7 month old Colter

So Colter turned 7 months a few days ago and its still weird to me to think he is that old. 

He is a busy, speed-crawling, smiles-with-his-whole-face kinda boy. I don't feel like there is a whole lot to report, progress-wise. He is crawling, pulling himself up to stand, and takes steps while holding onto people (or things). But he's been doing all that for a few months now. He often cries when I walk away from him (loooove it) and he still loves Ezra. 

I guess we have progressed a little in the way of foods. He is still pretty exclusively breastfed but I like to sit him in his booster chair and put a few cheerios in front of him and he likes to grab at them and occasionally eat one. I tried blending a banana for him and he wouldn't even consider having a bite. It was pretty funny how opposed he was to eating it. Although, he has never turned down any form of ice cream and I can't blame him. 

EC is going quite well. We've been practicing it for I think 3 months now and it really is such an amazing thing. I've been surprised to see that he actually does "hold it" most of the time, until I give him an opportunity to go. I still keep a diaper on him most of the time and I am always disappointed when I've found that he has peed in it and I have missed a signal. This happens at home, most of the time. I also find we have a lot more misses on the weekends when we are out of our routine. I think we're at our best when we are out and about. For example, on Friday night we went to the BYU football game. I had him pee outside before we left. I've found that if I hold him in position in our driveway he will usually go because he knows he's going in the car and won't have another opportunity for a while. He slept on our way to Justin's parents' to pick up Ezra and then Landon & Bri, and then a quick detour through Arby's. When we parked at the game, I took off his dry diaper and had him pee on the ground next to the car. Bundled back up, we went to the game. I tried to give him an opportunity during the game, in the bathroom, but he loudly protested. Always fun. But he stayed dry and I held him in the same spot by the car when we left and he peed again and stayed dry through the drive home. 

In contrast to a baby like my adorable nephew Isaiah, I changed his poopy diaper and put a new one on him and it was wet within a few minutes, where once I have a new diaper on Colter it usually stays dry for quite a while. So that experience reminded me of the progress we have made and how he is aware of when he is going and he doesn't just go randomly and whenever he feels like it. He waits, and that's exciting. 

There are basically 4 ways to tell if he needs to "go":
1. His signals and cues (he always talks/grunts before he needs to poop)
2. Natural timing (he goes when he wakes and then about an hour after, etc.)
3. Structured times (after waking, after transitions from car or carrier, etc.)
4. My intuition (just "feeling" like he needs to go)

He's been a terrible sleeper but I think its mostly because he has been sick and teething. Never a good combination. But we're scraping by. And he's just the cutest thing ever, so it's OK. :)