Brooks is 7 Months!!!

Brooksie Boy is 7 months old!

 We had professional pictures taken with our favorite photographer, Rachel Eagle.

This is just the sneak peek, so I'll post more once we get them!

 My big, happy boy!!

 We love you, little man!

Here's the top/bottom comparison of Brooks (top) and Kylie (bottom).

They are definitely related! 

  

Another month has come and gone, and Brooks just keeps getting sweeter and sweeter. I am LOVING this age. Brooks is so happy and content most of the time. He plays and moves and smiles and talks. He makes me want to have one million babies! Not really, but I really am enjoying this age and stage! He is starting to develop a little personality, and I am convinced he is going to be my little trouble maker. I say this because I witnessed an interesting event the other day. Brooks and Kylie were taking a bath together. Kylie was minding her own business and playing with her watering can. Brooks kicked the watering can, and Kylie got a little angry. Brooks laughed at her, and kicked it again. The entire event was repeated several times, and I'm pretty sure that Brooks was purposely pushing Kylie's buttons. I thought it was hilarious! I know it's going to be painful in the future, but I love that he is causing a ruckus at a mere 7 months old! 

Brooks loves to move, and he is getting really good at it. He is army crawling all over the place. If you put a toy or another fun object in front of him, he can get to it very quickly. Brooks adores his big sister. She talks to him, tickles him, kisses him, and plays with him, and he just laughs and laughs. He stares at her in the car. He shrieks at her every morning from his crib. I love watching their relationship develop. It's so special! Brooks still likes his car seat and stroller. He just sits back and relaxes when he is riding around. He is also still paci-obsessed. He not only sucks on it, but chews on it as well. He has complete control over it now, though, which is great. Brooks is loving all solid foods, but I think his favorite so far is applesauce. He gets so excited that he shakes when he is eating it! His favorite toy right now is his new "Indestructibles" book. He shakes it, chews on it, and makes as much noise as possible with it. He still enjoys bath time. He kicks, splashes, squeals, and squeaks! He also still loves cuddling with his mama! He always gets a little cuddle time before bed, and I swear he cries when others are holding him just so he can have his mother instead. 

As sweet as he is, Brooks does have a few dislikes. One thing I've noticed lately is that he doesn't like being startled by loud noises, especially when he is tired. If Huey barks, Jon coughs, Kylie sneezes, or a horn honks, he will immediately start to scream/cry if he is sleepy. As I briefly mentioned above, Brooks does not like being put to sleep by people other than me. That is a habit we definitely need to break. Brooks still does not like being left alone for long periods of time. And he is still not a fan of being tired. He really only cries or fusses when he is on the verge of sleep. 

Brooks has continued to meet many new milestones over the past month. As I said, he is army crawling all over the place, which is very fun! He will also go up to hands and knees, or sometimes hand, elbow, and knees, and rock. He can plank and side plank! The side plank is actually one of his favorite positions. I'm trying to get a picture of it to post on the blog. Brooks can sit independently for about 30 seconds. I think he can actually sit for longer, but he always presses back so that he can lay down and move around. And he has officially graduated from physical therapy, which means his torticollis is gone! YAY! In the fine motor realm, Brooks is working on his pincer grasp. I give him puffs when he is eating so he can practice. He still mostly uses his whole hand, but if I put a puff between his thumb and fore finger, he can hold on to it. Baby steps. Speaking of food, he is now eating lots of different baby foods. He has tried rice cereal, peas, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, carrots, squash, green beans, peaches, pears, apples, bananas, mums, and puffs. He loves them all! His food schedule goes like this: 7-8 ounces of breastmilk at 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 8pm. He also gets rice cereal and fruit after the 8am bottle, and a veggie after the 4pm bottle. I give him mums and puffs randomly when we are eating, and he clearly wants to be included. Brooks is sleeping well, and even starting to take decent naps. He still sleeps from about 8:30/9pm until 7:30/8am. He is ready for a morning nap around 9:30am, and if we are home and he sleeps in the crib, he'll go for 1-2 hours. If we are out and about because it's hard for Kylie and I to stay cooped up all morning when we know it's sunny and warm outside, then he'll sleep for about 45 minutes-1 hour in the car seat or stroller. He takes his afternoon nap in the pack and play in the laundry room because Kylie sleeps in the bedroom, and he usually sleeps from about 2:00pm-3 or 4pm. And he still likes to take that evening cat nap at about 6pm for about 30 minutes. Brooks also popped his bottom two teeth through this month. The bottom left came through on May 31st, and the bottom right came through on June 9th. He looks so cute with those two little chompers! Finally, he is starting to move up to size 6-9 month clothes, though he still fits into some 3-6 too, and he is still wearing size 3 diapers. 

We adore you, Brooksie! We can't wait to watch you continue to grow and develop into a sweet, loving, trouble-making little boy!