pearson {7 months}

Dear Sweet Pearson-

It's the 16th already??  How do the months just seem to fly by now that you are here?  I guess they always say, "Time flies when you're having fun!"  And baby boy, we are having so much fun with you!!!

 

You are such a happy baby.  We can just look at you and you will smile at us now!!  You give your biggest smiles to your Daddy.  Sometimes when he isn't even looking at you, you'll just look at him and smile.  You just love your Daddy!!!

In fact, you started saying "da-da-da-da" this month.  You don't quite have it associated with Daddy, yet, but his heart swells every time you say it.  We joke because one sure fire way to get your to say "da-da" is for me to say "Pearson- Can you say ma-ma?"  You always look at me and say "da-da"! Ha!

You are babbling lots of other sounds too.  You love to play in your crib and just talk and talk and talk while you play with your toys. I love hearing all the sweet new sounds come out of your mouth. 

You celebrated your first Christmas this month and you got lots of fun new toys.  You are having a ball playing with all of them.  I can sit you on the floor of the living room and you are so content to play for quite a while.  Your favorite toys are your blocks, your tool bench, and board books.  You also still really love playing in your jumperoo, especially when I open the window for you to look outside!!

You love your toys, but you prefer real things if we let you have them.  If we have our iPhones in our hand you will do anything to get to it.  You really love anything that you aren't supposed to have.  When we go out to eat, we'll give you a toy and all you want to play with is our cup, or the salt shaker or Mommy's hair, or phone.  You name it, if it's something you shouldn't have you want it.  At home the TV remotes and the containers to anything are also your favorites. 

Most of the time you like to play with your toys sitting up, but every now and then you fall over and then you just love to roll all over the living room.  You can finally roll over both of your shoulders.  You used to just roll over your right shoulder.  You would roll all the way across the room, then we would turn you around and you would roll back to us!!

You aren't crawling yet, but since you can roll, you are definitely on the move.  If I leave you on your tummy, you are never in the same spot when I come back.  I definitely have to keep my eye on you because you can pretty much get anywhere by rolling, scooting, turning or pushing back.  We will definitely have to start baby proofing soon because you have started to pull up on your knees some. I think crawling is going to be here soon.  

You went on two more road trips this month and did great!!  We went to Arkansas so you could meet your Great Grandma (Mema) and we went to San Antonio so Daddy could watch the Baylor Bears in the Alamo Bowl.  You also had your first hotel stay at The W in Dallas and you went to your first sporting event.  We watched the Men's Baylor Basketball team at the American Airlines Center!!

You have been sleeping good at night for the most part this month.  We still put you to bed around 7:30.  We lay you on your tummy, turn your sound machine on and you are out usually within 5 minutes. Every now and then you wake up once in the night needing your paci, but it's a quick fix, so I don't mind getting up for that.  You sleep a full twelve hours most nights, waking up around 7 or 7:30 and sometimes I get lucky and you sleep until 8:00.

I said you have slept well at night for the most part this month because for the past week we have had the joy of experiencing teething for the first time.  Your first pearly white popped through on the bottom last Saturday, January 7th.  For a few night you woke up screaming and you just couldn't settle down.  I had to nurse you in the middle of the night a few days and one night we were even awake from 11pm-2am and again from 4:30-6am.  It was a long night.  We tried Tylenol, Baby Oragel, and Hyland's Teething Tablets (not all at the same time), but I can't say any of those things really gave you any relief.  You seemed to only calm down and go back to sleep if I nursed you.   The past 2 nights you have woken up crying too, so I think we are on round 2 of teething.  I think I see the other bottom tooth coming through.  Hopefully it goes quick!!  Thankfully you seem to be fine during the day, you are just bothered by it at night.

