 

Bailey still remains Grady's primary target.  I think he's practicing for a stealth mission :)

New-found mobility is teaching Grady a thing or two about bonks and bumps and bruises.  He seems to sway from side to side as he makes his way forward, and those movements lend themselves to a lot of head-bumps and mean deaks that jump in the way. After banging his head on this desk three times in less than 40 seconds, Grady hauled off and SMACKED the desk with his arm as hard as he could.  Take THAT, dumb desk!

After his second doc visit of the week, Grady was still happy enough to do some Christmas shopping with me.  Such a trooper :) 

Sleeping/Napping

As I mentioned, Grady is nicely settling into a two-nap schedule that works great! Most mornings he is up between 7am and 7:30am, but occasionally he will wake around 6:45, take a quick 4oz and fall back to sleep til 8:30 or later.  His cold and a growth spurt and learning new things and gaining mobility and working on two more teeth.....well, it leads to great naps.  He took about 15 cat naps yesterday as we were out and about, and then today he took a three hour nap.  He gets enough sleep to keep him happy and refreshed, and more importantly, he is still sleeping through the night. Thats critical. :) 
Another sleep-related note: This month Grady and I enjoyed more than a handful of couch naps.  He would eat a bottle around 3pm and fall asleep in my arms.  It was too sad to imagine laying that sweet sleeping babe in his crib all alone, so I would put aside whatever to-do list I had planned to tackle and end up sitting on the couch holding our snoozing little man until he woke up.  EVERY day I would tell myself I was going to lay him in his crib, and EVERY day I sat on that couch instead.  I just know these snuggly times are so limited, and justified it by saying "Once he is mobile, he wont want to lay in my arms anymore."...and I fear I was right.  He has been more mobile towards the end of his seventh month, and I dont think its a coincidence that his arm-napping has dwindled.  Ive also been laying him in his crib more so he can get more restful sleep since he's been fighting a cold.  Im not-so-secretly hoping for some extra cuddle time in the months before he starts walking.....then, I KNOW our cuddle days are limited. 

I am a strong chick.  But sleeping baby snuggles are my kryptonite.  I CANT make myself put him down!

Eating

Grady has finally figured out hand-eye coordination enough to get those puffs in his mouth.  He is liking more baby food flavors and is trying all kinds of new "people foods" in tiny bites.  Hes had chicken and pasta and bread and cheese and yogurt and banana and apple and crackers and peas and....pretty much anything we have on our plates.  The doctor said there is no reason to withhold any foods except for peanut butter and honey. Grady is totally capable of mashing up food with his gums enough to swallow.  He is good with most textures and tastes and I dont think weve found anything he absolutely refuses to eat.  He still takes 4oz bottles five or six times a day and is getting pretty good at drinking from his sippy cups.  He likes cheerios and puffs and cheese puff snacks by gerber.  

Personality

Grady has been to the doctor twice in the last week for an awful cough that his sister shared from school.  Its sad to turn the humidifier on night after night, knowing that is the ONLY thing we can do to really help him.  The doc says it lasts 7-14 days and is just NOT fun for anyone involved. Thankfully he has been pretty easy going about it.  He lets me suction his nose whenever I want.  He is generally happy or calm even if Im starting to miss my smiley guy.  Today is the first day I can say he is doing better.  He isnt unhappy or miserable the way I would be if MY nose was as gross as his is right now.  He just lets it roll off his shoulders and carries on with life.  Several people have mentioned how laid back and easy going he is this month.  He is rarely upset or difficult to figure out.  If he is crying, the reason is obvious.  He dropped a toy from his car seat or he banged his head on the desk (again) or he ran out of puffs on his high chair tray.  He is easy to please :) Clearly he gets that from his Daddy :) 

Grady gets compliments everywhere we go.  He smiles and makes friends in Walmart and little old ladies ADORE him.  He likes my dad above everyone else though.  NO ONE can get Grady to smile and laugh the way my dad can.  I love it.  I also love that, when in doubt, Grady turns to me as if to ask "Is this person okay? What do you think? Should I smile this time?" when we are approached by a stranger.  He hasnt shown any signs of separation anxiety yet and will allow anyone to hold him.  But I have to admit I love those looks he gives only to me.  Like he knows I am looking out for him and he can trust me to keep him safe.  He is my little meatball :) 

Sibling Fun

As Grady becomes more mobile and is able to make his way towards Whitney's toys, I figured we'd hear more drama from the big sis, but she has been really good about sharing and especially great about keeping small pieces out of his grasp.  I remind her continually, but she really is on the ball, quickly rushing to grab a small Doc McStuffins shoe from Grady's reach this weekend.  He still cranes his neck to see what she is up to and is mesmerized when laid on the floor in her room when shes getting ready for school in the morning.  He looks for her every time I put him in his car seat and quickly notices if shes not there, giving me a sad look like "Where is she!? I miss her!" She hands him toys to keep him happy and makes silly faces and sounds (LOUD sounds!) to make him belly laugh.  A year and a half ago I thought our family was complete. Now that I see Whitney with Grady, I know we werent truly complete.  They just go together like peas and carrots and best friends.  She is already looking out for him and so in love with this little dude.  His face lights up when he sees her coming towards him.  Its really priceless to hear her saying sweet things to him and listening to him chuckle at her. 

Happy SEVEN Months, Meatball! "We love you to the moon and back and around the block," says Whitney. :)