Seven Months Old!

I can't believe Owen is already seven months old! I know I say this every month, but I really feel like November and December never happened - the holidays just went so fast! One day he was four months old and the next thing I know, he's crawling (yep, CRAWLING) from his little "Under the Sea" play mat into the kitchen to see what I'm doing. Holy baby proofing, Batman! I need to get busy.

O is now eating three meals a day... such a little man! He has cereal and cut up banana in the morning with a little bit of formula. Midway through the morning he gets his Gerber Puffs and Yogurt drops (which he attempts to eat all by himself) along with juice or water. Lunch is usually yogurt with fruit, a yellow veggie and some formula. His afternoon snack is pretty much like his morning snack, and dinner is a meat, veggie and fruit for dessert. He still gets his bottle before bed... and yes, he still falls asleep about 3/4 of the way through it.

Owen is now wearing 9-12 month clothes, and in some brands 12 months! I was so sad to put even more of his clothes that no longer fit him in the guest bedroom dresser over the weekend. He's growing so fast... I have to take pictures all of the time because I'm scared we'll miss something. Check out "Owen's Chair" to see how he's grown since July 2.

He's also going through a little bit of separation anxiety. Oy. At first I thought it was cute. You know, I left the room and he'd cry, then I'd walk back in and he'd giggle. "The power of Mom," I'd say with a laugh. Hmph! Not even the power of Mom can calm this little guy down during the night. He's sleeping pretty well for 3-4 hours and then wakes up crying. We wait about five minutes before one of us goes in to comfort him. Essentially, we give him his pacifier if he wants it, make sure he has his blanket, check to see if he needs to be changed, shush him and pat his butt until he simmers down. This only takes a minute or two and usually he falls asleep pretty quickly. Sometimes he still cries, so we just go back to bed and wait another five minutes before we head in a second time, or third... We never pick him up unless he needs to be changed. We don't rock him. We don't take him back to our bed. AND IT'S KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!

I want so badly to comfort him in my arms and make it all better. But I can't. According to pediatricians and psychiatrists who write books about babies, we have to get him used to falling back asleep on his own. Otherwise, we'll have a 15 year old sleeping between us in the future. *sigh*

I will admit, while Nate and I are walking zombies, Owen is getting slightly better each night. Let's just hope it continues to get better and he goes back to sleeping through the night again soon.

In other news, we had a very eventful New Year's weekend! On Friday, Dec. 30, we drove to Lexington to visit Nate's family there and introduce them to Owen. The ride down wasn't bad but on the way back, Owen refused to sleep so I had to be the entertainment from about Florence, KY to our house. I sang just about every song I know, danced and even let the little booger play with my iPhone in an effort to keep him from crying. It pretty much worked, so I guess I'm pretty entertaining to the 6-9 month crowd. Good to know.

While in Lexington, Owen got to visit with his Great Grandpa Bob and Great Grandma Helen. I was so glad we were able to get some pictures of O with Bob. The last time Owen visited with Bob and Helen he was asleep in his car seat the whole time, so this was a great visit for everyone!

After our visit to KY, we had a "family-friendly" New Year's party. We had a group of friends and family over for a Qdoba bar, drinks and sports night in. It was great to see everyone and laugh about how the party would have been a little bit different three or four years ago! I think O was the first to crash, but he was a trooper and didn't mind sharing his toys with his buds. He also enjoyed spending some quality time with his Uncle Kahlil who came down to celebrate 2012 with us.

Oh, and Ralph. I have to tell you about Ralph. First of all, he's sleeping with one eye open now that Owen is crawling around. Of course O has an obsession with Ralph, Ralph's toys and Ralph's kibbles. I've realized that one day I will catch Owen gnawing on a bone or eating dog food. It's just a fact. Ugh. Owen has also been recruited to the "Special Forces Task Force" of North Harbour Drive. Ralph has apparently explained the imminent squirrel attack on our house. Now I have two watchdogs at the back door. No squirrels are going to get us!