7 Months

Little Jimmy is over 7 months old, and I am falling more in love with him by the minute.  It's that stupid, smile when you think about him kind of love.  Everyday I picked him up from the babysitters this past month was like Christmas morning.  He'd be playing in a bouncer quietly by himself.  I'd come in and say, "Hi!"  His face would light up as he looked towards me.  Every moment with him is beautiful.   

 A parenting book I'm reading called Bright from the Start mentions that there are three personality types that babies can be:  easy, difficult (intense, active, spirited, uninhibited- all fall under this umbrella), slow-to-warm-up (cautious, inhibited, slow-to-adapt).  James definitely fits in the easy category.  He smiles when you smile, eats solids like a champ, takes naps, and loves to explore the world.

This month James seems to have grown tremendously.  He now sits up on his own without toppling over! He stands in his activity saucer and can be pulled to standing position while we're just holding his hands!  No crawling or scooting, he's still just a roller.  : )

J has been eating tons of food and has enjoyed everything we've given him so far: rice cereal, sweet potatoes, chicken, peas, pears, carrots, apricots, and apples.  He eats twice a day- once at noon and again around seven for dinner.  All in all, he eats 8-12 ounces of food each day in addition to nursing 5 to 6 times.  This might explain all of the growing he's doing; I'd say he's right around 16 pounds.

James' sleep habits have been off-the-hook wonderful (knock on wood).  He takes two naps during the day IN HIS CRIB, then goes to sleep from 8ish until 6ish.  B-e-a-u-t-y.  We still swaddle him and let him sleep with his pacifier, which looks something like this, except with his eyes closed and in his bed.

Perhaps the biggest event of the month was James' Christening at Good Shepherd. 

It was a precious moment to see him baptized.  We were so happy to have our family there for the occasion- especially his Godparents who traveled from out of town!  

James wore a gown and bonnet (hehe- I couldn't help myself with the bonnet, it was too cute).  The gown was made from a bolt of fabric Great Grandpa Perko brought back from Japan when he was in the occupation army back in World War II.  When he brought the bolt back, he gave it to his 'old-maid aunts' who made it into three Christening gowns- one for Laura, her twin Diane, and one of their cousins.  In addition to McGrandma wearing it, Aunt Caitlin wore it as well.  Many people have asked why Kyle wasn't baptized in it.  Well, Laura's mom didn't tell her about the gown until Caitlin was born a few years after Kyle.  Our guess is that she didn't think boys should wear dresses.  : )

 

After the church service, we had a brunch at my parents' house.  All in all, a great day.

Everyday with James is something new.  A coworker told me this week, "each age just gets better."  I'm finding that to be very true.  Who knows what joys 8 months will bring...