My Amazing 7-Month Old
Zachary must have had some kind of internal clock that made him aware that his 7-month birthday was approaching. In the week surrounding it, he decided to learn to sit up on his own, try his first few bites of big-people food, and the biggie: crawl! We’re talking “official” tummy-off-the-ground crawling, as opposed to the rolling/army crawl combo that’s been allowing him to get into everything for the past month. Real crawling, and earlier than any of his other siblings did it. I think this little man is going to keep us on our toes as he gets older!
This boy keeps amazing me every day. He’s plowing right through the last of his little-baby milestones, and I can’t help but think that the next big ones to come signify the end of being a baby: pulling up, walking, weaning. You’d think by the fourth kid, I’d realize that they all grow up, but it happens way too fast. My first baby just finished Kindergarten, and loves being able to tell people she’s officially a first grader. How did I become a mom of a first grader already? I suppose it happens one little milestone at a time.
One milestone I wouldn’t mind reaching is sleeping through the night. Seven months old, and I’m still nursing him at least once, and occasionally twice a night. The tricky thing is that he shares a room with his sister, so there’s only so long I can let him cry things out. Not to mention he’s really, really loud when he cries. Incredibly loud, and if he wakes up theother two boys, we’re in for a world of trouble, because they’re miserable to get back to sleep. So given the options of: 1-Waking most of the rest of the household while Zach tries to put himself back to sleep, or 2-Hauling myself out of bed to feed him, I’m going with #2.
He seems to be genuinely hungry during the nighttime feedings, which is possible since he frequently has trouble focusing on feedings during the day. There’s just a lot going on in our house, and he’s at an age where he wants to be part of the action, or at least see what’s going on. The rest of the room is usually more interesting to him that facing toward Mommy, so feedings get interrupted. Then he makes up for it in the middle of the night, when he doesn’t have any better offers for his attention. It’s not ideal, and I’m hoping we’ll all be sleeping through the night soon, but at this point I’m not holding my breath.
On the bright side though, Zachary continues to become a really fun little person to be around. The older kids love that he’s able to start playing with them more each day. He loves cars, balls, books, and other big-kid toys, and we’re constantly trying to keep toys that aren’t good for him out of his reach while allowing him to start exploring some of the other things that won’t be choking hazards. The older siblings love to interact with their brother, and frequently fight over who gets to “see” him (even though they can all see him just fine; they have to be the one right in his face. It’s kind of sweet in a way, even if it’s annoying sometimes!).
Zach smiles, coos, and laughs at all of us, and has started to turn on the charm for friends and acquaintances too. He flirts with ladies at the grocery store, now that he sits in the cart seat like a big boy. He loves to be held by people at church or other get-togethers, and doesn’t seem to have any stranger issues like the other kids had. Maybe it’s because he’s forced to go with the flow being the youngest of four kids, but Zach seems to be a laid-back, easy going kid. I hope he stays that way!
