Rylan 7 Month Summary

Rylan turned 7 months old this past weekend! Time continues to fly as we’ve had a busy month – numerous trips for Brad & I, a long visit from Grandma, and a quick trip down to see Uncle Cameron get married. Rylan also had his first real cold this month. He has been a trooper through it all and kept his happy disposition.

Rylan has been very active lately, and is on the verge of crawling. It’s funny how I couldn’t wait for Brandon to be able to crawl, but with Rylan, it’s kinda nice being able to put him down and not worry about him getting too far or into trouble. That comfort is pretty much out the window, as he has mastered the inchworm and can work himself across a room in no time. I still can’t leave him alone in a sitting position as he tends to throw himself at whatever he is trying to grab. I’m beginning to wonder where his sense of self preservation is, or if little boys even have one at all!

He’s pretty excellent about entertaining himself, and is usually content just hanging out on the floor with a toy or two. I’ve learned that I have to monitor which of Brandon’s toys he gets his hands on (even though nothing in their reach is a choking risk since Brandon is still only 2), as he will bite down on a toy so hard that he’s actually drawn blood. I’m really glad I stopped breastfeeding!!

Sleeping has been a little erratic this month, between travels and the little cold he battled. Nothing crazy, but we had a few nights where he would wake-up crying 1 or 2 times. I want to note that even though I am a sleep training (i.e. cry-it-out) advocate, when my baby is sick or in an unfamiliar place while traveling, I don’t let them cry more than a few minutes (just to see if they are passing between sleep cycles). Once the illness has passed or we are back home, it might be a little rough going for a day or two, but it’s usually not bad. Having a baby who has been sleep trained and who regularly sleeps with no problems is actually helpful in these situations, as you know they are crying for a real reason, and that they probably need to be checked on.

“Can’t you see I’m working here!”

Rylan loves his solid foods! There has only been one instance so far where he hasn’t finished off his meal, and he was pretty congested at the time. I did try and increase the amount of food I was giving him, but then he started taking less formula, so I scaled back down. At this point getting him his required ounces of formula each day is more important than more mashed bananas. I plan on introducing some meat and yogurt to his meals this month. I can’t wait till next month when we can start on finger foods!

Here’s a typical day for Rylan at 7 months:

• 7:30 am – wake-up, get dressed and bottle (8 oz with 1 T rice cereal)
• 7:45 – breakfast w/ Brandon (usually in bouncy seat, not eating solids here)
• 8:15 – Outside!
• 9:30-11 – nap #1
• 11 – “play” with Brandon
• 11:30 – Independent Play (blanket time while mom preps lunch)
• 11:45 – bottle
• 12 – lunch (Solids – we introduce new foods at this time, so not to mess with bedtime if he has an adverse reaction).
• 1-3/3:30 – nap #2
• 3:15/3:30 – bottle
• 3:30 – “play” with Brandon (tummy time) or Outside
• 5-5:30 – nap #3
• 5:30 – independent play in play pen
• 6 – dinner with family (Solids)
• 6:40 – bath
• 7 – bottle (8 oz with 1 T rice cereal)
• 7:30 – bedtime!