Leander Roxas // Seven Month Update

So, I’ve officially given up trying to figure out how this kid is as old as he is – 7 months old already?! Really?! How?!

• As usual, I’ll start out by saying that Leander is quickly moving up a size in clothes (again). I can still squeeze him into a few 9-month things, but for the most part, he is very squarely fitting into 12-months & 18-month clothes. Unreal.
• Leander continues to be an excellent sleeper!! Ever since we went thru the sleep training process at the beginning of May, he is a brand new baby. We have successfully transitioned down to 2 solid naps a day & he sleeps 11-12 (sometimes 13) hours a night in his own bed, in his own room, all by himself! He has even naturally transitioned from waking once a night to nurse, to sleeping all the way thru the night & not waking to nurse at all!! I still can hardly believe it. He is such a happy little guy!
• Leander is so close to crawling! He gets up on his knees & rocks, but then just when we think he’s going to start moving forward, he collapses back down to the floor. So, forward motion may not be there yet, but he is a master at moving backward! I have to pay attention to where I put him on the floor, because if I look away for even a few moments, he puts it into reverse & ends up stuck under the couch or a chair! It’s quite hilarious. I think we just need to find the right motivation to get him to move forward – I remember with Braelynn, the day we put her shoes out in front of her, she went for it! Braelynn was obsessed with her shoes! Leander has never worn shoes a day in his life, so that won’t work – but something will & we just need to find that “something”.
• We went on our first family vacation this month! Leander got to add a new state to his list (New Jersey) and came to 4 amusement parks with us: 2 Six Flags parks, Dutch Wonderland, and Sesame Place. He was amazing the entire trip! He traveled in the car so well (he only really cried once or twice), he slept every night in his pack-and-play in our hotel room, and he rode around every park in style in his stroller. We took him on every carousel we could and simply had the best time.
• When we got home from vacation, we officially re-introduced food to him! After our failed attempt a few weeks ago, we wait until after he turned 6 months old to offer food again – and this time, he was ready!! He has had rice cereal, sweet potatoes, apples, bananas, pears, squash, and peas. So far, he’s loved just about everything except the peas – he gagged on those – oops! Leander is an exceptionally messy eater – he has to grab the spoon every time it comes up to his face. That means that he basically needs a bath after every meal: there is always baby food everywhere – his hair, all over his face, his hands, and his highchair!
• Since Leander finally mastered sitting up by himself last month, I was finally brave enough to take both kids to the grocery store for the first time. Leander can now sit up in the cart & it’s literally the most adorable thing in the world. My favorite is going to Aldi because they have “double seats” – so both Braelynn & Leander can sit together & it’s so so cute!
• TWO new teeth popped thru this month! Leander now has two bottom teeth & two top teeth! They are so cute (you can see them in some of his pictures!)
• We spent a lot of time at Deep Creek Lake this month – a full week plus lots of weekends. Leander went on his very first boat ride on Grandpa’s boat this month & it was SO cute! He wore his lifejacket like a pro & didn’t even cry (every baby cries the first few times they have to wear a lifejacket). He also went swimming in the Lake for the first time last weekend (it’s been so cold & rainy this summer so far!) At first he wasn’t too sure about the water, but once Braelynn came around & started acting silly with him, he warmed right up!
• During the week we spent at the Lake House, Leander got sick & had his first bout of throwing up. It was awful. I had put him to bed & an hour later he woke up and was crying (which is very uncharacteristic). I went in to check on him & he had thrown up everywhere. I instantly pulled him out & put him in a bath and he threw up again. He threw up for the next 2 hours – it was literally the worst. He never had a fever & it’s never happened again. The only thing we can figure is that I fed him applesauce + rice cereal together that night – he had had each of those foods individually before, but never mixed together – and something with the mixture simply did not sit well with his tummy. Needless to say, I was very cautious about feeding him other new foods, but he’s been 100% fine ever since.
• That night that he was sick, he started sucking on his fingers to soothe himself. And the habit has stuck! He now sucks his fingers whenever he’s tired or upset – it’s the cutest thing. What’s funny is that, depending on what hand he’s sucking on, determines what fingers he has in his mouth. He only sucks on his 3rd and 4th fingers on his left hand & only sucks on his 2nd and 3rd fingers on his right hand.
• Moving into happier topics – Leander has officially figured out that he can make different sounds! And, I’m claiming it: his first word was “Mama” (I even have it on video!) Ever since he figured it out, he’s been babbling on and on and on – while we were in the grocery store check-out line, he even talked the lady behind us’s ear off! It’s super adorable! And, all joking aside, yesterday he was very clearly saying, “Mama” but today, he’s been saying something that definitely sounds more like, “Dada”. So, I guess we’ll see who wins that one!
• I know I say this every month, but Leander is obsessed with Braelynn! He simply adores her. A few times this month, she has not been with us in the car, and he just sits in the back seat & looks at her empty car seat. He knows she should be sitting there & if she’s not, he’s so sad. She continues to be the one who can make him laugh hardest, loudest, and longest. Pretty much anything she does is a “win” with Leander!

Here are his Seven Month photos! It blows my mind to look back & see how much he’s grown & changed – One Month photos & Two Month photos & Three Month photos & Four Month photos & Five Month photos & Six Month photos. Time can slow down anytime now!

If you’d like to follow along with what our little guy is up to on a more weekly basis – I’m taking weekly photos of him (just like I did with Braelynn) too! I post those updates every Monday on my personal Facebook page, as well as my Instagram account!