Seven Months: Scrunchy Smiles & So Much Fun

Guess who forgot to click the 'Publish' button. Whoops?!? Little late getting this one up (you were all waiting on the edge of your seats, I know).

Seven Months is a hard one for me to accept. We're officially on the second half of the 'baby year' and Max is starting to look less like an infant and will soon be looking more like a toddler. I'm not ready for that! As much as we're in the trenches I'm also trying to really cherish these fleeting months. Don't grow up too fast buddy!

Max's wellness checkup last month measured him at nearly 23lbs and 28.5in long. Off the charts! He's certainly a solid, strong, bouncing boy. I relented and we got him a Jolly Jumper which he thoroughly enjoys (I didn't want more 'stuff' but he was exhausting our arms). Max would bounce up and down or hold his legs up suspended in mid air in a sitting position all day long if it were up to him. Purchase well worth it. He's certainly refining his dexterity and likes to grab things, especially his older brother's hair! Thankfully Ben usually just laughs it off and is very gentle with his little brother (usually). Max is in fact a good eater but is picky, picky, picky! He will let you know what is good (apples, carrot, mango, pear) and what is not (rice or oat cereal, sweet potato) within the first bite. Glad to know he'll share his opinions with us!

Sleep, oh, elusive sleep. Let's just say this is not a strong point in our house and in addition to multiple wake-ups at night Max has now added 'early bird' to his resume. 5am does not mix well with his night owl of a brother. Like I said, trenches, but this phase will eventually pass. At least he usually wakes up happy with spitting blats and plenty of scrunchy smiles. Almost (almost) makes up for the rough nights.

This past month we took a road trip to visit Baba, Grandpa and Great Grandma. Max enjoyed the visit but did NOT like the long car(s) trip one bit. Lets just say there were literally hours of endless screaming (he lost his voice at one point but still kept going), temper tantrums and an angry vomit 10km away from our final destination (from the big brother who also had 'enough'). It was not pretty. This kid does NOT like facing backwards in his car seat away from the rest of us and the mirror on the back of the seat does not make up for that. Toys, songs and stops on the side of the road to try to settle him down are a wasted effort as well. I may be traumatized for a very long time. But, to get back to the point of the trip, visiting our family - that part was lots of fun. We are so lucky to have plenty of people who love these boys something fierce. Hopefully they'll come visit us next time, ha!

Apart from our road trip we've been keeping to the routine of things. Danny has been logging a lot of hours and has been on call a little more frequently than we're used to so I'm getting a lot of solo time with the boys. Max still goes to childcare once a week for an hour or so while Ben attends his Counting Class. We try to schedule playdates a couple times a week, and we've been making lots of park appearances now that it is finally getting warmer outside. Yay for spring!

I'm so in love with this happy, giggly boy. Apart from sleep and car trips, he's a very easy-going little man. I love watching his personality emerge as the months pass and am so grateful that we have such a wonderful little family. Here's to the next month Maxim!