7 Months

I just love that wide open mouthed grin this boy has! He seriously has the best smile. Austin is now 16 lbs 6 ounces and 26 1/4 inches tall. He is about an inch shorter than Jacob was at this age and weighs about the same. He is wearing size 3 diapers and 6 month clothes. I think the time is going by so fast! I can't believe Austin is already 7 months old. Life has just been so busy I look back and feel like I haven't been able to enjoy his at all. I feel like I missed out on his infantcy. But then I think how hard and challenging it has been and I'm glad we are where we are. I think I'm ready for life to slow down a bit though. I don't want to miss him growing up. Life just needs to slow down a little!

Austin has really taken off learning to work his body the past week and a half... It all started when I decided I was going to re-teach him how to roll over from his back to his stomach. He used to do it but then stopped. Well.. It took like an hour before he was doing it on his own and he didn't stop after that. Every day he got better at working his body and can now get up on his hands and knees, transition from sitting to hands and knees and can get himself back up into a sitting position from the ground. He is so so close to crawling and I know as soon as he figures it out he is going to be off! I really think it will be within the next week. He seems to be happier, especially now that he can get himself back up to a sitting position if he falls over. He has also gotten up onto his feet a few times on lower objects. So I don't think it will be long before he is pulling himself up next to the couch either.

This boy is a mama's boy. I have gotten to the point that I avoid the area he is in because if he is happy and sees me he will automatically get upset because he wants me and if he is already upset then he gets really angry if he sees me and I don't pick him up. I know I should love it, but it kind of drives me crazy. The reason I don't think I enjoy it as much is because even when I do pick him up he isn't content to just be with me. It's like he can't get close enough to me and acts like he is trying to absorb himself into me body! He also tries to eat me and is pretty uncontent even when I hold him. I know most of his behavior is because he isn't feeling well in some way but it can still get frustrating. Every once in awhile he will just sit contently with me and cuddle with me and that I do very much enjoy! He is our little cuddle bug and I think as he gets older he will start cuddling more and more. And he is still the best cry/smiler I know! Even when he is upset you can usually get a good smile out of him and if your really good a cry/laugh out of him. Even though he tries to be angry he just can't help but be happy. Although he's a mama's boy, he still goes to anyone just fine and smiles at everyone. It's cute because when I'm holding him and others talk to him or smile at him he usually will turn to me and give me this look like, "Is it ok if I smile at them?" Then turns to them with a big grin. He will also get all shy sometimes and when anyone talks to him he leans his head onto my shoulder. Yes. I do think it's adorable!

Some fun things Austin is doing right now is suck on his top and bottom lip, fake cough, shoving all his fingers in his mouth and gagging on them, and when he is angry, blow raspberries with his mouth and rotate his hands in a circle while opening and closing his fingers. He loves attention and being played with and tickled. Usually all Scott or I have to do is lay on the floor and let him crawl all over me and that will make him pretty happy. He also seems to enjoy changing his diaper and will calm down as soon as I start changing it. Then as soon as I'm done he usually starts crying again. Sometimes while I'm changing his diaper he will clasp his hands over his chest and I think it's really cute. Austin is getting better at working the walker but still hasn't quite learned how to move forward in it. He also spends a lot of time in the jumper still and will stay pretty content as long as I'm right there next to him. It's usually where he hangs out while I'm cooking dinner. Austin still doesn't love baths and still seems to have a fear of it. So I still want to work on that.

Sometimes with Austin I feel like we take 2 steps forward, 1 step back. He was doing so good and seemed to be so happy a month ago and this past month I feel like he has gone back to being pretty fussy most of the day. I know he doesn't handle pain and discomfort well but sometimes I feel like it doesn't matter what I do or don't do or what I'm cutting out of my diet he still seems to be in discomfort or unhappy the majority of the time. I really think his digestive system is immature or hasn't quite figured things out yet and that is why I have to be careful with what I'm eating. We've done allergy testing and everything has come back normal. So I really think I just have to wait it out until his body can figure out how to handle food better.

About a week ago we did start Austin on solids and I probably should have been more careful with how I started him but he just loves food so much, and I hate the whole feeding process so much, that it was just easier to feed him table food. Well after about 5 days he got very fussy and pretty much stopped pooping so I stopped solids. Again, I think his digestive system is pretty sensitive still so it just upset his stomach and intestines. I'm going to take a break and let him body get back to normal then I'm going to start into solids again much slower. It's just hard because he just loves food and wants to eat everything! I had started him on some finger foods as well but stopped then before he really figured out how to do it. We are still nursing every 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Every once in awhile a 3 hour stretch, usually in the morning because he doesn't usually want to eat right after he wakes up or if he takes a long nap. He has started playing with his feet while he nurses and I just think it's really cute.

This past month I really started focusing in a Austin's sleeping. I was so tired of him being up till 11 or midnight. But with lots of hard work we have now moved his bedtime up to between 9 and 10! YAY!!! We still have to be careful and really watch his evening nap... But we have done pretty good. He is still getting up anywhere from 3 to 5 times a night. Most nights it's just every 2 hours. And I feed him because he goes to sleep so much faster if I just nurse him back to sleep and I'm too tired to take the time to rock/bounce him. And he gets up between 8 and 8:30. I also have spent some time trying to teach Austin how to fall asleep on his own and a couple weeks ago he started doing it really well! ..... For about three days....
And I thought it was funny because when he started putting himself to sleep and I just had to lay him in his crib and leave, A) I just felt like I had so much more time because I wasn't spending a huge chunk of my day putting him to sleep, and B) I surprisingly felt kind of sad because I felt like Austin didn't need me anymore and that he was growing up. I guess good thing he only did it for a few days! Haha. He has been taking good naps though. He takes 3 to 4 naps a day and will usually have one or two long ones. We'll figure this whole sleeping thing out someday.... I would really love if he started sleeping longer then 1-2 hour stretches. As well as put himself to sleep.

Austin was sporting a nice bruise across his forehead for a few days. Jacob wanted to hold him and then while he was holding him decided he wanted to take off with him. Unfortunatly for Austin, while he was walking he got top heavy then kind of started running, then ended up falling on top of Austin hitting Austin's head on the wood edge of the recliner. :( He felt really bad. But of course, even after a hit like that Austin comes right back around to sport his new bruise with his smile.