7 Month Update!

Today Colin is 7 months old, and we've really noticed how his little personality has taken shape recently.  He has a marvelous sense of humor, and absolutely adores silly noises and faces.  We've learned that he's actually quite ticklish, and he anticipates a good session of rough-housing with Daddy.  Colin seems totally fearless (and I'm not sure that's such a good thing!)...he loves being tossed in the air, hung upside down, and bounced on the bed.  His little squeals of delight are my new favorite sounds!  We're also amazed with how strong he's become.  He's now sitting without support and loves being able to explore his surroundings and toys in this new position.  He can hold up his weight while on his tummy, and is even starting to scoot a little.  He's completely intrigued by everything around him, and will do whatever he can to grab anything within reach.  We really have to keep an eye on him now that he's such a wiggly little worm!

Colin also cut his first tooth a few weeks ago!  I had lots of teething tools ready for him to chew on, but luckily he didn't seem to be in too much pain.  He really likes to suck on frozen fruit purees in a mesh teething bag - although this usually makes quite a mess!  He's also been introduced to a wide variety of fruit and veggie purees, many of which I'm proud to say that I've made for him myself!  He likes just about everything he's tried, but his favorites are sweet potatoes and bananas.  This month, he'll get to try some chicken and turkey, and beginning eating 3 solid meals a day in addition to formula (another new transition this month).  It won't be long before he needs that tooth (and hopefully a few others!) to chew on some finger foods!

Marshall and I are relieved that Colin has learned to fall asleep on his own...a process that took some trial-and-error, and a lot of patience on our end (and crying on his).  After about a week, Colin figured out that we weren't going to come to his beck and call at bedtime and throughout the night, and eventually began to self-soothe - a skill we knew was necessary for babies to learn around this age.  My last post detailed our weary efforts, and I'm happy to report that we've had pretty good success since then!  There will always be glitches in our daily schedule, but I think Colin trusts that he can fall asleep without us now...and we're all resting much more easily :)

We're so lucky that Colin is such an easy-going baby.  There have been days throughout the past month where he's gone to bed late, slept somewhere other than his crib, and had changes to his routine, all while transitioning from breastfeeding to formula.  He's even been in child care for 3 hours each morning this week as I volunteered for Vacation Bible School as a crew leader at our church.  There have been play dates, lots of time spent in the pool, and visits with family and friends.  And all the while, Colin just goes with the flow and keeps that toothy grin on his face.  The best part is, he is what keeps a permanent smile on our faces too.

Here's the latest chalkboard wall photo!

Discovering Some Furry Friends

Kai (our dog) and Phoebe and Jack (our cats) have been a part of our "fur-family" for a few years now.  But our newest addition has just recently discovered his puppy-brother and kitty-brother/sister.  It's been really cute to watch Colin's face light up when one of the animals comes near...he practically lunges out of our arms to try and reach them.  We haven't had any tail pulling or ear-grabbing yet, but I suspect this is in the imminent future.  The pets are somewhat curious, but wary is really a better description.  They know to keep their distance, but seem to understand that Colin is a part of the family now too.  Kai will often come into the nursery in the morning when I'm feeding the baby, and the cats will sometimes lay just outside his door after he goes to sleep for the night.  Last Saturday morning, Marshall got down on the floor with Colin to pet the dog, and I was able to capture some very sweet moments of both curiosity and love.  Even the cats couldn't resist the chance to get up close and personal with the baby, and get a few wonderful scratches behind the ears at the same time :)  I just couldn't wait to share these photos!  Hope you enjoy them!

 

 

 

 

 

A Fun First Fourth!

The weather couldn't have been more perfect for this year's Fourth of July weekend of festivities (I think God was making it up to us since it poured cats and dogs during the holiday last year!).  And we certainly made the most of it, especially considering it was Colin's first Independence Day!  On July 4th, we packed up our pool gear and headed to the YMCA splash park.  It was the perfect Americana scene - kids and adults in stars and stripes bathing suits, music playing, sun shining, and hamburgers and hotdogs grilling (for only $1 each!).  It's safe to say that we wore our little guy out, as he could barely keep his eyes open in the pool after about 2 hours of splashing and playing.  He took a long nap and then we headed to John and Kimmie's neighbor's party, and it was quite the shin-dig.  Unfortunately, we weren't able to stay for the fireworks overlooking the golf course, but we managed to get Colin home and in bed before the booming really started.  The baby didn't flinch, but poor old Kai dog hid in the closet all evening :(  Our neighbors bought a bunch of fireworks in South Carolina, and we got to have our own little fireworks show right in the cul de sac, while watching the city fireworks display behind our house.  It was a really neat sight to see!  Marshall and I had fun celebrating our country's independence with our newest addition, in the most perfect American way we could have imagined :)


Here we are, looking very patriotic!