7/8 months

Time for a combined summary of Seth's last two months. We have had some real fun with this guy lately! He's always growing; he weighs around 20 or 21 pounds and wears 9 month or 12 month clothes.

Eating
Still loving (almost) all pureed baby food and baby cereal. Favorites: pears, prunes and apples, peaches. Since he got his first tooth (July 4th) we let him try rice rusks, but he's still debating that one. While in Utah we bought him a fresh food feeder, a very good $7 investment. We put peaches, nectarines, and plums in it while the adults ate dinner to keep Seth occupied. And of course, he's still nursing.

His favorite eating trick is to blow with his tongue splattering food everywhere. Once this resulted in Stephen having some great pea-polka-dotted black shorts.

Sleeping
*I think* the days of 30 minute naps are OVER! Since we got home from Utah and readjusted Seth has been taking three 1 hour naps a day- hallelujah.

Night times had gotten to an all time terribleness with Seth waking up at, at a minimum, 11pm (right after we went to bed...rrrr), 2 am, and 5 am. I was nursing him every time. Now we make him cry it out at 11pm and it seems to be working because he's going back to sleep quicker and sleeping later (3 or 4 am) so this tired mom is getting much more sleep.

Bedtime? no, Aunt Krista!!!!!

Socializing
Seth met two awesome baby friends Max and Addison, while in Utah.

He also had a fantastic time socializing with grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, a cousin, and many other extended family members.

Matchin' Grandma

Matchin' Uncle Nate!

Playing with Cousin Caleb in the sprinklers (Caleb was so happy the whole time even though he had to get a nasal feeding tube while we were there- now he has a G-tube and seems to be doing the best with feeding that he ever has before!)

Cool cousins with Grandma and Grandpa

Hanging out with Stephen's cousins and their kids. Little Cali LOVED the baby and was so gentle with him.

Hanging out with Heather's cousin, Abby. Seth learned to wave and was doing it non-stop at their house! Cousin Jason was also nice enough to share his toys!

Having fun with more of Heather's cousins at the Murray 4th of July Parade.

Here's a close-up of the deputy badge that's hard to see in the last picture.

He loved his Great-Grandpa Purser.

Wagon rides at Grandma and Grandpa's may turn out to be a tradition.

Lovin' Aunt Lauren

Aunt Krista was so much fun!

Still on the socializing section...Since returning home, Seth has begun to develop stranger danger- just a mild intermittent case so far. He is mostly a very friendly, happy baby. He likes to give "fives" and if you're lucky he'll wave at you. If you're REALLY lucky he'll give you a kiss, that is, he'll suck/bite your face.

Communicating
Seth loves to babble repeated syllables. His favorite is "da da da da." When he wakes up every morning he says "da da da da..." in a quiet, whisper voice. It is ADORABLE! If we repeat a sound several times he usually switches to the sound we're saying.

We're working on using the following signs regularly so far: mom, dad, water, milk, food/eat, more, good night, and ball. I don't think he understands them yet, but hopefully he will and then eventually start to use them before he talks.

Playing
Let's see- can he chew on it? Then it's a toy. His favorite toys right now are his little tikes 4 key piano, soft plastic train, pop-up toy, ball, and wire whisk (he loves it!). The things he really wants to play with are cords. He is always scooting to them and has no concept of "uh oh" or "no." But he does recognize his favorite songs: "Popcorn Popping," "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," and "Down by the Bay."

Which reminds me, Seth has been a scooter/army crawler since Father's Day. He can get up on his hands and knees but doesn't crawl yet. Also, he's tried to pull himself up on things like a box or the bathtub a few times.

We got the tunnel out for Caleb, but Seth was interested too and climbed through the entire thing with Stephen's help!

Seth loves big-kid toys like toothbrushes

Seth is the peek-a-boo master these days

scooting in action

Yes, he's chewing on the chair.

Happy and loving his horse, Sir Prance-a-lot

His favorite ball. He'll chase it anywhere!