7 Months Down

Nye was 7 months old yesterday and I feel already that I'm playing catch up trying to keep track of his latest developments.

Weaning
Weaning arrived at 6 months.  I was so excited to begin as he had started showing a real interest in food.  I would say after about a week he got the hang of it and has so far had a huge range of food.  I would say his favourite has been his lentil quiche and his least favourite is banana!  Baby led weaning has given me the opportunity/excuse to cook up a storm and I am slowly making my way through recipes in the River Cottage Baby & Toddler Cookbook as well as the Baby led Weaning Recipe book (as you'll notice from my other blog posts).

Today his menu went as follows,

Breakfast:
Greek yogurt with strawberry puree
Blackberry and banana muffin
fresh nectarine fingers
Lunch:
sausage pappardelle 
Spicy butternut squash soup
Fresh orange jelly
Tea:
Fresh Straberries
Apple biscotti

I sometimes think he's not eating that much but it would appear from the contense of his nappies that he is.  Let me tell you, reusable nappies have brought us a whole new smelly situation.  That said, we are still going strong as are his wonderful Motherease wraps and Totsbots nappies.  Neil doesn't believe the waistband will be able to last him until potty training, but he can't be the only chubster out there.

I have this week started giving him a cup of water to drink from.  We tried a sippy cup but he gets confused as the sucking action is different.  I've instead been helping him hold a cup so he can drink directly.  He so far finds it very exciting and wiggles with anticipation before the water hits his lips.

Sleeping
For almost 2 months Nye has been sleeping from around 6.30pm until 6.30am give or take a few disruptions.  I felt it was on the horizon when his sleeps were getting gradually longer and thankfully I was correct.  He isn't a clockwork baby mind you.  He has days where he naps for hours on end and others where he has cat naps.  Even some days he decides he can get by with just one morning nap, but he usually settles at some point between 6.30 & 7pm depending when daddy gets home.

He is always unsettled by travelling, I think it must be all the changes of faces and locations.  Depsite trying to do his bedtime routine as usual he is notoriously difficult to get to go to sleep, and if he does sleep he will wake early in the morning and feed on and off.  We are still recovering from our most recent trip away to our friends wedding last weekend!

Over the last 2 or so weeks he has started feeding less and I am still trying to get used to this!  I am slowly learning to get used to not nursing him to sleep every night.  There have even been nights where he is not hungry and Neil will rock him to sleep.  It feels weird that he doesn't need me to get to sleep any more and that he can do it himself.  He could do this before, but I would still be there just in case. So slowly I'm relinquishing control I suppose.

Play
This month has been busy.  Every day Nye gets closer to a new milestone and his current 'almost' skill is the crawl. It started with the dramatic arching of the back, now he's doing bouncy press-up type activities whilst staring at something he wants that is beyond his finger tips. Then he started with the backwards shuffle which he finds rather frustrating as he thinks he's going forwards but he already a  pro at the 360 degree turn.. Next I am certain it will be the forward crawl.  The cupboard locks are on, now we just need to put up the stair gates.  Can it really be that time for us already?

Nye likes noisy things. Banging mainly. His current favourite toy is the Vtech walker we were kindly given.  He can spot it a mile off and absolutely loves banging on it to make some noise.  The batteries are currently running down so the noises are becoming more and more grinding (on my ears) but he is still a fan!  The difficult thing is he can't be left with it as although he can stand holding on he gets tired and falls down.

He has long been a fan of his Lamaze dog and his Sophie le Giraffe which he has had since birth.  He happily spends time sucking on the dogs ear in the morning when he wakes up in his cot.  It is interesting to wonder how and why he chooses his favourites but amazing to be able to make a decision based purely on fun, interest and joy over anything else.

Other Bits and Pieces
Nye still makes his same old squeaks and squeals.  He has recently developed an excellent raspberry blowing skill which he is fond of doing until he is covered in dribble. He has started to make a B sound, which usually turns into a Bwah.  He loves to hear me say Dadadada and Mum Mum Mum and gets so excited but is yet to repeat it back.  I often wave hello and goodbye and I think he will start mimicking by the end of the month.

By far Nye's most favourite of all hobbies is sucking his thumb. He finds it oh so comforting and does it when he is mad or tired or even mad AND tired! It is seriously cute.