edmund at 7 months

We are once again shocked that our son is a month older – 7 months. With two of our friends having babies in December and January, it is an amazing reflection of how much children grow and develop each month. Once again, he has amazed us with all of the milestones he has reached.

This month Edmund got a bit chunkier which means that he finally has a few rolls on his legs and a little double chin. Anna has had to work extra hard for them since Edmund has Eric’s appetite. He’s still a fairly lean baby, at his 6 month appointment being 53% for weight and 85% for length.

He is finally growing hair on the back of his head and not just on top, which we hope will stop people from asking us if we purposely cut his hair into a mohawk. We are not that edgy.

Edmund also got his second tooth the beginning of this month. He now has both of his two front bottom teeth and they make him look like such a big boy. He’s recently discovered them and likes to press them against his upper gums, making him look like he is talking. He keeps it up because we laugh at him when he does it, so now he thinks it’s funny too.

We officially started little bear on big people food. We had started him on rice cereal the month before, but we are not sure how much that counts as big person food. We don’t know any adults that eat rice cereal. Not one. Edmund has eaten like a champ from the get-go. He has gobbled up carrots, squash, peas, avocados, sweet potatoes, parsnips, and apples this past month. I suppose it helps that Anna makes everything from scratch and she makes sure to try it before giving it to him. Per our pediatrician’s recommendation, we moved him up to two meals per day at 6 ½ months. He is now eating lunch and dinner.

We were worried about Edmund becoming a poor sleeper. Anna had read that between 4-6 months sometimes children stop sleeping through the night, but Edmund hasn’t woken up in the middle of the night at all this past month. He takes a morning and late afternoon nap (about 2 hours each) and sleeps about 11 hours at night. This has given Anna a lot of freedom during the day to work on things around the house, time to read, and of course, check facebook. We think a part of it has to do with how active he is. When he is awake, he is rolling or pulling on things or trying to crawl. Either way, it has been an enormous blessing. He also has started to wake up happy, which has been a nice change. He always wakes up from his naps in a good mood, but his first wakeup in the morning used to always include some tears. We can’t blame him because we wouldn’t be very happy if we were wet and hungry. Now, he wakes up and smiles and squeals when we come in to get him up. It’s so adorable that Eric actually will get him up before Anna has a chance to hop out of bed when he starts to make his morning noises over the monitor.

i'm ready to get up

Edmund has always been extremely active and has always wanted to roll around, but at 6 ½ months, Edmund has perfected the art of sitting. It took a while because Edmund didn't want to sit still long enough to actually sit. That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t fall backwards now and then, but he has learned how to catch himself with his arms when he falls forward and he can correct himself and prevent himself from falling to the side.

Edmund is on the verge of crawling. We are very excited for him to reach this milestone, but a part of us realizes that once he learns how, he will be even more into everything. We have a hard enough time keeping him out of things just from him rolling, which he is an expert at. He can barrel roll to whatever he wants anyway, and can sometimes get around our pillow barricades. We suppose it’s time to start baby proofing.

Edmund has become much more chatty this month. Although he doesn’t say real words and he isn’t signing yet, he does “talk to us”. He tends to talk more when it is just us around and nobody else. When he is in large groups, he will often be silent and as soon as we get into the car, he starts chirping in the back seat the entire ride home, as if he has been waiting to tell us in private about all that he saw. Eric was pretty shy, so we are thinking he might be the same way.

The month has been full of sweet moments. Valentine’s Day was a reminder of how much we love Edmund. We have loved seeing him grow, gain independence, and watching him learn. We sit and stare as he plays with his toys, sitting with his cheeks pressed out and his little lips pursed in concentration. He purposefully moves his limbs, not flailing them all over as he used to. He really is becoming such a big boy.

edmund's first valentine's day card

little bear

look at me roll over

It was about a year ago that we were finally telling people that we were pregnant. Everyone that had prayed with us for the months that we waiting were excited along with us. Seven new, exciting, and sometimes challenging months have gone by since Edmund was born, and the main thing we have learned is that children are worth it, all of it.
What is "it"?
It is everything.
-Eric and Anna