Seven

Little Big Man, you're seven months old.  You seem to be in an enormous hurry to grow up, big guy!

I was not mistaken when I surmised last month that you would be crawling soon.  About two days after I posted your six month post, you figured it out.  There's no stopping you now.  You are anywhere and everywhere.  You especially love to be in your sisters' room.  This is probably because it is the forbidden fruit.  With so many small toys and miscellaneous choking hazards, you don't get to be in there very often.

And, as if crawling around wasn't enough of a milestone, you also decided that it was time to start standing up.  Now, you pull up on everything: tables, couches, people, toys, dogs...  Penny is learning to keep her distance.  One of your favorite things to do is to crawl over to the windows by the front door and peer out at our neighborhood.  You're nosy like your mama.

Last week, I was folding clothes on the living room floor.  You crawled up to me and pulled yourself to a stand.  Suddenly, I didn't feel your little hands on my back anymore.  When I looked around, you were standing in the middle of the floor all by yourself.  The exact words from my mouth were "What are you doing?!"  Mamacita was caught quite off guard.  Although you love to stand, your balance isn't great just yet (hallelujah!).  I don't anticipate you walking soon, but you seem to enjoy proving me wrong.

You have developed a bit of a love-hate relationship with foods.  You like the idea of it, but not necessarily the actual food.  You've tried bananas, oatmeal, strawberries, apples, yogurt, and a bbq beef sandwich.  Yep, you're a real Texan now.  Miss Laura didn't know how grabby you are when she was holding you at our church fall festival.  I'm told you were quite upset with her when she wrestled her sandwich out of your tiny fist.   Despite your enthusiasm, you still have a bit of a sensitive tummy, and you don't seem to really enjoy the actual process of eating.  We thought we had struck gold when Daddy made you some fancified oatmeal.  You gobbled up the first few bites until your lip started to swell up a bit.  Turns out, you have a sensitivity to cinnamon.  If the internet can be trusted, you will likely grow out of it.  But, for now, it's back to bland cereal, fruits and veggies.  Pity, since now you have six (SIX!) teeth with which to gobble all the yummy food.  I have a feeling, though, that in your teen years, I will wish we were back to the days where your nutritional needs were so inexpensive!

Your personality continues to unfold before us.  You remain a sweet and joyous little boy.  Just today, in fact, as we were checking out at the grocery store, you began to fuss from being confined in your car seat.  But, as soon as the cashier started talking to you, you smiled and cooed.  You never miss an opportunity to flirt with the ladies. You love to talk and sing.  Perhaps it is because you are a boy - I am told they come with non-stop sound effects - that you generally make some sort of noise at all times.  Even as you crawl about, you make this sweet little happy grunting sound.  If you are not using your voice to make noise, you tend to insist on having something at hand that makes noise.  Your favorite seems to be a set of plastic keys that makes a satisfying clacking noise.

Happy seven months, Jackson!  You are our special little man and just what our family needed!