a day in the life of a seven month old

Hard to believe, but Drew is seven months old today! I thought it might be fun to record what the past 24 hours of his life looked like.

10:00 last night: Ben had quite a bit of work to do, so Drew hung out with me upstairs. He had taken a pretty long afternoon nap, so bedtime was later than usual. We played on the bed together for a while until he began to wind down. He nursed one last time at 10:30 and went to bed for the night. Well, almost. :)

3:00 Drew was wide awake and ticked off at the world! I changed his diaper and nursed him and by 3:20 we were back asleep.

5:30 Once again, wide awake. Not unhappy this time, but wide awake. Lots of cooing and talking before getting upset that I wasn't picking him up. By six, we both drifted back off for a little bit more sleep.

7:00 Up for the day once Luke came in the room with a very boisterous "good morning!" We all went downstairs for our first-thing-in-the-morning ritual: Grace and Luke watch Sid the Science Kid while Drew and I nurse and cuddle and make breakfast.

Drew sat in his high chair and played with an empty cup while G & L ate breakfast. He is definitely learning the dropping game and seems to really enjoy that he can get Gracie, Luke, or me to the side of his chair by dropping something on the floor.

8:30 After breakfast we all played in the playroom for a bit. About three or four times a day, Luke will request the chance to hold Drew. I'll place Drew in his lap, and Luke will hold him for about fifteen seconds before saying, "OK, I'm done." It makes me smile everytime.

At about 9:00 we headed upstairs for morning baths. Gracie and Luke get to take turns helping with his bath and they pay very careful attention to whose turn it is! This morning was Gracie's turn. She is so good with her baby brother. She had him laughing and laughing!

Drew hung out in his bouncy seat while I showered and got G & L cleaned up for the day.

10:00 Drew went down for a little nap and slept for about thirty minutes.

11:00 Lunchtime for Drew: bananas mixed with rice cereal. He is really enjoying new foods. To date he has had squash, bananas, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, and carrots.

Lunch was followed by a little playtime on the floor. Drew was not at all in an independent mood! I think the combination of his first tooth and a cold is making him a little cranky. He ended up "helping" me make lunch, do some laundry, and get Gracie ready for school. He is the most social little guy and is usually happiest sitting on my hip watching everything that is going on.

12:30 Gracie left for kindergarten and the boys and I snuggled on the couch to read some books. Drew really likes to listen to my voice as I read and always presses his head against my cheek ...feeling the vibrations, I think. After about fifteen minutes of reading, he started to get really, really still. I began walking him upstairs for a nap and he was asleep by the time I got to our room.

Drew napped for about ninety minutes. He woke up really hungry and nursed immediately. We played on the playroom floor together for about thirty minutes and then he played in his activity center for an hour or so.

We headed outside at about five and he was all smiles! He was amused watching the kids play and the dogs in our neighbor's yard. We visited with a neighbor for a while and he was a complete flirt at first, but then started to act sleepy. He rubbed his eyes a couple of times, leaned into me, and was asleep- all within about a two minute time period. He took his nap on my chest as we continued to play outside and visit with neighbors for about an hour.

Drew woke up at about the same time that Ben got home from work and he was all smiles once again. Ben can always get a smile out of Drew, no matter his mood.

We went to dinner at Chilis. Thursday night usually means a family date of some kind. I don't know who enjoys it more- the kids or me! Drew is constantly reaching for everything now, so holding him on my lap while eating is getting pretty interesting. :)

Once we got home, Drew ate apples and cereal at about nine, hung out with Ben for a bit, and went to bed around 9:30.

The most interesting thing for me when recording all of these mundane, everyday details is knowing how quickly things will change.