You are on a pretty consistent napping schedule this month.  You nap around 9am and 2:30pm; your naps just don't last very long though.  We are lucky if you nap for an hour. Thankfully you go down easily and you wake up happy, so I can't really complain that they aren't long.   I still have to rock you to sleep, but it just takes me 5 minutes tops, and you don't fight it at all anymore. I decided this past weekend that I am not going to rock you anymore.  Your going to have to grow up and fall asleep on your own.  Unfortunately it's not going so well.  On Saturday you didn't take a morning nap and you screamed for about 45 minutes before you took your afternoon nap.  Sunday was better, you took a 45 minute nap in church and then took a great afternoon nap after falling asleep nursing.  But then this morning, you cried for an entire hour and didn't fall asleep, so it looks like we'll be trying again this afternoon to fall asleep all by yourself.

I have had so much fun giving you solids this month.  It give us something to do during the day, and it also helps me stretch our time when we are out.  I can usually give you some babyfood and it will tide you over until we get home so I can nurse you.

Last month we had only given you different kinds of cereals, sweet potatoes, and bananas.  This month you have had apples, pears, peaches, mangos, blueberries, peas, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, butternut squash, carrots, spinach, and corn and you have loved every single one of them.  I am so happy that you are such a good eater.  Your favorite food is definitely pears.  I can't get them in your mouth fast enough.  The funny thing is that I actually craved pears when I was pregnant with you!!

  

We are still nursing 5 times a day around 7:30, 11, 2, 5, and 7.  When I nurse you have started to get very distracted.  I usually have to nurse you without the TV on and without my iPhone or computer in sight.  We have started to just go in your room where it's quiet with no distractions to nurse. 

You are eating 3 meals a day now. I feed you oatmeal mixed with some sort of fruit for breakfast around 8:30.  I give you a fruit and a vegetable for lunch around noon and I give you a veggie mixed with some sort of cereal for dinner.  I sometimes give you a little fruit too for dessert!!  You also started eating puffs and Baby Mum Mums and drinking water from a sippy cup this month too.  It seems like you are eating all day long, but it keeps you happy and Mommy loves a happy baby!!

I've been more diligent about giving you bottles this month because last month you did not like taking them at all.  I try to give you atleast one bottle a week, which hasn't been hard since you go to the nursery on Sunday for church, every other Monday for MOPS, Tuesday for Bible Study and we now have people over on Thursday night for small group.  I usually nurse you at church on Sunday, but all the other times you are getting a bottle.  I am starting to run out of breastmilk because I quit pumping so you are now getting formula in bottles as well.  You are taking Simalac Advanced and seem to be doing well going back and forth between breastmilk and formula when needed.

I'm so glad that you are taking a bottle so well now because it makes it very easy for me to leave you in the nursery or with family.  It's always been easy, but it just takes a load off my shoulder now that I don't have to worry about pumping to feed to you!!  Every time we pick you up from the nursery at church they always tell us what a good baby you are, and that makes this Mommy so happy!  Lolly and Pops always enjoy keeping you too because you are such an easy baby!!

We usually get out atleast once a day whether it be a trip to Sonic, the grocery store, a lunch or breakfast date or a walk.  Wherever we go you are always a happy baby.  You love riding in the car and looking at yourself in your car-mirror, you love being in the stroller and looking out at everything, and you love sitting in a high chair and staring at people!!

This month has by far been our favorite because you are so alert and observant to all of your surroundings.  You are learning new things everyday and we are loving every second with you.  You are such a precious boy, Pearson, and we love you to the moon and back!!

Love-

Your Mommy

{7 month Stats}

Weight:    18 pounds  (ish)

Length:  28 inches (ish)

Eating: nursing 5 times a day (around 7:30am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm,  & 7pm) along with 3 meals a day (around 8:30, noon, & 6pm)

Bedtime: around 7:30pm

Awake: around 7:30am

Naps: usually 2 45 minutes to an hour naps around 9:00 and 2:30

Diapers: size 3's

Clothes: 9 months, 6-12 months, & 12 month hand-me-downs

Favorites: eating baby food, sleeping on his tummy, playing with your toys, bathtime, when daddy gets home, puffs, and your sippy cup

Latest Tricks: rolling all over the place, sitting on his own, babbling, saying da-da-da-da.

Look how you've changed.