Off to work we go

I take Louis to my place of employment a few times a week. Today the custodian was nice enough to put a child gate at one of the classroom doors where I was working. Louis crawled up to the gate, pulled himself up on it and proceeded to try and climb up the gate. He didn't get very far before falling on his bum but that didn't stop him. He tried at least another ten times before giving it up.

7 Month Well Baby Visit

We went to see the pediatrician today for Louis's well baby visit.

Weight- 20 lbs
Length - 28 inches
Head Circumference - 47 centimeters

Our pediatrician made mention of one of his son's walking at 7 months in reference to Louis's recent developments. Guess we shouldn't be surprised if he is walking before a year. No pressure from me on that :)

He has been a bit of a mush all day wanting to cuddle, nurse & sleep. The vaccinations take a lot out of him.

Good Mornings

Louis wakes up between 5:30 am and 6:30 am. He typically wakes up in a good mood, smiling and cooing. He likes to turn over and climb up on Matt or myself and wake us up. He then eats and then proceeds to take turns waking one of us back up by continuing to climb on us. Sometimes he chooses to lay there playing with his hands and letting us get more sleep. If he is asleep in his crib the usually sticks his legs out of it and starts to yell for us. Then he ends up in bed with us where his climbing campaign begins.

This morning Leah and Louis woke up around the same time. I was already up so we went downstairs and spent the morning together while Matt slept in.

The two of them are incredibly photogenic and love hamming it up for the camera.

A lil Sad

Louis is beginning to understand what no and don't mean. He was trying to stand up on the coffee table and reach for something on it and I told him not to and this is the face he made. It is going to be hard to say no to this lil guy when he gets older.

A Lil Mixed Up

Louis received a cute lil Cubs hat from his grandparents, a souvenir from their recent trip to Chicago. He he is fast asleep in his Cubs baseball cap and Yankees romper.





The cats have their spot on the couch. Pretty much the only place I allow them to lounge on in the house. They love to lay and look out the window from their perch. None of this bothers Louis or the cats one bit. Tiger Lily can usually be found in this spot numerous times throughout the day.

Breakfast Time

Morning breakfast for Louis consists of cereal and fruits or just fruit. Lately he has been eating oatmeal. He knows what sitting in his highchair means and gets excited when he is sitting in it.

Climbing Monster

Louis wants to crawl and climb and as of late has started to stand up on furniture.

Most nights after Leah goes to bed Matt feeds Louis and puts him down to sleep. Before his bottle he hangs out with us on the couch. He climbs/crawls back and forth from Matt to myself.

Always Smiles

Louis has the best temperament. I keep thinking it may change but he is still even keel.

Here he is doing some early morning crawling and attempting to climb up my legs.

Happy 7 Months!

Louis is now 7 months old. I try not to think about it but the summer is half way done and soon it will be Fall, then the holidays which means Louis's 1st birthday is quickly approaching. I cannot handle Leah's 6th birthday (about 2 weeks away) so you can only imagine how well I am handling the prospect of Louis turning 1.

7 Month Milestones

•Sits without support
•Drags objects towards himself
•lunges forward

•Starts crawling
He army crawls (creeps) his way to whatever he wants. He does pick up off his stomach and moves up on his knees but seems more content moving on his tummy.

•Recognizes own name
Louis responds when he hears in name, not just when he is called by it but also when he hears it in someone's conversation. He also responds to Leah's name. If you ask him "Where's Leah?" you can see him look for her.

•Jabbers or combines syllables
He speaks when he wants to speak and when he does there is no stopping him. Some days Louis doesn't say anything and then others he babbles for hours straight. He tries to say Leah's names and makes the correct sounds for dada and mama but with no discernible connection to either parent.

•Starts to experience stranger anxiety
This is becoming more apparent every day. If he doesn't see you often or doesn't know who you are he becomes upset. He is still pretty friendly and warms up quickly but you can see the anxiety is starting to develop.

•Starts to experience separation anxiety
This is most noticeable when I appear and disappear from his view. If I am not around I am mostly out of sight out of mind but as soon as he hears me or sees me and I walk away he makes it known he is unhappy.

•Waves goodbye
He doesn't wave goodbye but he does try to wave hello. Leah's first real word was hi so I wouldn't be surprised if Louis follows the same route.

•Stands while holding on something
He has been doing this for about a month now-since standing up in his crib. He hasn't developed the ability to coordinate sitting down from standing (improves this every day) so we have to keep a close eye on him when he is trying to cruise across furniture.

•Bangs objects together
One of his favorite things to do is to grab two lids to the my tupperware containers and bang them together. He also likes to bag sticks on whatever he can get his hands on.

•Beginning to understand object permanence
Because it mimics what he is just coming to understand about the
world: that objects and people still exist even when he can't see them (a jack-in-the-box is fun right now, too.). That's why he finds quick appearances and disappearances amusing. Understanding this concept, also known as object permanence, is an important milestone, and signals that your baby is making leaps in cognitive development — both his memory and his ability to think abstractly are growing.

He loves to play peek-a-boo.

•Beginning to recognize tones and inflection
Louis will get very upset if he hears my tone change to angry or upset.

He has started doing the following things over the past few days.
• Passes objects from hand to hand
• Searches for hidden objects
Leah will hide one of his toys or whatever his attention is on and he will go looking for it. He doesn't quite grasp the full concept of hide & seek but he is getting there.

•Drinks from sippy cup
He has gotten much better at drinking from it over the past week. I offer him small amounts of water in it. Soon we will be switching most of his bottle feedings over to cup feedings. He drank from a small cup the other day and didn't make too much of a mess. He understands how to drink from it.

Toys, lots of toys

We try not to have too many toys available at one time for Louis. Usually one at a time works well for him. He absolutely loves the last two we opened for him.

The ball popper and the toy steering wheel are his current favorites. He has figured out how to work them and enjoys getting the balls in and out.

Here he is playing with the ball popper.

Queens Zoo

It has been pretty hot the last couple of days and we've been inside for the most part. Today we ventured out for a short while to visit the Queens Zoo.

My lil birdies