7 Months

My Hadley,

My, oh my! You are 7 months old today! And you are growing up and changing every day, it seems.

This past month was filled with new things for you - new tricks, new foods, new toys, new adventures.

The first big thing you started this month was eating solid foods! We waited as long as we could before we gave you anything but formula, but we finally decided (since you were grabbing at anything we put into our mouths) that you were ready for some food. And you love it! So far you have had rice cereal, bananas, sweet potatoes, squash, yogurt (Yo Baby), applesauce, peaches, carrots, and pears. So far your favorite seems to be the rice cereal. I have decided to make some of your baby food so it is healthier and cheaper, and so far I have made sweet potatoes, squash, and applesauce. This eating food thing has also helped us get on a really good schedule both at home and at daycare.

As of sometime during this past month you are now MOBILE!!! That's right - you are crawling (or rather scooting) everywhere these days. It kind of looks like a mix between an army crawl and an inch worm. Super cute!! You are beginning to get braver and more adventurous lately as well. At first you just stayed on the rug in one little area, but you have discovered the tile floor in the living room and I think you like it. It won't be long until you are following us all over the house.

You are also sitting up on your own (most of the time). Sometimes you get a little excited and topple over, but you are getting better and stronger every day!

This past week you got a new "toy"...a little swimming pool for the backyard. We have tried it out a couple times and will probably spend a lot of time there this summer. You're not quite sure what to think about it yet, but you definitely like being outside (no matter what you're doing), and you like watching (and trying to pet) Murph.

Earlier this week we took you to the park for the first time and you got to swing (which was lots of fun!) and slide with me. I'm sure in the years to come we will spend lots of time at the park as well.

The only negative thing about this past month is that you were sick (again) for a portion of it. Originally the doctor said you had allergies so he put you on Zyrtec. But after several days on that you were getting worse (stuffy nose, coughing, fever) so we went back to the doctor. That time he said you had some kind of bug (possibly brought on by the allergies) and he gave you an antibiotic (your third in four months) and some cough medicine. That was a couple weeks ago and you are still coughing some and your nose is still stuffy sometimes. Hopefully you will get completely over this stuff very soon.

I think the stage you are at right now might be my favorite so far. You are so much fun, you love to play with me and daddy, and you laugh and smile all the time. Your little personalitiy is starting to really show and it seems like you are a lot like daddy - laid back and pretty easy going.

I love, love, love being your mommy, Hadley! Thanks for being my sweet boy!

Love,

Mommy

Misc Pictures

Here's some fun pictures of me!

Love,

Hadley

Aunt Karah sent me this shirt!

Look, me and daddy match today

Mmmm...squash

Sometimes a boy's gotta take a little power nap

Drinking from a sippy cup like a big boy

Can you find me?

I love bathtime!

New toy

...for mommy & daddy that is...we got a Flip camcorder this past weekend so we are going video crazy at our house now. I'll try not to bore you with too many videos of him doing the same things, but how can you resist such a cutie!

Play Time

Hadley was cracking us up last night while he was playing.

Allergies

Hadley has been full of snot (literally) lately due to allergies. Yuck! This entire week has been a blur of runny noses, coughing, yucky eye boogers, and not much sleep. We are all ready for this to clear up!

I'm ready for this smiley, laughing boy to be back!

My Happy Boy

Hadley is so much fun these days. He is trying to crawl and actually does a pretty good job of it sometimes (more like an army crawl or an inch worm but super cute!). He is very happy most of the time, especially if someone is down on the floor playing with him.

A Day in the Life

Here's what Hadley did yesterday...

First he played in his jammies for a while

After breakfast he played in just his diaper

In the afternoon he crawled (scooted) everywhere playing

This table is in my way...maybe I can move it with my feet

I think I can fit under this couch Mommy, you need to clean under here!

Chillin' in my highchair...mmmm these fingers taste yummy!
...and soon after all this excitement it was time for bed.

Playing

Just for fun, here's a glimpse of what our lives sound like right now...

Food!

We finally decided to start Hadley on some solid food, and he LOVES it! So far we have just had rice cereal and bananas. Tomorrow we will try something new, probably avocados. Good stuff!

Full tummy = nap time!
Daddy's turn
Yummy!

Time for another nap!

Doctors, kittens, and grandmas

Doctors:

Yesterday was Hadley's 6 month visit to the doctor. Unfortunately, that meant more shots. He is very healthy, and is growing just like he should be. However, I think he remembered what happened last time we laid him down on the table with the crinkly paper, because he totally freaked out every time I laid him down on that yesterday. It was lots of fun (note the sarcasm). Here are his stats:

Weight: 16 pounds 6 ounces (about 50th percentile)

Height: 27 inches (about 50th percentile)

Head: 44.5 cm (about 75th percentile)

All of his measurements are pretty much right where they have been every time so far, so it appears as though he is growing very proportionately. And the best part of the visit...no more shots for six months!

Kittens:

This part of the post is very sad (just warning you). This morning when we were all leaving to head to work we had a little accident. When I started my car we all heard the most horrific noise (coming from my engine) so I quickly cut the engine back off. Eric was getting into his truck at the time and obviously heard the racket and came shooting around the front of his truck to see what happened. That's when he saw it and looked up at me with a pretty terrible look. One of our kittens (about 2 months old) was apparently in my engine when I started the car, resulting in the horrific noise mentioned above. At this point all we could hear was the poor kitten crying and meowing as loud as possible because she was in so much pain. Eric told me to go on because he was going to have to shoot her. I couldn't bear to watch, and he didn't want me to watch so I backed up and drove away, and as I did I heard two shots as he (mercifully) put her out of her misery. Although all of our cats are just barn cats, there to catch critters, it was still very sad to see, and I feel terrible about it. Not a good start to the day!

Grandmas:

I decided this post needed something happy to end on, so in honor of Mother's Day (yes, I know it was a week and a half ago) here's Hadley with his grandmas and great-grandmas who love him so much.

Nanny (Mandi's mom)

GiGi (Eric's mom)Mema (Mandi's grandma)
Grandma Molly (Eric's grandma)