7 months old!

wow, i've had strep throat since my last blog post, and i'm finally back to my normal self again. this is the longest i've been sick since gabe's birth, and it was pretty frustrating because i still had to be up-and-about keeping him fed, clean, and entertained. i felt like such a hermit, because we didn't have any playdates, storytime, i skipped music class, and no drop-in sessions. friday was our first outing with friends and babies and i had a great time :-) and i've lined up 3 playdates for this week...finally, life is back to normal!

gabe is 7 months old today! he's had lots of developments this month:

eating solids: after being on rice cereal for 2 weeks, we've made lots of progress with barley cereal, yams, carrots, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, and pears. we've put a hold on the meat (he ate a few bites at two separate meals but rejected it on the 3rd try) and peas (i didn't puree the shells enough and he spat everything out). since gabe no longer naps when we're out for dinner, i've been packing farley biscuits for him to munch on while we're dining out. he just LOVES to feed himself and is so pleased that he makes a complete mess everywhere :P he's also gotten better with the sippy cup and drinking water. yippee!

sign language: gabe understands the signs for "milk" and "all done". on one occasion we even caught him signing "milk"! believe me, i gave the little man exactly what he wanted i was so impressed :-)

crying it out: we've never really stuck with "crying it out" because gabe's usually pretty good about going to bed at night. however, a couple times a week he'll put up a fuss, and we'll cave in and let him watch baby einsteen until he's tired. i don't really like it because he watches enough tv during the day with me (his favourite is the oasis commercial with max the orange!). so now i'm going to stick with crying it out and hope for the best (the first night took an hour for him to cry it out).

early riser: i used to be able to sleep in until 8:15 every day and still have time to shower and eat breakfast before gabe woke up at 9-9:30. now with the sunshine coming out earlier, gabe starts waking up at 7 a.m.! but by the time i get up, shower and eat, he's gotten himself back to sleep! so i've reverted back to my old ways and sometimes i'll nap when he naps!

chatterbox: while we haven't made out any definitive words from gabe, he's definitely been chatting a lot more this past month. i get a real laugh when we're in the car, it's all quiet, and then out of nowhere gabe pipes up and reminds us that he's in the backseat alone!

elimination communication: i gave up on "potty-training" months ago, but once gabe started solids i became more determined to try again. we've had lots of luck, and at least once a day, i manage to catch his business in the potty. i thought i had the "signs" figured out: farting, bum-hopping, grunting...all that good stuff. turns out that sometimes that's all it really is and there's nothing coming out. oh well, at least we're getting into a regular routine of eating and then potty-time.

miscellaneous: gabe's developed great core strength and no longer requires the bumbo to sit in. with a pillow supporting his back, he'll happily play on the floor with his toys for 30-45 minutes. of course, that doesn't prevent him from crashing forwards or sideways onto his head :P when he's on his tummy, gabe's gotten into a habit in his crib of lifting up his head and flopping it down on the mattress (very dramatic). so when he has tummy-time on the carpet, he does the same thing but the hardwood is not so forgiving :( hopefully the repeated blows to his head won't cause permanent damage ;-) we also took gabe to the park for the first time...not too impressed with the swings...