Never Dunn Dreaming: September 2014

SEVEN months?! Not totally sure why, but 7 months was hard for me to grasp. Ok, I'll be honest. Every single month is hard for me to grasp that Barrett is a whole month older! I have caught myself saying "when he was little", "when he was a tiny baby", "when he was younger", and it's hard for me to believe our tiny baby has been with us for 7 months. Maybe 7 was so tricky because it's technically closer to a year than to birth :/. Ah. Ok, anyways, on with the update :).

Barrett is so HAPPY. He has the best little personality and makes us laugh all the time. His smiles are our world. We do just about anything to get them :). He is more generous with his laughs now. The funniest things to him are : being tickled, funny noises/peekaboo, dropping things (toy keys in the bathtub while I trimmed his bangs-which I've now had to do twice!), Jax (especially when they are playing tug of war and Jax pulls a little too hard and makes Barrett fall), shaking pillowcases, and having a little ball thrown at him or his head (I promise I don't throw it hard, haha).

Barrett started giving kisses! I wasn't sure if it was what he meant to be doing at first or if he was just trying to eat my face. But sure enough, it's kisses! It's the sweetest thing ever. He will usually do it if you give him a big kiss and say "mwah!" but sometimes he just randomly does it when you're holding him. He's still such a loving and cuddly baby. Also started blabbing a little! Favorite things to say are "mmm", "ba-ba" (Barrett? haha), and "mama'! He usually blabs them over and over, and mostly and loudest in the car or when he wants something. Matt and I say "mama" and "dada" a lot to him and one day I was handing him his sippy cup and he went from saying "mmm" to "mama"! Even though he has no clue what he's saying and what it means, I love it so so much. Excited to hear him say "dada"!

He is so smart. Such a quick learner and so determined. About a week after his 6 month birthday he started crawling (full-blown hands and knees and on the move!), the next day he was pulling up to kneeling at the ottoman and basket, 3 days later he pulled to standing at the ottoman, and now he is so fast at crawling and pulls to stand all. the. time. I even caught him moving his feet to the side to get a toy out of reach yesterday (is that cruising?!). Either way, SLOW DOWN KID! Quick learning and determination made for some nice head bonks and little bruises. Lots on crawling into or falling into things. Momma had a way tougher time with this than him. I teared up at my first site of a forehead bruise. We had to lower the crib to the lowest level because he was pulling up all the time. We tried the second level but it didn't help so he got to go all the way down at 6.5 months. Pulling to stand in his crib caused some rough nap days. Usually if he's tired enough, he will roll around and sit up and lay back down a few times in his crib and play with his blankie and paci until he falls asleep. But instead he was crying for me, standing up, then screaming harder because he couldn't get down. So I started trying to teach him how to get to sitting from standing and it that only took 2 days for him to figure out! If I am sitting on the floor with him, he is crawling all over me.

we have new challenges for our monthly pictures :)

Matt's response to my complaints on not being able to get anything done? "Put him in the pack and play and then get stuff done."

Yeah, that worked real well...

The kid hates to be contained. A couple days ago we put up the play yard. He doesn't love being in it, but he lasts a little longer than in the pack and play. He would rather have full reign of the house and crawl wherever he wants. He is so happy when I just let him go!

A couple days after his 6 month bday, we started him on some baby food! Bananas were the first choice and they continue to be his absolute favorite. Barrett loves eating! He knows when I am starting to get stuff ready for him to eat and he starts saying "mmm" over and over and circling his hands and feet. I started to show him a couple signs just to see if he'd eventually pick up on them and then help us out with communicating with each other-instead of him just yelling at me, haha. We do "food", "more", and "all done". Nothing fancy, people. So far he has loved bananas, sweet potatoes, and pears. Tolerating everything else, but hated carrots. Made for a hilarious photo and video sesh though :). He also loves his straw sippy cup! He guzzles out of it like a champ.

blurry, but hilarious. he definitely gagged twice on them.

Rarely does Barrett sit still. The go-to ways are: eating, sleeping, carseat/car, carrier (still a #1 fav!), being outside or in stroller, or reading to him. Barrett loves being read to. His current favs are Goodnight Moon, Dear Zoo, and any books with animal fur he can feel.