Everyone’s baby develops at a different rate, as everyone painfully reminds you, but this last month we have seen a HUGE developmental jump in the little guy.  He is now 7,5 months old, and in the last month we have noticed that there have been a lot of physical developments.  Such as:

• Teeth! 2 teeth on the bottom, which were a real pain (for him and for us)
• Crawling!  1 month ago, being on all 4’s was a big accomplishment.  Now, he’s crawling with authority – not military-style, but proper palms and knees crawling
• Eating solids.  He eats 2 meals a day (lunch and dinner) that are porridge, plus a vegetable, fruit, and some kind of meat (1 time a day).
• Talking / Being more vocal.  He is not just blabbering (sometimes he is), but now I think he actually thinks he is saying things.
• Recognition of other people besides his mother and me
• Desire to be center of the universe makes him extra whiney sometimes (like if we are out and nobody is looking at him and telling him how cute he is)
• Extra “huggy” and “kissy” with mother and me.  Basically he will turn to us for a hug, and will kiss us too.  Often the kiss is just an opportunity to use us as human teething toys, but whatever works for him is fine for us.
• More comfortable with other babies.  He used to look at them like they were aliens.  Now he interacts with them and doesn’t mind when they poke his eye and pull his hair.
• Less fun to put to bed (he is usually not super happy about bed time, but this is an extra level of not-fun for us).
• Awareness of the world.  We got 2 new lamps in our bedroom, and he stared back and forth at them for a long time, trying to figure out what was going on with these new lamps.
• Personality more developed.  He has always had a good personality, but now you can really see what he likes, dislikes, thinks is funny, and wants.  It’s pretty cool.
• Exploration.  Now that he can crawl, it’s GAME ON.

If you are not a parent, or it has been a long time since you had a little baby, be aware that most of the time in the first 6 months, you are celebrating the tiniest little thing (ex: “oh!  he moved his wrist!!”).  So to have so many things happen in the last month is quite a big deal.  It’s all happening so fast, it is really crazy.  What they say about “the time goes by quickly, so enjoy it” is really true.  Next thing we know he will be getting his driver’s license. 😉