Oliver: 7 months

Here we are.. month 7!.. now more than half way through Oliver's first year.. WOW!

This month has been very eventful as far as milestones go.. Oliver has become increasingly interested in toys and is very interactive; he plays with his sisters ALL THE TIME and I can finally see some real exchanges between them...it's the most adorable thing and I love to see how protective they are of him and also very helpful!

Oliver "talks" (more like babbles) A LOT.. he says dadda, mama, bah bah and many other cute baby words that I can't get enough of, it's so entertaining to talk to him and hear him respond and smile. 

He can roll, scoot, sit up, grab things, feed himself pieces of food and is basically eating EVERYTHING (except for nuts, honey and citrus); I am really happy with our decision to skip baby food and go straight to table food, I feel like feeding him is so easy and he has really caught on the concept of chewing, biting and swallowing all kinds of foods... so far his favorites include avocado, pasta, bread, chicken, mushrooms and cheese.

Oliver has also mastered the "all fours" position and can rock back and forth.  Sometimes (by fluke), he will put one hand in front of the other but I don't think he understands what crawling means just yet.  I will be honest and say that I'd rather him hold off a bit with the crawling because I'm already exhausted as it is without having to chase him around....

He is currently 21 lbs and 28 inches long, wearing size 9 or 12 months (depending on the brand) and STILL successfully breastfeeding exclusively; he still nurses every 2-3 hours and our bond is stronger than ever! ;)

Now on to the "ugly" part... Oliver STILL doesn't sleep through the night...he is such a nightmare when it comes to sleeping.  We still struggle to put him down for the first stretch of the night and after that he is up every two hours (sometimes even less!) and wants to eat every time.  He is also VERY demanding and wants to be held ALL THE TIME!! We are beyond exhausted and sometimes I wonder how God thought I'd be able to handle another baby because he tests my patience more often than not and I get so desperate when I can't figure out how to get him to calm down.

Yes he is smiley and sweet but he can also be the whiniest and crankiest baby sometimes and those are the times when I wonder if my life would be better without him in it... I realize that sounds horrible, but that's what sleep deprivation does to a mom and I gotta be honest with myself because it is NOT always rainbows and butterflies with these squishy babies...

We recently purchased a king size bed because as horrible as it sounds (for some!), we still share a bed with Oliver and I can't see an end to this habit since he won't sleep anywhere else! :/  I will admit to the fact that I love the baby cuddles, especially now that there's room for everyone in our huge bed! ;)

With all that said, I still love my baby and I feel so blessed to have him in our lives. He brings so much joy to our family and I can't wait to see him turn into a wonderful boy and amazing man. 

Happy 7 months, Oliver! We love you!