Ryan is 7 months old!

 Ryan loves "helping" with laundry and is happiest when he has a sock or washcloth in his hand (or mouth!).

 Despite his expression here, Ryan thinks swinging is awesome ... whether in our backyard or at the neighborhood playground.

 We love our sweet seven-month-old! :)

Our littlest man has reached the seven month mark! We forgot what a delightful stage this is. Ryan keeps getting more and more fun!

You can almost see the gears turning in Ryan’s head as he takes it all in. His favorite way to learn continues to be putting everything in his mouth. He also loves exploring gravity by dropping things off his high chair over and over and over! He doesn’t yet know to look over his high chair tray onto the floor; he just thinks things keep disappearing!

Our mellow fellow continues to be very social. The sight of other babies or kids makes Ryan flap his arms and kick his legs excitedly. He giggles heartily, especially at big brother Ian’s antics, animal noises, tickling, or games like peek-a-boo. He is very vocal and often makes his loudest noises right in the quiet spaces during church services. :) He will readily smile at anyone who talks to him. (Most people still comment on Ryan’s pretty, abundant hair, though many friends are now mentioning how much lighter – or redder – it seems.)

Ryan isn’t complaining as quickly during tummy time sessions, but he’d still much prefer sitting up. He’s a very stable sitter and can reach WAY out for toys (almost getting on his knees like he’s going to crawl) and still come back to the sitting position. He also seems interested in standing up and has seemed to TRY to pull himself to a standing position (though he’s not nearly strong enough and just “hangs” onto shelves or other higher objects as he tries to pull). A few days AFTER we had Early Childhood Intervention come out to evaluate Ryan, he started rolling over from his back to his belly. :) Interestingly, though, even without being able to roll over, the Early Childhood evaluators  weren’t at all concerned about his gross motor development! In fact, in all areas but one Ryan was between the 6-10 month developmental level … right on track. The area that they were most concerned about? His eating!

The evaluators were surprised to hear that Ryan isn’t interested much at all in baby food. No matter what we try (rice cereal, oatmeal, avocado, applesauce, sweet potatoes, peas, pears, bananas), Ryan will generally keep his mouth tightly clamped, turn his head to the side, and/or start crying. He will seem averse to food on a spoon before even trying it! The food that we do manage to squeeze into his mouth will usually come right back out, sometimes after he seems to gag on it! We’ve even tried finger foods (like puffs), but, though they end up in his mouth, he doesn’t know what to do with them from there and ends up just spitting them out. We’re guessing that our 20 lb., 3 oz. baby is getting plenty of breastmilk and that he’ll start eating other food in his sweet time (just like he rolled over when he was ready J). Since their services are free (or almost free), we’ve agreed to receive assistance from the Early Childhood Intervention system. An occupational therapist will come out twice a month to offer suggestions for helping us teach Ryan to eat. Someday, as Ryan is sitting down to a big steak & potatoes dinner, he’ll laugh about not wanting anything but milk as a 7-month old! 

Not much fazes our easygoing baby, though he hates getting his nose wiped and seems to be working on getting some teeth. He’s drooling like crazy and biting down hard on things! Ryan has gotten much more agreeable during evening tutoring sessions and rarely cries for Daddy anymore. (Yay!) He still is very aware of where Momma is and will crane his neck to find her if he hears her voice.  Ryan is still very pleasant no matter what the day brings – whether we’re at home or at church or running errands or going to activities for big brother!

A highlight of the month was spending Thanksgiving with Grammy, Papa, aunts, uncles, and three cousins in Albuquerque. Ryan (and Ian) traveled very well on the 14-hour drive there and back, especially since Momma or Daddy was stationed between the two carseats in the back seat. :) It was fun to see Ryan interact with his other baby cousins!

Some of Ryan’s favorites include his exersaucer (especially spinning around), lift-the-flap books, plastic rings, knocking over his stacking cups, his baby musical instruments (maracas are the best!), bead necklaces, and tags or strings of any kind. He loves being carried and will put his finger in Matt’s ear if Daddy’s carrying him or clutch Kim’s hair if Momma’s carrying him. He also likes to pull on any shiny earrings or necklaces Momma is wearing.

We thank our God for helping Ryan to learn and grow each day, and we can’t wait to see what the Lord has in store in the month to come!