Letting Our Light Shine: 7 months

Owen will be 7 months this Wednesday (photo to come) and as I sit here on this snowy February day, making updates to his baby book and calendar, I am reminded of the fun new milestones to report. For instance, about a week ago, Grandma V discovered his first baby tooth poking, ever so slightly, from O's bottom gums. It's a sharp little thing, I'm here to tell you! I guess I expected that once it made its first appearance, it would be fully out in no time, and all the others would be close behind, but so far, it's still just a sharp, stubby little nub that you can really only see when he opens his mouth really wide in anticipation of a bottle or bite of food (which is hilarious to see...he opens up SO wide!)

I work with Owen every day on sitting (unsupported) - you'll recall from my last post that he wasn't showing any signs of interest in this activity for a while - and I'm happy to report that he is finally capable of sitting for short periods on his own. I'm always nearby to prop him back up after he tumbles backward, sideways, and face forward, but as long as he's distracted with toys within his reach, he has the potential to sit for a full minute or more without falling. I long for the day (both for his benefit and mine) that he can keep himself steady for good (or at least, when he can pick himself back up after he falls). Stay tuned...

And just this morning, I witnessed (sort of) O's first successful attempt at rolling from his back to his belly. He's been doing the reverse for months now, and has gotten awfully close on many, many occasions. But today, I went to peek on him to see if he had fallen asleep yet during nap time (it was suspiciously quiet for a while, so I assumed he had), but instead, I found him on his tummy, with his arms tucked uncomfortably underneath him. He wasn't really fussing, but it appeared from a distance that he was trying to get himself back over onto his back. But when I got closer, his eyelids were heavy and he looked like he was about to fall asleep. I really thought he looked uncomfortable though (and, frankly, I'm a bit uncomfortable with the idea of him sleeping on his tummy still, too), so I gently rolled him back over and he went right to sleep. Sweet boy!

I joined a local MOPS group this past week (that's "Mothers of Preschoolers," a social/support group for moms of children in infancy through kindergarden) and am excited to get to know some of the other young moms in this area a little better. I was also planning to attend "Tummy Time," a story time/parenting advice for kids under 3 at the library today, but it is at 10:00 which is usually smack in the middle of O's morning nap time. I just couldn't bring myself to wake him today, when he was sleeping so well, to get in the car and go out in the cold to attend a story time that I would certainly get more out of than he would. Maybe if his nap schedule ever changes, I would like to try to get out and do more of that kind of thing.

For those wondering about our living situation, we have signed a deal with a buyer on our Seattle house and, assuming everything goes through, we are scheduled to close on that deal March 1. We still, however, haven't decided on where we want to buy a house in Iowa yet, so our home search on this end has come to a temporary halt. More on that later...

And now, the pictures...

Happy baby!