Seven months old!

One week ago today, Parker turned seven months old!


He loves to smile...


He's a sweet little boy who loves to be held...

And while he thinks we are great, I'm afraid that what he loves best is his right thumb!


And I let him because it makes him happy and because with a smile like this, what mother can say no?!?!


He's not crawling yet or moving around too much, but he likes to look around and take in the world around him...


And sometimes he makes funny little faces. In this one I think he is saying, "WHO, ME!?!?"


He is starting to sit up more and more. I wouldn't leave him unattended sitting up, but he can definitely hold himself up for short periods of time (really short if he is tired!).


He always has to know where we are. Toys are fun, but he needs regular reassurance that yes, Mommy is right behind him!


And another funny face just for fun...


His hair is nowhere near as full as it was when he was born, but it is definitely coming back...slowly but surely!

In other news, at seven months Parker:

* Is starting to eat more solid foods. He doesn't like much though so this is kind of frustrating. He gags if I give him rice or oatmeal cereal (so I try to mix some in with the foods he does like, but he quickly detects it and gags again). He will tolerate sweet things like pears, sweet potatoes and apples, but will have nothing to do with peas or green beans. We're slowly trying new things and I hope it gets better soon!
* Likes to squeal and "yell" sometimes. He is starting to try new consonant sounds like "Ga," "Mmm," "Heh," and "Ba."
* Loves the bathtub, but I'm ashamed to admit he doesn't get bathed all that often!
* Doesn't have as many nicknames as Thomas did at this age. Mostly I call him "Park, Park" and Thomas does too, sometimes. But usually he is just Parker or Park.
* Loves his brother very, very much. He smiles when Thomas comes into his sight and laughs for him all the time.
* Weighs 18 lbs, 3 oz. as of last week and wears mostly 12 months clothes and size 4 diapers.
* Loves to see himself in the mirror...the narcissus. :)
* Grabs at everything he sees that he wants (my computer, any magazine, catalog or newspaper, etc). He realy loves to grab my water glass and take a little sip.
* Is a wonderful, fabulous nighttime sleeper (goes down around 7 and sleeps until 7), but is a horrible napper. Since T was the opposite, I guess it's the tradeoff, and I guess it's better than getting up during the night. On a good day he will take one good nap (two hours) and one not-so-good nap (today it was 45 minutes; so then he was awake from 2:45 until 6:45...not fun!). He definitely starts getting tired after being awake for two hours but won't always take a nap.
* Is okay for short periods in his jumperoo, exersaucer or bouncy seat; but isn't much for being put in the pack-n-play for playtime. He knows how to kick his legs in the bouncy seat to get it bouncing well and loves to do that. It's funny to see.
* Is starting to learn how to hold himself up while standing and likes to do that. I'm starting to think he'll skip crawling all together and go straight to walking. ;-)
* Is generally a very good baby (save the napping). He does like to be held more than I would like, but then again, I know he is probably my last baby, so I try to enjoy this time now while I can!

Just for fun, I thought I'd compare pics of Thomas at the same age with Parker now...


And Thomas...


No...they really don't look that much alike, do they? But of course my completely unbiased opinion is that they are both cute in their own right. :)

Hopefully I made up for my tardiness with an abundance of pictures (that's what blogs are for, right? Pictures?) Next month I'll try to be more timely with my update, but I hope that this next month will not pass as quickly as the last seven. Time is just flying much too fast!