8 Months!

It's hard to believe the little man is already 2/3 of a year old. He becomes more and more like a little boy, and less and less like a baby everyday. He's climbing up on everything, moving from toy (or piece of furniture) to toy (or piece of furniture). He's taken a few spills, but is quickly learning how to balance, or fall on his butt and get right back up again.

He's standing with one hand bracing himself, though he often removes that hand and scares the crap out of mommy. The kid is fearless. He doesn't even first try to balance himself, he just goes hands free without even thinking about it first, like he knows how to do it or something (he doesn't). But he's actually stood a few seconds before tumbling into my arms!

We experienced our first rash, and boy has it been a doozy! He got it last Monday and is still covered head to toe in red spots. The doc has confirmed it's not contagious, and it's not causing him any discomfort, it just looks horrible. Fortunately, I took these pictures the first night it appeared, while it was only on his tummy. That onsie is really just a clever disguise. :)

My most favorite thing in the world is that he now crawls over to me and onto my lap. He buries his face in my leg, or pulls on my shirt to stand up, then buries his face in my chest or my shoulder. It's simply the most precious thing on the planet, and I adore it.

Here's my little ham at 8 months:

The Last 3 Months

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7 months!

Okay, so E is almost 8 months now, but I never got around to my 7 month update. A lot has happened in the last month!

Everett now has four, count 'em four teeth. Two upper, two lower. He's working on his 5th now - the one next to his upper right. Contary to the others, it seems this one is giving him some trouble. Teething until now has been a breeze. In fact, I don't even know when he got his 3rd tooth. He threw his head back laughing one day and there it was - a pearly white tooth bud poking out from his gums, the first upper tooth he got. Since then, his new thing became grinding his teeth. The sound is like nails on a chalkboard to Kyle and I, and the kid just loves to do it. It sends shivers down my spine just thinking about it.

The little man is crawling! Everyone always asked me "is he rolling around the room yet?" and he never did. He hated his tummy, so rolling over onto it was something he simply wasn't going to do. He never scooted either. But a few weeks ago, after several days of countless attempts and resultant face plants, he crawled. And now our little man is all over the place! He is getting into so much mischief these days. And, parents of the year... we still haven't babyproofed. Oh my.

We found out Everett may have asthma. We've been doing breathing treatments morning and night, our poor guy. He hates them, and I mean absolutely despises them. The only way we can get him to lay there passively for the treatment is by powering on the iPad and playing renditions of "Wheels on the Bus" and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Thank you, You Tube, for allowing me to calmly administer medicine to my wee one. And I swore he wasn't going to watch any tv or videos as a baby...

Everett so looks forward to going to bed at night that the time between pulling him out of the tub and getting him to his room have become, well, antsy. The ordinary evening in the Frank house consists of fuss fuss fuss when getting him diapered and in his jammies for the night. This evening family time has quickly lost its ranking of my most favorite time of the day. :)

This kid has become so much fun over the last few weeks. We play and rough house and giggle and the amount of interaction just amazes me. He's like a little boy. I don't want this age to end.

And now for the 7 month photos...

Photo Catch-Up

I've fallen off the wagon on keeping up to date, so here's a recap of the last week:

I took E to Gymboree for a Family Music class. We're planning on hitting a class a week there, and this was our first time. E loved the drum, which is what he and his buddy Landon are leaning on below. He actually pushed himself up to standing and leaning on it! I was quite impressed. Love this picture of the two of them. Landon lives across the street from us and is 2 months older than E. Makes for fun, convenient play dates!


Our boy is all smiles as of late. I just couldn't resist capturing this giant grin on film. The look of sheer pleasure.


I picked up two new hats for E this week. I think hats are the only thing going in the way of little boys' clothes. There is far too much cuteness out there for little girls (it's a good thing we had a boy - we'd be broke by now!), but boys clothing seriously lacks. This hat was ridiculously adorable though, and even more adorable on the boy wearing it. :)

New Trick

Everett has a new trick! He's started opening and closing his mouth like a fish. It's so cute! I catch him doing it all the time now, I just love it.

