Seven months old

As unbelieveable as it is, Jacob turned seven months old two weeks ago. I am WAY behind on capturing all that is going on with him, but I wanted to be sure to post some of his recent accomplishments and talk about what he has been up to lately.

He did not have a well baby visit this month, just a nurse visit so that he could get his second dose of his seasonal flu & H1N1 virus vaccine shots. I was going to have them do a weight check for him, but it wasn't our regualr nurse and they seemed kind of busy, so I didn't ask. He goes back to see the doctor for his nine month visit in March. Until then, we are glad that he is a happy and healthy little boy!

Some of the new things he started doing in December are:

Reaching - He now reaches for almost anything. Especially things that he should be not touching! He loves to reach up and pull my hair or touch my face. It is really sweet to see him exploring everything with his hands. He has also started to reach up with his arms at times when he wants to be picked up from a sitting position, like in the high chair when he is done eating.

Yelling & Banging - He started making a loud yelling sound a few weeks ago, both when he is happy and when he is upset about something. I think he is just learning to make more sounds with his voice. He hasn't really started making discernable sounds yet (like baby babble) but I am sure that is coming soon. He also likes to bang on things, either with his hands or with other objects. He especially likes to bang his spoon or sippy cup on his high chair tray. Right now, I think it is cute, but I am sure there is going to come a time when it gets annoying!

Easily distractable - Thankfully, he is really easily distractable right now. If he is upset about something, he can go from crying to laughing in a second. If he is hungry or tired and I am not able to feed him or put him to sleep right away, usually singing a song like "Farmer in the Dell" or "Old McDonald" can distract him until I am able to get him what he needs. This is especially true in the car!

The only bad thing about him being easily distractable is that he is also such while he is nursing. He will stop if he sees Keith enter the room, hears a truck go by the house, sees the sun out the window, etc., etc. For the most part, it's ok that he takes his time, but when we have plans to be somewhere or we are not at home, it can be pretty nerve-racking to have him stop & start so much!

Teething - Right now, he has two very visible teeth (the two on the bottom) and so far no others have been felt or spotted. He doesn't seem to be a drooly baby so I am not sure if I will know when the next ones are coming in. Every now and then, he will be unusually fussy and we are not against giving him Tylenol if we think that will help (which is often when he is not napping like he should).

Eating - I am still nursing him 4-5 times every day and along with that he is also eating solid foods twice per day. These include both rice cereal & oatmeal. I have made homemade sweet potatoes & applesauce (which are currently his favorites) and am hoping to make more homemade fruits and vegetables. He has also had jarred peaches, carrots, and green beans. I tried a few different times to give him banana (fresh banana mashed up) but he spits them out. Other than that, he will usually eat whatever I give him, although some of the faces he makes (especially with the green beans) are priceless! I also gave him some yogurt (the plain full fat kind), but he had a lot of spit up the days that I gave it to him so I haven't given it to him since. I am going to try again next week to see if there is really a correlation between the spit up and the yogurt.

I also started allowing him to self-feed a little right after Christmas. I bought Baby Mum-Mums right before we left to go to PA for New Year's, but I accidentally left that at my parents' house. He "ate" one before we left, but he really didn't get the hang of it until a week or so after we got back. He really enjoys chewing and sucking on them and he does a good job of consuming almost the entire thing. I give him one to entertain himself while I am getting his solid food prepared and warmed up.

He is also getting better and better at using a sippy cup. My sister, Karen, suggested I get him the Nuk learner cup and he has done really well with it. He is able to chew on the nipple in order to get the water out but it doesn't spill all over when he bangs it around. His ability to swallow the water has gotten better and he seems to really like holding on to the cup. I haven't given him juice or anything but water and I am planning on sticking with that for awhile.

Positions - He is getting better and better at sitting up on his own, although he does still sometimes fall over. He also likes to be on his side a lot - I call it his "GQ pose" because he looks like he is modeling (at least I think so!).

Around Christmastime, he also started really liking to be upside down. When he is laying on my lap or I am holding him, he will throw his head back so that he is upside down. It makes me nervous sometimes because I don't necessarily know when he is going to do it. Sometimes this is a sign that he is getting tired too (especially when paired with him sucking on his fingers like he is doing in the picture below).

Jumping - Jacob loves to jump! He still very much enjoys being in the Exersaucer and he loves to jump on the floor or on our laps if we have him in a standing position. It cracks me up when he jumps so much that he gets out of breath - it is like he is doing his exercises!

Last week, while I was making dinner and waiting for Keith to get home from work, I had Jacob in the doorway jumper. I often have the radio on also while I am making dinner and Jacob seems to really enjoy the music. Well, just as Keith got home (as you can see from the video below), Jacob was really "getting his groove on" to Lou Bega's song "Mambo #5". Do I see dancing in his future?!

As you can see, Jacob is such a sweet and happy little boy. He melts my heart every time he smiles and I am so honored to be his mother. I can only hope and pray that he continues to be as happy and content for the rest of this life as he is right now.