One more video

Laughter!

Cutest Baby EVER!

So, Jonah's working on crawling -- he figured out how to scootch backwards today -- and he has two -- two! -- teeth. We don't have photographic evidence of the teeth yet, because they're so teeny still, but they're there!



In the meantime, here's some video of him.

Seven Months!

Dear Jonah,

Yesterday you turned seven months old! To celebrate, you got your first tooth! It's just barely broken through -- we can feel it but can't really see it -- and I don't think it will be long until the next one follows.


This has been kind of a trying month in terms of sleep. You still sleep with us at night, but you've been waking up in the middle of the night, crying for no reason. And you've been eating every 3 hours (sometimes less!) through the night, too, which is making my days really hard. And during the day, you have a hard time getting to sleep even though we rock you, and then you wake up almost every time we put you down in your crib or in the pack-n-play. And you're cranky much of the day!


Last weekend, you and I flew down to California to go to GG's not-memorial-service (more on that later). Between the flight and the car ride to her house, you slept 5+ hours the day we arrived, and you were so charming and happy the rest of the time! It really made me realize that you are not getting enough sleep. So yesterday, we started something new: we put you down in your crib when you are drowsy, and pat your back and shush you until you fall asleep. When you push your head up, we gently put it back down. You cry, but so far you do go to sleep, and you know that we're right there (which is part of my problem with the "cry it out" methods). It's been working really well, so far (knock wood!): you slept in your crib for 2 hours yesterday afternoon, and woke up happy! And today you've slept for 2-1/2 hours so far. It's not perfect yet -- you go down pretty easily, but if you wake up it's harder to get you to go back to sleep -- but it's only day 2. The idea is that, eventually, we'll be able to put you in your crib awake and you'll be able to go to sleep on your own. We're not doing this at night yet, because I think you're not quite ready yet, but I don't think it's too far off.



Daddy and I are already practically giddy at how it seems to be working: it doesn't take much longer to get you down than it did to rock you to sleep, and once you're down, we're free! We aren't stuck holding a sleeping baby for hours a day. We might be able to get something done now! And I suspect we'll have a much happier baby once you're getting a proper amount of sleep. This will be good, because Daddy broke his hand last month after hitting the couch in frustration with your crying!



In addition to your new tooth, you are also working on crawling! You can sometimes get up onto your hands and knees, and when you do you rock back and forth. Sometimes you even scootch backwards, which you do not like, because you're usually trying to go forward to get a toy!



You were so, so good for Grammy & Grandpa when they visited -- they just had the best time with you! You have become a lot more interactive in the last couple of weeks. Your smiles used to be harder to elicit, but now you'll wait for someone to look at you and then grin at them.



We had you dedicated at church when Grammy & Grandpa were here, and during the dedication -- to my surprise -- you were happy and thoroughly charming! You played with your feet, you looked at the lights, you smiled at the congregation. And when Pastor Mark lifted you up so everyone could see you, you laughed! I couldn't have asked for you to be better.



After your dedication, we gave you your first solid food -- sweet potato! The timing wasn't great, since you were really, really tired, but you seemed to enjoy it anyway. Since then, you've had some carrot, too. You aren't really into food yet, but we'll keep giving some to you every few days, and eventually you'll "get" it.




You were also really good on the plane rides to and from California. I'm really glad about that, because Daddy couldn't come with us. You played with toys for a bit, flirted with the people around us, and then fell asleep. And you were nice and flirty with everyone at GG's house, too. I think it helped that you had just seen Grammy & Grandpa & Uncle Matt, but you were so much less clingy than you were at Christmas.

GG's party was wonderful -- I got to meet so many people I'd heard about my whole life but never met! They had all heard about you, and even though you were a little too overwhelmed to be smiley and charming at the party, at least you didn't cry. And afterward, when there weren't as many people around, you let new people hold you.


It's been a big month, and I think next month will be bigger! Crawling is just ahead, and I don't even want to think about what you'll get into.

Love and raspberries,
Momma