Krumpin'

Picaso

Move over Picaso, this kid likes to paint! Pretty sure that's the beginnings of a masterpiece right there.

Chillin'

Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit for a few hours today. It was nice to get some things done around the house while they loved on their grandson!

Introduction to Solids

Today was a big day for Everett, and a big day for mommy! It was the first time Everett got a taste of anything other than breastmilk. It was bittersweet actually - exciting that our boy is growing up and getting to experience new things, but sad that the time is passing so quickly and that he is no longer solely reliant on me for food.

Though he's been showing interest in food for awhile now, we opted to hold out on him until he reached 6 months, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. To be honest, there was also a tiny part of me that selfishly wanted to still be the only one who could provide for my child. But the time came for him to find vital nutrition elsewhere, so here we are, in the throws of making our own baby food.

I can hardly believe it myself. Me, once "Mrs. Microwaveable Meals," making my own baby food. But as we continue down this journey of parenthood, I find myself longing to give him the absolute best that I can. If I fully experienced every moment of the pain of childbirth to bring him into this world naturally, why stop now? Slowly, though I never dreamed it would be, I find myself becoming more and more naturally minded. It took a child for me to become a hippie.

I successfully got off track, so let's bring it back to this morning. We decided Everett would skip the rice cereal entirely and go in right for the kill with avocado (my favorite!) I wasn't surprised that E loved it too (but honestly, I think he'd have liked whatever we put in front of him.)

Opening wide for the very first taste. A little unsure about what in the world is going on here:


Still on the first taste. I think it took a minute to figure out that there is, in fact, food other than breastmilk. Notice he's now leaning into the spoon. "Whatever that was, I think I need to find out more!"
"Hey, that was pretty good. Let me try some more of that stuff."

"I'll go ahead and take that spoon, thank you very much."

Clearly it went really well! The cleanup afterward... well, that was a different story. I sure hope I get the hang of this "making my own baby food" thing! I know it will come in time, but holy moly that was a lot of work for round 1!

Toofers!

I finally caught E's two teeth on camera. He kept flashing me big grins while he was wearing my hat. He must love the Gators like his mama.
And while there isn't any teeth baring going on in this one, I couldn't help but post it because it's just oh-so-cute.

Playtime with Daddy

6 month photos

E hasn't been for his 6 month appointment yet (it's Friday), so I don't have his stats. However, I do have photos! He's become quite the Mr. Personality.

UPDATE:
Weight: 16 lb 6 oz (25th percentile)
Height: 26.6" (50th percentile)
Head: 44.4cm (75th percentile)

Guess he got the true Frank head... :)

That's the look of sheer determination. "If I could... just... get... up!"

I like this whole getting my picture taken thing. Smile? Why, sure!

Enough smiling, my inner ham wants to come out and play.

This sitting up business is beginning to wear on me. Are we almost done here?

Really mom? More pictures?

Upside Down

It was only a matter of time before the rough-housing began, but I guess I'm lucky we made it as long as we did. I walked into the living room one evening recently to find Everett hanging upside down in his daddy's arms. I supressed my inner desire to completely freak OUT and, instead, bit my lip and tried to embrace this new phase of play we'd apparently entered. I've got to admit, the kid loves it. He always busts out with a giggle or a grin, and I suppose that's what daddy's are for anyhow, right? He has his mama to baby him. :)

1/2 Year!

I simply cannot believe that our boy is 6 months old today! On the way into work this morning, I looked at the clock at 7:28am and got all teary thinking that 6 months ago at that very moment, I was in the throws of pushing, anxious to finally meet the sweet boy that'd been taking up residency inside me for 37 weeks. Our lives have changed more drastically than I ever could have imagined. It is impossible to describe the joy he brings me every morning when I walk into his room and he breaks out in an ear to ear smile when he sees me. And cliche though it is, I am amazed every day that I can possibly love him even more than the day before.

A morning snapshot before heading to work.

Enjoying our dancing, screeching boy after work.

And a little sample of the musical stylings (aka "screechings")of Everett Isaiah :)