Peanut is 7 months old today. Where did the first half of the year go?!

Highlights from this month include:

• Gross Motor: This guy is quite a mover. He rolls in both directions and also pivots around in side-sit to really cover some distance on the floor. He’s having more fun on his tummy lately and tries to combat crawl. If you put him in quadruped, he can hold his tummy off the floor for a second or two before his hips give way.
• Fine Motor: Peanut has been grasping and holding lots of toys. He will inspect a toy by turning it around and then putting it in his mouth. He also sits for longer periods of time actually manipulating parts of a toy by flicking spinners, pressing buttons, and pushing switches back and forth. I love watching him play and learn on his own. Favorite toys include his activity cube, plastic links, clear animal cubes, and the stacking cups.
• Eating: We’ve really expanded his diet this past month with a variety of flavors and textures. He’s had mango, tofu, rice porridge, kale, pear, cauliflower, romanesco, puffs, rice crackers, yogurt, and peanut butter. So far he has been allergy-free. Yay! Unfortunately, he doesn’t poop as often and it worries Mama. We’ll have to get prunes on board soon.

• Expressions: He loves to make this new squinty stink face and smiles a lot. He’s generally a happy kid when he’s not hungry or sleepy.
• Social: Peanut loves his big sister and watches her every move. He doesn’t have stranger anxiety yet and usually enjoys meeting new people. Unfortunately, he also doesn’t like to be left alone for too long, which makes it hard to get stuff done at home sometimes.
• Events: He’s outgrown the Rock n Play and sleeps primarily in the co-sleeper (flat on his back finally!) or stroller when he’s congested. We celebrated Chinese New Year with friends. Super Bowl came and went. We have also had a string of illnesses in the house and he’s been the healthiest of the 4.

• Sleep and Routine: This has been rough. He’s regressed in his sleep and will keep Mama up every 2 hours most nights. He also wakes up super early (4 or 5 am) and we usually have to leave the house because he makes too much noise. During the day, he’s great and has been sticking to a pretty regular pattern of naps and feeds. He loves hanging out with Mirian and gets to go to the library and playground pretty often.

Happy 7 Months, Big Boy!! We love you so much and can’t wait to see what new things you’ll learn this next month.

Here are some additional photos:

This is what our photoshoots look like lately. He’s such a mover that it takes lots of shots to get it right.