He's Old Enough to Sleep Through the Night or...Not, in Our Case.

Jackson James Schneider is 7 Months young and absolutely full of energy, life and, well, blueberries.

Lucky searching for leftover food in Jack's hands!

Define "sleeping through the night" .....  

I feel like if he sleeps from 10 pm to 5 am, I WIN.  Even at 5 am, I can feed him and get another hour of sleep before I need to start making like an active member of the professional world.  Plus, he sleeps until noon after that...buying Matt some good morning work time.

The pediatrician is all "he's working you over....he can sleep through the night, from 7pm to 7am"

I'm all:  "whatever, doc, that kid is HUNGRY at 3 am!"

So, we compromised.  We feed him dinner at 7pm....everything from yummy sweet potatoes to pears, green beans and squash.  I then nurse him at 10pm to get him through the night.  It works for us.  And, I'm all about what works for us -- because when this kid is screaming at 3 am, the only people lying awake are Matt and I.  
The last time we let him cry for an hour...I walked into his room....and he was so frantically hungry that he attacked my cheek like a zombie and gave me a hickey.  Yes, folks - a good old fashioned hickey....right there on my cheek.  Try explaining that at work.  Thank God for Bobbi Brown concealer. 

Also?  He hates cauliflower.

He loves ice water though!  He bangs on his high chair tray until we hand him that sippy cup of water...and it had better be cold.

 

He likes his water cold and his food hot...unless it's green beans, which he likes cold.  Weirdo.

He also can't get enough of baby yogurt.  He tries to snatch the container out of our hands, so watch out if you're feeding that to him.  He'll go after your hand for sure.

He also demands bananas for breakfast along with his oatmeal and blueberries.  "Demands" may be a strong term, since he rarely cries (unless I'm starving him in the middle of the night), but you get what I'm saying.

He's been sitting up for a while, but has really started playing and reaching and scooching around to get what he wants.  I'm afraid that crawling is right around the corner, but truth be told -- I'd be OK if he skipped crawling.  In fact, I'd be OK if he just slowed down a little bit.  Where did my 6 lb baby go...that liked to be swaddled and snuggled?  Now, he's all about what ELSE is out there besides momma.

And, there really is SO much else out there for him to experience....

  

He's sitting up in high chairs ....

He's sitting up in shopping carts .... 

He's sitting up in his big boy stroller seat .... 

He's sitting up on the bed ....

And, he's STANDING UP at daycare.... 

He thinks he's so big!

This month not only brought on lots of sitting and standing, but also brought the opportunity for me to play a single mom for 5 days.  Of course, I have a whole new respect for how much work this really is -- and I only have one child.  Let's just say that showing up to work with blueberries on my jacket was the LEAST dramatic thing that happened in those 5 days.

I also discovered that the wonderful world of pregnancy and motherhood is the gift that keeps on giving.  It wasn't enough that my entire mind and body changed forever, was it?  Nope.  You needed to go and change my hairline too.....SEVEN MONTHS after the fact.  I now have a brand new hairline and new hair growth that is about 1 inch long right now along my forehead.  Attractive.  Really, pregnancy hormones?  Quit it.  

No book prepares you for this.  I read them all.

The thing books DO prepare you for....when your child gets sick.  The daycare called one day to let me know that Jack had a 104 degree fever.  I'm sorry?  ONE HUNDRED AND FOUR?  Geezus!  The dr then tells me that a infant over 3 months can have a fever this high for up to 5 days before it's considered serious.  Pardon??  My little guy was MISERABLE....but the saddest kind of miserable.  He didn't cry....he didn't whine....he barely whimpered, which made me feel even WORSE for him.

Luckily, it only lasted for 2 days and then the rash showed up.  Roseola.  Classic case.  Whew.

(Did I mention that Matt was out of town?  No?  Did I also mention that I was also so sick with a fever and other super pleasant symptoms that I could hardly get out of bed, much less take care of Jack?  It was a blast.  Hooray!)

We did end his 7th month of life on a high note with a little all American history lesson.  We visited Valley Forge!  We found lots of stuff, but most excitingly....we found George Washington and the musket collection.

Georgie!

aaaaaggghhhh!!!  Look at the muskets!!!!!

Jack was thoroughly impressed.  So much so that he slept through the night....from 7pm to 7am.  

What do I know anyway?