7 Month Update

My Dear Little Bean, It is amazing to me that the weeks fly by this fast. Having you in our lives makes the days blur together the landscape does out the window of a moving car. It's a wonderful, giddy feeling, watching time dissolve like this: watching you grow. But also bittersweet, because you're officially more than half way through your babyhood.

You are seven months old and there are so many moments I spend with you when I want to scoop you up and devour you with kisses. You're so yummy right now, with your milky breath, your big sparkling eyes, and your butterball thighs. You've become all mischief and adventure this month, my little one, because YOU HAVE LEARNED HOW TO CRAWL.

We didn;t expect you to do this quite yet, but you're a determined little man it seems, and you spent your days (and nights, might I mention—thank god that part is over!!!) first diligently doing Supermans and then rocking back and forth on your hands and knees. And then suddenly you made your first fwippity-fwappity attempts---hands smacking the floor as you moved forwards with your brows furrowed. And then you were off. Just like that.

Since then, you've gotten into everything of course. Which for the most part works out okay for dada and I since we’re not extraordinarily sophisticated with our interior decorating and don't have anything you can really destroy (except of course dada's lovely CDs which you relish tossing onto the floor!) Our concern is less about what you can damage, and more about what you can get into.

Perhaps it says yards about our parenting my love, but little Bean, you have officially licked the following: your daddy's flip flop, your mama's running shoe, the cat's waterbowl, the underside of the rug, the wall, the floor, Momo the cat's tail, and the doormat. (Yes we will remind you of these things in front of your girlfriend, after we;ve just caught the two of you French kissing!!!) Of course, you've licked other more appropriate things too, like the apple slices you love to gnaw on, and frozen bagels or your wooden spoon… but I fear the number of items in the first category vastly outnumber those in the second. Thank god you're still breastfeeding, and thereby are more or less immune to everything in our immediate surroundings.

Speaking of which, you ARE still breastfeeding dude. This is your primary mode of sustenance, and it is highly advisable that you STOP TRYING TO BITE ME. Got that? We give you oodles of yummy things to bite, and eat even--and you do (you especially like bananas, apple sauce and avocados)---but never with the fervor and glee that you reserve for the occasional illicit chomp on my boob. I am not okay with this, by the way.

That said, the teething thing does seem to be on hold however. No sign of pearly whites in your mouth yet. Just your lovely gummy grin. Which I can't get enough of, so don't feel in any hurry to grow teeth.

Last month you were a disaster in the sleep department because of all that "milestone wake-up" business, so we implemented a bedtime routine that involves taking a warm shower with Daddy and then snuggling into bed with mama for nursing and lullabies. I never thought I'd be this kind of mom. The kind that crawls into bed with her baby to put him to sleep. But I am. And for the most part I enjoy those quiet, sleepy, dark-room moments where we're pressed up against each other, and you're all nestled into the crook of my arm. And when you're next to me you don't try to roll over to crawl, which works out just fine, since you GET SO MAD when you do that, but you can't seem to stop yourself---or couldn't, all last month.

You amaze me little guy, with how much you've already learned about how this world works. You babble all the time now---long strings of vowels and consonants---and you say "mamama!" when you wake up to nurse at night. And Daddy and I are trying to keep up with all your changes. We're discovering that you've grown very attached to us, and last week, visiting friends you cried when he when I sat you down by yourself for the first time in their house. You have begun to recognize of familiar faces and places, and you want your mama or daddy by your side as you're starting to explore the big world. We'll always be there, little guy. Promise.

Love, Mama