Lucky number seven

Seven months old.

Wow!

What can I say about this month that hasn’t already been said during my diarrhea of the mouth month of blogging? I have written more this month than ever before, so most of the big events are already documented. At his last doctor’s appointment he weighed 19 lbs and was 27″ long. Still in the 90th percentile for height and the 75th for weight. He’s now wearing size 9-12 month clothes, and I feel like in a few months I’ll need to be shopping at Hollister for him.

Oh, there is one thing that I haven’t mentioned yet… the arrival of teeth! My mom and I wrestled with Garrett the Gator for a while this afternoon to get this photo. Mom pried his mouth open while I snapped away, and finally got the money shot:

TWO WHOLE TEEF!! Check it out! I’m SO glad these finally came through. The chewing and slobbering and crying fits have lessened this week after the 2nd one broke through the skin.

And he is sleeping better this week again, which is wonderful. I’m sure I just jinxed myself tonight by saying that. And there is still drool, just less drool than before.

In national news, Hurricane Ike just devastated the Texas coast in the Galveston and Houston area. Our prayers are with everyone who has been affected by this storm. Before that Hurricane Hanna, Gustav and Fay all roared through the US but none did any extensive damage. Garrett got to experience his very first tornado drill as a result of Hurricane Fay back on the 25th of August. When I dropped him off at preschool I found out there was a tornado warning so I just stayed with him until it was over. We had to take all the kids into the hallway where it was safe. Thankfully they didn’t make me sit Indian style on the floor with my head between my knees. I don’t think my body will contort that way nowadays, not that it ever really did. All the kids did great, so that was a relief. Lots of bored 2, 3, and 4 year olds in a cramped hallway = loud which = pounding headache, but well worth it if a tornado had actually struck. I hate to say this, but I’m sure it is just the first of many more to come in G’s life. Living here in tornado alley is never fun.

Football season has arrived and J is all up in some SEC football right now. Auburn just beat Mississippi State 3-2. Well, Whoopeddy Doooooo! What a pitiful score, but at least they won.

War Eagle, everybody!

On the developmental front, we are hearing a whole lot of babbling. When he is playing he will babble on and on like he’s having a conversation with his invisible friend, Mr. Nobody. Most frequently said is “yayayayayaya” and “dadadadadada”. Of course everytime I hear that I reply back to him with “mamamamamamama” but so far it isn’t working. Occasionally we’ll hear “Eiyiyiyiyiyi!” and it makes me have a craving for Mexican food.

We still haven’t seen any true crawling yet, although he can certainly get where he wants to go just by army crawling on his belly. I watch him on the video monitor at 4 am crawling and rolling all around his crib, checking out all four corners before rolling over on his side or belly and falling back asleep.

He can run in circles around his playstation, stopping momentarily to examine his fingers and how interesting it is when they wiggle, then off he goes again, running and running in circles in the Around-We-Go. His other favorite toy right now is the jungle treehouse rolling ball thingie that Mom bought him. He loves to push the button and watch the balls spin around.

He can pull up by holding onto J’s hands, and my mom is convinced he is going to skip crawling and go straight to walking. He is still a little wobbly sitting up, and has the potential to fall over at any moment. After getting the boo-boo on his cheek I went out and bought his preschool classroom several large rugs so that those babies can crawl on something softer than VCT on concrete.

He has several new tricks, including coughing on demand. Val taught him that at work one day, and we all laughed so much about it that he does it now to see if he can get a reaction from us. He also has this uncontrollable head shake thing going on that has turned into a fun game. Anytime someone shakes their head “no” he will do it right back at them. And sometimes he does it unprovoked, almost like a nervous tic that he just can’t keep from happening. I hear it’s normal and hope it goes away soon, but let’s hope he doesn’t give himself Shaken Baby Syndrome in the meantime.

Another new development that has presented itself this week is the ability to pitch a hissy fit. When he is tired and something doesn’t go his way, watch out. Legs kicking, arms flailing, back arching meltdowns. I am not happy about this new behavior at all. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does I just have to try not to get hurt in the process. He is a bag o’ muscles, and can easily make you yelp if he punches, kicks or pinches you. And if you tell him no, usually he will just laugh at you like it’s the most hilarious thing he’s ever heard.

Solid foods are being woofed down by the spoonfuls at breakfast, lunch and dinner. Every night before bed I stuff him full of banana flavored oatmeal mixed with applesauce, and he loves it. I swear it’s helping him sleep better, although maybe it’s all coincidental. He’s even eating Nilla Wafers and graham crackers from his mesh feeder, and loving every bite. So far he has eaten everything that we put in his mouth, except for the mango. That was not a hit whatsoever.

I’m turning 31 years old on the 17th this week. How I got to be so old I don’t really know. Thirtysomething was always something that seemed so far away in the distance, but now here I am in it. I’m so thankful that my little miracle baby is here to keep me company on this birthday. I’m also thankful to have a wonderful husband at my side who does as much or more of the parenting around here as I do. I realize what a special blessing that is, and I truly appreciate everything that J does. He is a great Daddy! The 30’s are going to be prime Mom time, and I’m trying to enjoy every minute of it! Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers so maybe I’ll remember my next 30 years, or something like that…

I love you, my sweet baby G!