Seven Months

Whoops...Ford will be eight months old in just five short days, and I'm just now getting to my seven-month post!  It's been a wild and wooly month -- filled with trips to the Big Apple (a smashing success, as I'll detail below), broken washers, nearly broken hands, sleepless nights (still!), lots of new foods, and a certain little dude that despite his nightime miseries, manages to just bless my heart every single day.

First, NEW YORK:

Ford was a champ.  Seriously.  Best little traveler ever.  One of my favorite moments of the trip was when we were going through the scary security at LaGuardia, and the TSA agent informs me that she is going to have to test Ford's baby food.  I am barefooted, hopping over to the suspicious-substance-checking table, where the contents of my diaper bag have been emptied for the world to see, and I'm trying to make sure we don't lose the rest of my stuff (or my mom or child).  In the midst of it all, from his vantage point on my hip, Ford is cracking up.  Mama's misfortunes are very funny.

I also experienced changing an explosive diaper in an airplane bathroom.  The less said about this (mis)adventure, the better.  There are certain moments as a new mom where I think, "Okay, I'm in the club now...I really am actually a mom."  This was, unfortunately, one of those moments.

Another great point of the trip was Ford's sleeping (surprising, I know).  Whereas at home, getting Ford to nap is like trying to balance a bowling ball on a needle, in the Big Apple, Ford napped whenever, whereever.  During lunch one day, he literally fell asleep in between bites of applesauce.  He snoozed his way through Adam's neighborhood and Riverside Park.  Never fussed a bit, even after long days in the stroller.  He even slept some at night.  He cut a tooth while were there, so that night was rough, but he gave us a couple of good nights too.  What an awesome dude.

The trip was so much fun.  I loved getting to see where my brother lives and check out his part of town.  Ford loved meeting some Yankee kids on the swings and showing them how much cooler Southern babies are.  It was nice to get out a bit and do something new...although of course we were very glad to get back home to O!  We returned home to a very happy Daddy and a broken washer, which O then nearly broke his hand trying to fix.  One x-ray and one tetanus shot later, we cried "uncle" and called a repairman.  Somehow, this set off a level of chaos that just prohibited blogging.  At least, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Anyway, at seven months, Ford is:

EATING two meals of solids a day.  He seriously loves everything.  He's eaten rice, (had to cut out oatmeal, as it made him gassy), applesauce, blueberries, bananas, avocado, carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, ground turkey, and I'm sure I'm forgetting other things.  His favorites are bananas, blueberries, and avocadoes, although he really loves it all.  He nurses 3-4 times a day...he can't decide whether he wants a midafternoon feeding or not.  Every time I think we have him nightweaned, he has a night where nothing but binge-nursing will satisfy.  Which brings me to...

SLEEPING:  Ford is still a terrible sleeper.  There's no two ways about it.  I feel like the world's biggest failure in this department, as my child simply is not a consistent sleeper.  We have the most success when he takes just one nap a day...if I can get him to stay awake until after lunch (noon or so), then sometimes he will go down for as long as two hours...beautiful.  This happens maybe twice a week.  The other days, I am rocking, nursing, driving and strolling him into light slumber.  Ugg.  He can fall asleep on his own...staying asleep is our stumbling block.  I called his doctor yesterday, and they've upped his acid reflux meds.  We're praying this works.  The upside is that Ford is almost never fussy, even when he seems to have had no sleep.  The downside is that his Mommy and Daddy are very, very fussy when they've had no sleep.

DOING all kinds of new tricks.  He's rocking on all fours, but when poor little dude tries to crawl, his booty is just too heavy, and he winds up sliding backwards.  Sad, but hilarious to watch.  He'll work towards a toy and get so frustrated as it gets further and further away.  He's completely comfortable in a sitting position now, and that's how he prefers to sit and play.  Still LOVES his exersaucer.  When he bounes in it, the whole house shakes.  Seriously.  He's also starting to babble some, which is really fun.  No "ma-ma" or "da-da" yet, but he makes lots of other vowel-consonant combinations.  Little stinker probably knows we want those two the most, so he's holding out.  He's also starting to reach for me more and more.  He'll put his little (or, not-so-little) arms up for me when he's tired of playing on the floor -- melts my heart!  He's also waving bye-bye all the time, and it is so cute.  For the longest time, he'd only do it when it was just the two of us, so I am so glad he's sharing his trick with the rest of his adoring fans.

ALSO has two teeth (the lower centrals., and I think we may be working on more...at least, he's drooling and sucking his hands a lot.  This also may contribute to our nighttime woes.

ALSO had portraits taken last week while we were visiting Mimi in Prattville.  I was nervous that this endeavor would be a bust, as Ford had (as usual) not napped well.  But, as soon as Josh (of Kim Box Photography) got his camera out, Ford turned into a giggling, grinning, silly little ham!  He is clearly an oldest child, and I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out!

ALSO going to Hilton Head next week on vacation with the Price family.  We leave on Saturday and are praying we survive seven hours in the car.  I'll post on our adventures from the trip when we return!