John at seven months

John is a sweet, sweet boy. He's so happy and remains pretty easy-going.
He has started rolling to get where he wants to be or to get something he wants.
He loves eating. When I do the sign for "eat" he smiles. If the food isn't coming fast enough from bowl to spoon to mouth, he fusses.
He goes down for a morning nap fairly easily between 8:30-9:00 every day and sleeps pretty well most days. He usually takes an afternoon nap without trouble as well.
Bedtime rolls around at about seven. Sometimes he gets fussy and goes down earlier, and sometimes we are so busy having fun (like this evening's walk to Hubbard) that he goes down later.
He likes cuddling with his soft little ducky lovey. And he loves shaking a maraca!
He's great at planking. He scoots. It seems like he'll start crawling before we know it.
He loves his big brother. James can make him giggle and laugh.
He gives hugs and kisses. In his own way. He wraps his arms around our necks and squeezes! And his kisses are as though he's trying to eat your face. Delicious!
And, crazy at it seems, sometimes it really sounds like he's saying "Mama!"

Lego "Firehouse"

James has been playing with his Legos again lately. He built this firehouse which has a bed for each "firefighter."
He created trucks and other vehicles for them and sits and makes up elaborate plots to acts out. They all take a rest whenever he has to leave them.

John Eats!

So you may recall that John had begun his adventures with cereal back in late June.  Well, he came down with a bit of a cold just before we left for our two-week trip to SC, so we payed a visit to the pediatrician to rule out an ear infection.  His ears looked great, but she said to ditch the solids during our trip.  That way he'd stay hydrated and healthy (yea, breastmilk!).  Added bonus-- no need to worry about pumping, mixing cereal, finding him a seat and a bib, etc.  Excellent.

Thus we started over with rice cereal after his six-month birthday.  He did well (better than during his first foray), and we moved on to barley and oatmeal.  He's a great eater!  He gets excited when seated in his high chair, and opens his mouth wide when he sees a spoon coming his way.  And if he doesn't see a spoon coming his way, well, he'll let you know he's displeased!

Last night was his first "dining out" experience.  He had oatmeal while we were at James's friend's birthday party.  John was going after it!  He grabbed the spoon and tried to feed himself!

Today was his first adventure with veggies.  James was super excited for his baby brother!  We steamed and pureed some carrots this morning, and John looooved his lunch!  Looking forward to dinner!

Latest Fave Sport

James quite enjoyed watching mountain biking yesterday.

He was SO excited to see it again today!

He built his own course out of blocks with a rocky, bumpy hill at the finish line.

A Cuddly Afternoon

John had been boycotting naps as of late (yesterday, this morning), so I'm camped out in the comfy chair in his room with him.
I was catching a few Zs myself, but then someone had to come tell me every detail of his latest building project.

Sweet Boy

Just overheard the following exchange between James and Dan:

J: Daddy? Dan? I need cuffs on these pants.
D: You're wearing pants?
J: Yep.
D: Why are you wearing long pants?
J: Because you are!

Little Olympian

Welcome to today's gymnastics competition. John is competing in several events: bars, crunches, push-ups, and rolling.

James the Olympian

We have Olympic Fever.
James has been tearing it up at the pool lately. He clutches the side of the wall like back strokers, takes off, strokes through the water, then exclaims, "I'm in the Olympics!" Love. It.

Tonight he's anxiously awaiting swimming on prime time. Waiting in his starting blocks and "swimming" on the carpet.

Now that they're showing diving, the "starting blocks" transformed into a diving board...

Crafty Eyes

James has been reading more Thea Stilton and Geronimo Stilton books from the library. He thoroughly enjoys these little mystery series starring mice. He also thoroughly enjoys pretending to be various characters from the books.

As we have been reading The Secret of the Cacklefur Castle, he's been pretending to be Creepella Cacklefur lately. With Daddy's encouragement, we made some creepy masks this morning for Creepella and her friend to wear: