Trying So Hard

Ethan is working awfully hard these days...to crawl. He's getting close, I think. To be honest, I don't really remember Emily doing much crawling. That first year with her was largely a blur in spots because it was just tough. She was also somewhat slower to reach milestones than average, and I think she largely skipped crawling and went more to standing/cruising to walking.

Mr. E rolls onto his side and gets his bottom half up.

He gets his knees under him and looks like he might go somewhere...

Then he kicks his legs out straight behind him.

Then he pushes up on his arms to get his chest off the ground.

It's a little hard to tell in this picture, but he actually got his belly off the ground too. He's basically doing a push-up here. (The real kind, not the girly type!)

He's working so hard on getting all the pieces of the puzzle coordinated, but when he finally does, we are going to be in serious trouble. This kid is a WILD thing!

Ethan at 7 Months

Ethan:

Today you are 7 months old! You weigh about 15 lbs. 3 oz. and are about 26.5 inches long. You are in the 4th percentile for weight. You're a little squirt!

You may be small, but you're learning all kinds of new tricks. Your newest skill is blowing wet, drooly raspberries all the time, even while eating. You are also determined to take your socks off whenever humanly possible. Apparently you aren't aware that it's about 20 degrees outside. This wouldn't be such a problem except that you not only take your socks off, but then you chew on them until they are thoroughly soaked, making them useless.

One skill you still haven't learned: how to drink from a bottle (or sippy cup). It's time to figure this out, little buddy.

This month, you've struggled with sleep. Well, not just this month, but that last 3-4 months, which is why we finally just let you cry it out at night and naptime. And, I think it's working. Now, when I lay you down on your back, you will fuss for less than a minute, flip yourself over onto your tummy and sleep like...a baby. This is how you sleep....face down. It scares me to death, because I have no idea how you breathe, but just when I'm ready to go in and check on you, you turn your head and all is well. Besides, there's nothing I can do to stop you from rolling. Now, you just need to learn how to roll back over onto your back.

You've mastered sitting up by yourself. We put you down on the floor on your blanket and give you toys and you grab something in each hand and bang them together. I think you like the noise. You're just like your sister, because she always had to have a toy in each hand.

This month has been very eventful as well. Just after you turned 6 months old, you got sick...and had your first experience with a nebulizer, your first x-rays (twice in one week!), your first trip to the ER and your first hospital admission...all for a nasty case of bronchiolitis. From what I understand, only 1-2% of babies every get admitted to the hospital for this. Apparently, you're an over-achiever! It was a scary time for mom, dad and Emily, but you took it in stride, even when you had to have oxygen via nasal cannulas, or "nose fans" as we described them to Emily. Let's hope that next month won't be nearly as "exciting"!

We love you, little guy.

You Bet!

I love this!

And the Winner Is....

Not us.

It's a sad day in our house.

Are You Ready For Some Football?

The team uniforms are on.

The food is ready.

(Pioneer Woman's homemade onion strings, sweet and sour meatballs, chips and dip and popcorn chicken)

The crowd waits in anxious anticipation of the big game.





And we all say....

On The Mend

I think Ethan's on the mend. He's still coughing. He's still got the sneezes. He is still drooling like a crazy man...oh wait, that's unrelated. We haven't been to the doctor for over a week (whic might be a record of late.) He still sounds a little wheezy, but overall if his behavior is any indication, he's headed the right direction. He's a wild man.

He loves to bang things together and basically make lots of noise.

I bought him some drums...because we don't have enough noise.

It's good to be feeling better.