Okay so I'm a little late w/ this 7 month update-I plead December! To start, I frequently turn to the "Babywise mom" blog for helpful hints and references for this or that. I especially find her "baby summary's" by week tab helpful, so here goes Evan's 7 month update in the same manner. I am really loving this age!
Nursing
Over the past month we shifted to a 4 hour schedule and he is now down to nursing 4x/day. Thankfully, the transition was smooth as butter so I know he was good and ready. After much deliberation, I decided to drop the dream feed cold turkey and it went surprisingly well. The next night was a repeat success, and so on...praise God!
Solids and finger foods
Evan is now eating stage 1 & 2 solids for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and enjoying his share of Gerber "puffs" for snacks throughout the day. He isn't into self feeding as much yet as he still has the fist thing going on and hasn't yet found his pincer skills-but with his appetite and determination, I'm sure it's just around the corner! We also started his sippy cup(water) at 6 months, and have almost got that down save the head tilting part. He also likes to play with his food, often putting his fingers in his mouth, sucking down every last drop that fell on his bib, and banging his sippy cup like a drum. Mealtime manners-it's a work in progress!
Sleeping & naps
Nothing too new here, he still sleeps like a dream through the night and takes his naps by the clock. He is still taking that third nap, and we've been yo yo-ing between taking/dropping it these past few weeks. I think I've finally decided to let go and give it another week or two since he obviously still needs it, and then get to work phasing it out as our schedule permits.
Eczema
At around 3-4 months it became apparent that Evan's skin was getting increasingly irritated, dry and red. Like father like son, Evan has classic childhood eczema. While it's fairly common(occurring in 1 in 5 infants), the odds are all but multiplied when genetic. It ebbs and flows with the weather and what I suspect to be food allergies of some kind-fall was wonderful but this cold, dry wintery season is no fun!
Because there is no real cure, all we can do is moisturize, moisturize and moisturize, and treat symptoms as they arise. We are currently treating his flares w/ hydro cortisone, but all that really does is mask the physical symptoms(aka redness) so the best thing I've found is to be diligently pro-active and avoid the known triggers. What this means to our daily living is being careful w/ his clothing(cotton) and diapers, using "free" detergents, and being selective with our soaps and bathing routines. We use a humidifier in his room to keep moisture in the air, and also lotion him up at least 2x a day using Aquaphor or Eucerin cream. I'm praying this is something that he will grow out of with age, but if not, that's okay-there are much worse things out there than dry skin and I'm so thankful for my healthy boy! Babywise mom also has a great post on eczema-check it out
here for more information.
Milestones
Crawling? Almost but not yet. Currently, his favorite mode de transoportaion is rolling.
The other thing that stands out to me from last month is his new vocabulary. He is a chatterbox when he wakes up in the morning! It started w/ the "Baaa's" and then the "Dadadadaaas" and recently, Maaaamaamaama." I'm not sure he's quite connecting the words w/ their meanings yet, but I can dream! On a related note, he's also become increasingly attentive to his "baby Einstein" dvds and favorite books; it's so fun to see the little wheels turning behind his eyes as he continues to learn new things everyday.
Finally, our schedule:
7am-Wake up, nurse
7:30-Breakfast, usually rice cereal w/ Apple, then playtime
9am-Nap
10:30-Wake up, nurse, playtime and errands
12:00-Lunch, usually a veggie
1pm-Nap
2:45-Wake up, nurse, playtime
5:30ish-Family dinner(veggie + fruit)
6-6:45-Short nap, then nurse, playtime
7:30-Pj's, story, bedtime
