7-months with Ford

Ford is 7-months-old.

Which means, he’s closer to one year than being a newborn.

The last month or so has been full of change. I am loving this age so, so much and seeing him change & develop in many ways. Here are a few updates on Ford.

GROWING & LEARNING

He is crawling like crazy, pulling himself up onto everything - especially our couch & coffee table and is practicing standing on his own. It’s funny to watch him try to pick something up while he is standing. He can take steps while holding onto the furniture and I have a feeling he will be walking on his own very soon. It’s just a matter of getting the coordination down. Oh, and he’s now climbing the stairs! Thankfully, we have baby gates in place.

One area that has been slower to develop is his teeth. He is still working on his first tooth, which is funny because for awhile I thought he would never get one! I love his gummy smile, but seeing a tooth pop through makes him look so much older! Poor guy is constantly chewing on his fingers because it clearly hurts. But he still manages to eat solid foods!

Beyond physical development, he has grown so much mentally this past month. He’s grown a deeper connection with his dad, which is SO sweet and very much knows who is parents are, along with a few other key people that he sees often, like my sister, mom and our nanny. He just has so much personality now - Constantly smiling, laughing and playing.

Also, he started daycare this past month (only two days a week) and I think that the social time with other babies and having multiple caretakers will keep him learning, while also being comfortable around new people. So, far it’s going really well!

SLEEP

Sleep has been a struggle this past month, but I’m sure it’s mostly due to him getting RSV and then cutting his first tooth. Guys, RSV is rough on little ones! I am so thankful that we didn’t have to do an extended hospital stay, but his congestion and difficulty breathing really affected his sleep. He also wanted to nurse more at night, which I am guessing is because he wasn’t feeling well and my body was producing antibodies he needed. So, I went back to nursing on demand out of necessity, which affected our sleep schedule and training.

Now that he is feeling better, I am working to wean those night feeds and get more strict about nursing at night. It’s so hard. Once you get into a good routine, it seems like something happens and it all falls apart! All of this is to say, I’ve learned to appreciate the good weeks of sleep while they last.

Other than our sleep gettijgnoff track (still waking 1-2x each night), he’s still pretty good about sleeping for 12-hours each night.

Naps are still a daily struggle for us. He will nap for our nanny or at daycare, but refuses to sleep in the crib for me. It’s so hard to see him get drowsy and then fight his naps. It doesn’t help that he can now pull him self up and stand in the crib.

FEEDING

Ford is loving food and particularly enjoys feeding himself. We started with cereal and some homemade baby food around 5-months and slowly started to introduce more foods following Baby Led Weaning each month. He loves anything he can hold in his hands on his own, especially banana, avocado, butternut squash, and these baby teethers. I love that he is interested in exploring food now! His meals go a little something like this…

Breakfast: organic oatmeal (I like this brand) and some type of fruit. We’ve also done eggs or pancakes, which he loves!

Lunch: he eats at daycare or with the nanny (fresh steamed veggies, avocado, etc.)

Snacks: loves these baby teethers or puffs

Dinner: some variation of what we make, but I also keep steamed veggies on hand!

I am still breastfeeding and pumping to have milk for when I am gone during the day. It’s getting harder and harder to pump/nurse and go about my day, but I keep going because it’s working and he still wants it. I know that breastfeeding helped him recover quickly from being sick and it’s worth it to me for that reason.

However, I am planning to leave him for a few days later this month and am trying not to stress about pumping enough. I am just taking it month-by-month at this point and trying to enjoy this while it lasts!

FAVORITE THINGS AND GROWING OUT OF…

Ford loves…

Crawling, walking and standing
Reading books - especially ones with touch & feel elements
Playing with cars and anything that has sound or lights
This banana teether
Playing Peek-a-Boo and Hide & Go Seek
Listening to music
Playing with cards and blocks
Walks in the stroller and going on errands with mom

Ford is growing out of:

His swing and other bouncy seats - we’ve put them all in storage now
His activity center - we are converting to the table option; but he doesn’t like to be in the seat anymore
Anything that keeps him confined
Taking naps while on-the-go