Braden is 7 Months Old!

I could probably say "I can't believe I have a __ month old!!!" at the end of every month, but in particular...I can't believe I have a 7 month old, this month! We have been so busy this summer and it feels like it's just gone by the in blink of an eye. I'm really sad that we never got to take Braden on his first camping trip this summer...but hopefully we will be able to get away after harvest, whenever that will be! So here we are at 7 months:

Stats are: 

Weight:  15 lbs, 11 oz 
Length:  27.5" (I think this measurement is extremely subjective! only 1/4" in a month...probably not!)
Head: 44.5 cm

So right when his weight gain is supposed to slow down....he starts gaining! hehe, crazy kid! He almost gained 1 pound this month, and actually since he got his shots on the 10th, just a little over 2 weeks ago, he gained over half a pound! The goal is to double birth weight by 6 months, he did it at probably about 6.5 months, and then to triple it by 1 year. So he needs to gain 8.5 lbs to meet that goal, but it is just a guideline. He is still in the 10th percentile for his weight, but also still in the 75th for length!

New Braden things:

• Sitting up on his own! He can do it for minutes on end, but does have trouble with balance, if he watches Miles go by, he turns his body and then will tumble over if I'm not there, so I can't trust him on his own quite yet!
• Rolling, rolling, rolling! Started rolling long distances (across the room!) about 2 weeks ago
• Has his bottom right tooth all the way through, but not all the way up, no other teeth in sight
• Napping is AWESOME. Naps at 10, 2, and 4:30ish everyday and shows no signs of wanting to cut down to 2 naps. The first 2 are 1.25 hours long and the last is 45 minutes
• Sleeping at night is very inconsistent now. He had a major setback with all our company this month, combined with teething and a growth spurt (up every 1.5 hrs that night!), he now gets up twice a night....sigh. Going to train him again when we move, no point in doing it before then.
• Still LOVES his solid foods...he's now also had mangoes, blueberries, oatmeal, beef, chicken, pork, yams, yogurt...and we're also experimenting with finger food and he's had pizza crust and spaghetti and hunks of pork and steak! He does well with them, but I keep an eagle eye on him in case he chokes, which he hasn't
• Eating 3 meals (most) days: 2 cubes of fruit with ~3 tbsp of oatmeal for breakfast, yogurt or fruit for a snack if we're home, 1 cube of veggie mixed with 1 cube of meat for supper...plus finger food experimenting!
• I have cut out 2 breastfeeding sessions a day now...slowly weaning him, but hoping that he will wean himself to cow's milk around or shortly before he turns 1
• Sippy cup experimenting is not going well...I want him to start drinking a bit of water, but he just chews on the spouts - even if it is soft silicone like a bottle nipple!
• Gets VERY impatient if we are slow to get the food into his mouth, he literally starts shaking his arms in anger at us!
• He babbles "dadadadada" and can say "bah"
• He is getting more spikey blond hair!

By Braden's 8 month birthday, we will FOR SURE be in our new house and his new monthly picture will have his beautiful blue walls in the background! :)