7 Months

Luke turned 7 months old about a week ago. He continues to grow and change every single day. It is so much fun being his mom (most of the time)! Here is what the little guy is up to these days:

• He has 3 teeth, all on the bottom.
• He pulls himself up from a sitting position to a standing position like a champ. He tries to pull himself up on everything, but is only successful if he can get a grip on the object.
• He has the cutest cheesy grin, which involves scrunching up his nose.
• He reaches up with both arms when he wants to be picked up.
• Surprise, surprise, he still rarely sleeps well at night. However, looking on the bright side, he is really good at going down for naps and at bedtime. We put him in his crib for naps when he shows signs of tiredness and he usually goes right to sleep. Bedtime is every night at 8 and he is almost always out within a couple of minutes.
• He still isn't crawling. He seems more interested in walking and may do that first. But he now frequently gets up on his hands and knees and rocks. He occasionally jumps his knees forward, but his hands rarely move. He has moved his left hand forward a couple of times, but then he just stares at his right hand, willing it to move.
• He gives kisses (slobbery licks and raspberries) when asked for them. He still has to be in the right mood to give them, but he knows what you want when you kiss his cheek and then ask, "Can I have a kiss?"
• He wants to do everything himself. If you try to take his hand and help him do something, he will yank his hand away, frowning and then try to do it himself.
• He laughs all the time. He especially loves peek-a-boo and being held upside down.
• He is getting really good at using his hands and fingers, even with the smallest objects.
• He never stops moving.  He is always jumping, bouncing, climbing, and wiggling.
• He gets into laughing fits with me for no reason. We just sit there and laugh at each other.
• He sticks his tongue out all the time - when he's excited, when he's concentrating, when he's fake laughing and fake coughing.
• He has monkey feet (inherited from his mom). He uses them to touch things and grabs things with his toes. He even picks objects up between the bottoms of both feet and brings them up for his hands to grab.
• He has recently become a much pickier eater and refuses to eat much of the homemade baby food I have made him. He loves yogurt and fruit, but most vegetables have become a struggle. Jeff and I might be to blame since we have given him little tastes of our ice cream and candy.
• He still looks so much like his Daddy.  At the grocery store a couple of days ago, a man looked at Luke and then at me and asked, "Did you steal that baby?"

 A few pictures from the past few days ...

Luke's new walk n' ride toy. He just kept jumping and launching himself forward instead of sitting and riding it.

 The result of sneezing with a mouthful of squash.

 Playing MarioKart with Daddy. Notice Jeff trying to ward off those crazy monkey feet as they try repeatedly to grab the controller.

 In the cute shirt Grandma got him in California