7 months

Here's what Caiden has been up to!

Movement: Caiden is getting better and better at controlling his body. When he is sitting he rarely topples over any more (when he does it's because he is distracted). He can scoot backwards and when he is on his tummy or sitting he can move around in circles. He can roll with the best of them although he recently seems to have forgetten how to go from tummy to back. We have been finding him in his crib, screaming and crying, stuck in a push-up position.

Sleep: Every night is different. It's a little frustrating. But, after a few months of pretty consistent "bad nights", we now probably have half good nights (1 quick wakeup) and bad nights (multiple wakeups at random times, crying fits, long awake periods). I recently started tracking his nighly wakeups, and it's a little comical to see how all over the place they are. We had a "to bumper or not to bumper" decision to make this month. With all the moving that Caiden started doing in his crib, I was always finding him with a leg or arm sticking out of the sides:

This would sometimes wake him up- an involuntary twitch and he'd whack his arm, or a stuck leg would keep him from rolling onto his side (a favorite sleep position right now). So, the decision was made- bumper it is. An unexpected bonus of having the bumper- he can't fling his binkie out the crib anymore. No more groping around for it under the crib in the mornings.

Last night Caiden fell asleep on his tummy and slept that way all night. That was a first... and he actually slept ALL night. 7pm to 5:20am. He napped on and off for a little while longer after eating.

 

Teeth? Who really knows, but we're always wondering if he is teething. He has some grumpy days and some nights with crying fits. We started giving him chunks of frozen banana to chew on (in a mesh bag thing), which seems to help.

Activities: Caiden loves jumping in his ExerSaucer. As he gets stronger he is able to pull toys off of the saucer and throw them on the ground. What a boy! He loves watching things- people moving, cars driving by, scenery out the car window, etc. He recently started enjoying the hiking backpack- a previous dislike. He is starting to have fun in the bath, especially if bath toys are involved. He likes being verbal and making noise- he gets very chatty, it's funny. Shopping is fun, there is so much to look at and he likes cruising in shopping carts. A trip to the grocery store is a good idea if he is getting bored.

Food: He doesn't eat very much at a time, but we're consistently giving him 2 meals a day,  breakfast and lunch. If he's in a good mood in the evening I try a little something then too. So far his favorites are squash, oatmeal, prunes, pears, and bananas. He's also tried carrots, apples, peas, avocado, cantaloupe, and beef.

Other developments: He has started lifting his arms when he wants to be picked up, or if he is being held and someone else is near that he'd rather be held by, he will reach over to them. Love it! He has also started to show a glimpse of trantrum throwing. Don't love that! If he doesn't get his way and is cranky he will get very mad. Usually that happens when we are getting him dressed/undressed (and recently, on the changing table- very strange as he used to love getting his diaper changed). He will arch his back, scream and cry, and try to roll over. Makes it very difficult to change him!

One last little cute Caiden-ism: sometimes when I am with Caiden during my lunch break Dan will call. I put my cell phone on speaker phone so that Caiden can hear him. Caiden smiles and gets excited, and will just listen to us talk. He doesn't even try to eat my phone like he will do any other time he sees it.