7 Months and Growing!

We love you Nolan!!

Stats:

14 pounds, 6 ounces! He is growing… (I didn’t get his length this round) Praise the Lord that is he growing and gaining weight, and I do not have to worry about supplementing in any way. Nolan still is not fond of solid food, although I try in some way or form to feed him solids everyday. He still doesn’t take a bottle either so that would be interesting if the Doctor wanted us to supplement with formula (which I was not very interested in doing). Nolan is following the 1% curve pretty well though, so the doctor is pleased with his weight gain. He gained almost a 1 pound in a month!

Nolan’s Loves:

• Being tickled (and, I do love his little giggle- adorable!!)
• Playing peek-a-boo
• His exersaucer
• eating veggie straws (I totally just gave him on because we were out and about and he was getting cranky, he loves them. Unfortunately, it is the only solid that he enjoys… we have gone through one of those big Costco size bags insanely fast)
• His dad
• Alivia playing with him

• Snuggling with me
• Falling asleep nursing
• Being on a schedule (he now gets pretty grumpy, if we don’t get him down for his nap or bedtime when he is use to)
• Being held
• Chewing on toys
• Chewing on freezer toys (Alivia never liked these)
• Cuddling with his blankies when I put him in his crib ( I know, I know, he is not supposed to have any loose bedding in his crib, but it is the only way he likes to sleep- with blankets by his face)

• Loves to talk/babble

Nolan’s New Things:

• Nolan can sit up!! He only sits up for a few minutes at a time but he has the muscles to do so. He is so cute!
• Nolan has figured out his own schedule and is pretty particular about sticking to it or getting really grumpy. He now has a pretty short morning nap-about 20/30 minutes- around 10:00ish, another short nap-about 20/30 minutes- at noonish, and then a long afternoon nap-about 2 to 2 1/2 hours- around 2:00ish. He then goes to bed around 7:00 or 7:30 depending on how long his afternoon nap is. He sleeps until between 2:30 to 4:00 a.m. and needs a quick snack which brings him to waking up around 6:00/6:30ish. Then we start all over again. I love that he has come up with his own schedule. I did not schedule with Alivia and she finally just fell on a schedule herself but not until around a year and then it was still all over the place. I am hoping he stays on this schedule until he goes to 1 nap a day. He takes 2 short morning naps instead of 1 longer one because we are about and about in the morning and we stay home in the afternoons.
• He eats veggies straws or rather they melt in his mouth and he loves them. He can down them. :) He did like Mum mums, but I think veggie straws have more taste.
• He can/will roll over both ways now; tummy to back and back to tummy. However, he is still picky about when he rolls over from his back to his tummy (usually for a toy) and almost always rolls over when placed on his tummy (will stay a bit longer these days now though then he use to, usually at least a 1 minute)
• He is a little talker, out of nowhere, he just started jibber jabbering! I love hearing him babble.
• He can say dada and says it often in his babble. He has said mama only a few times when he is really, really upset about to breakout in his mad cry. He usually just says dada.
• Nolan had his debut on a swing at the park and enjoyed it, following in his sister’s footsteps.

Skin Issue Update:

After getting his skin issues under control with my diet change and the low-dose steroid topical cream, we have noticed that Nolan is still sensitive to something. There are random days that he has breakouts, and we just can’t figure it out. In hopes of finding out what that something is, we have decided to get him tested. We went to the doctor today and received a referral to see an allergist (so thankful that our pediatrician is on the same page as us and I didn’t have to convince him why we wanted Nolan to see and allergy specialist). We hope to get him into an appointment within the next few weeks to kick the skin issue yuckiness to the curb. I’m kind of nervous to find out the results, as I don’t really want to cut some things out of my diet, but I will cut anything out for him. And, right now I feel anxious about eating in general as I am scared that he may breakout if I eat something he is sensitive to that I don’t know he is  He is doing much better and and 5-6 month update blog entry, we were doing sockless days. It is with much excitement, that I can announce, Nolan is officially sockless day and night! Smiles all around. It seriously made me so sad to not let him have his hands free, I mean come on that is how babies explore the world around him. I felt like I was taking his world away from him. Well, we just gave the world back to him. It makes my heart happy- to see him smile and not cry with pain; play with his hands instead of itching to the point of bleeding; sleeping soundly instead of experiencing restlessness and being overtired; giggle with joy and not whine because he is uncomfortable.