To Archer Gene, Seven Months

My dearest, littlest love,

You are seven months old.

You’re rolling and scooting all over. You roll onto your tummy everywhere: on the bed, on the floor, on the couch while I’m changing your diaper, even in your hammock. Whenever I put you down on a blanket on the bamboo floor in the living room, you immediately roll to your belly and start scooting around. You arch your back to get your thighs off the ground first and then push with your hands. You are *so* proud of yourself when you actually go somewhere. You get this slobbery, gummy grin and just beam from ear to ear.

You’re not quite sitting up yet. You’re strong enough, I think, but you don’t quite have the balance part down. Plus, you do this thing where you slam your head back. It’s sad enough when you’re sitting facing out in someone’s lap, and you suddenly smack the back of your head into a collarbone. I won’t be able to handle it when you fall back onto the hardwood floor. I know it’s bound to happen when you start sitting up, but man…

Your sleep right now is pretty nightmarish. Maybe it has to do with your affinity for rolling. You have a terrible time going to sleep and remaining asleep, and it’s even worse if you’re next to me. By my side, you’re happy with no less than an open bar. If I pull my shirt down or, God forbid, roll over, there is some serious hell to pay. You scream and cry and kick, sometimes waking up Griffon. Griffon has started sleeping all night in his own bed (the result of a sleep rules chart and reward of “canny” and/or “wollypop” in the mornings… parenting FTW!). When this happens, sleep is out of the picture for everyone for a good couple of hours.

You’re still in 6-month clothes, and I don’t expect you to outgrow them anytime soon. We’ve started attaching one of those annoying pacifier keepers to your clothes every day. You’ve gotten really good at finding it and getting the pacifier in your mouth. When I put you in my lap to nurse, though, you best believe that thing will be jettisoned from your mouth with lightning speed.

As tiny as you are, you’re a huge fan of eating. You used the highchair for the first time yesterday. Daddy smashed some avocado for you, and you LOVED it. You dip your body forward when you want more, which is pretty much every time the spoon is removed from your mouth. For as little practice as you’ve had, you’re really good at eating solid foods.

This month, you got these bright red, bumpy, chapped spaces on your cheeks and chin that didn’t seem to be getting any better. At your six-month checkup, the doctor confirmed the eczema we’d already self-diagnosed. I don’t know how Daddy and I, with all our skin issues, thought we could possibly get by having four children without eczema. Poor baby. It looks really painful, and I know from experience that it is. I’ve started putting this combination of herbal foot cream and oil on your face. It’s the only thing that really works for me, so we’ll see if it can help you too.

We gave up your swing this month, but you still love the exersaucer. Anneke was playing with you tonight, in fact, jumping toward you, back and forth and talking, and I thought you might jump out of the thing. Watching her and having her pay attention to you, you were just giddy. The relationships I see developing among you and your siblings are just so dear.

We all love you so much. And maybe me most of all,

Momma

Tagged as: Anneke, Archer, Birthday, Griffon, Kids, Parenting, Sick, Sleep