His Plan, Not Ours: Owen is seven months old!

I'm seven months old!

At seven months old, Owen was (based on our scale at home):

Weight: 18 pounds, 5 ounces, 50^th percentile

Length: 27 inches long, 50^th percentile

He didn’t have an official doctor’s appointment this month, but we did go to the doctor on Wednesday for his second round of the flu shot. He did so unbelievably great. He started like he was going to cry, but didn’t really. And he was smiling just a few minutes later. He was so brave!

Eating:

Owen is still drinking five or six ounces of breastmilk at each feeding. He eats every three hours still until his last feeding in the evening. If wakes up during the night and I can’t soothe him back to sleep any other way, I give him a little four ounce snack bottle. He eats a meal of pureed fruits or vegetables two times a day, in the morning and in the evening. He still enjoys apples, pears, peas, and sweet potatoes. He tried avocado for the first time this month, but didn’t seem to like it very much. I think it was a texture thing. He also still hates bananas.

Alas, I am too tired to eat!

We bought new dining room furniture this month and love eating at the table together. Owen generally eats with us because otherwise we'd have to wait for him to go to bed to eat and that is a little later than we would like. Sometimes we wait and eat late though just to have some time alone. Anyway, Owen really likes the new table. He thinks it tastes great. Haha.

Sleeping:

Owen has woken up once in the middle of the night for most nights this month. Though he has slept through the night recently for three nights in a row. We think that was because he was sick though and we gave him some Benadryl to help with his runny nose and coughing. He slept unswaddled for the first time all night on Oct. 29. When he is unswaddled, he sleeps on his tummy. When he is swaddled, he generally breaks out of the swaddle during the night and I find him on his stomach in the morning. He naps about twice a day now for anywhere between 45 minutes and two hours.

Other Things I Want to Remember:

Owen is wearing nine month and size 6-12 month clothing. He wears size 2 diapers. He doesn’t wear shoes still. I think his feet are a little too big for size 2, but a little too small for size 3.

Owen’s hair is getting thicker and darker. And his “bald” spot in the back is growing in. His eyes are a dark hazel color.

This month Owen began sucking on his thumb occasionally. He drools a lot. We call Owen’s saliva corrosive because if he sucks or bites on anything made of paper like books or puzzles, they start falling apart. He loves playing with Tim’s hair and trying to play with mine.

Owen babbles a little more now. He seems to really be experimenting with the different noises he can make. He frequently “growls” at his toys. He can also make buzzing noises with his lips. We have been working on Mama and Dada, but Owen’s noise of choice is currently, “Buh-buh-buh.”

I am trying to teach Owen how to clap and high five. He hasn’t gotten it yet.

Owen loves shaking rattles and other things that make noise. He has starting throwing things intentionally on the floor. He really enjoys books, but has a problem trying to eat them. He loves this fabric book that my mom got him that he can chew on and wrinkle up the pages. Owen’s favorite part of any toy is the tag. He finds the tags on blankets, stuffed animals, and anything really and flicks it back and forth with his fingers and sucks on it and “talks” about it. Tim says that he’s reading the care instructions. Haha. He likes playing peek-a-boo, particularly if I cover my face with a blanket or something that he can pull off my head. He loves being surprised. If you pop up and startle him, it makes him laugh. This kid will seriously love scary movies when he grows up. Owen also wants whatever we happen to be holding. He is very curious. We let him check out whatever he seems interested in. Excluding sharp knives and matches and our cell phones.

Milk. Does the body good.

Owen is still happiest in the morning, though he perks up for about an hour in the afternoon when Tim gets home from work. Tim generally will creep in when he gets home and stand watching Owen play until Owen looks up at him and recognizes him. It is such a cute, cute moment when Owen breaks out in this huge smile and squeals with joy when he sees his daddy. Then they wrestle around on the floor for a while.

It's wrastling time!

Owen is not crawling yet, but does get up on his hands and knees and shifts his weight forward and backward. He also gets up on his hands and his toes. While Owen is not crawling yet, he does manage to move all over the floor though he tends to move backward or rotate in circles. I find him backed into corners and up under the coffee table frequently. It makes him pretty frustrated. The childcare workers at church call him a “toy monster” because he loves to play with all the toys in the nursery and will roll, scoot, army crawl, drag himself, or whatever it takes all over the floor to get to something that catches his eye.

Here are some photos from his seven-month photo shoot: