First Fever

I know we were very fortunate that William hasn't really been sick yet. He had some very slight stuffiness when we turned the heat on and when his teeth were coming in but that was fixed by turning on his humidifier. Yesterday though, William woke up with a slight fever. Because it was Friday and because it was his first fever not associated with his shots, the doctor's office suggested I bring him in. Which I did. The doctor said that he was probably fighting off a cold. And since he doesn't actually have any other symptoms other than the fever, I should just keep an eye on him. He was pretty quiet yesterday, but this morning his fever is lower and he is on the mend. Still no other symptoms so if this is his first illness, I think we got pretty lucky!

Playing

William loves to play with his toys! His current favorites are blocks, the alphabet spinner and the leapfrog learn and sing table. He loves to take all his toys out. I am trying to teach him to put them all back but so far he hasn't figured that out.

Finger Food

While William definitely loves to eat, he doesn't eat a lot of solid food at one time. I think this is because he loves to be independent. When he eats he uses his own spoon and must feel all the food. Because of his love of exploration, and his two bottom teeth, I decided to try him on some solid food.
I am not a huge fan of Gerber puffs. They have what seems to me a lot of sugar per serving. But I do love the Happy Bellies organic puffs! Very little sugar and packed with organic kale. William loves them too. It took him a few days to figure out how to pick them up with his finger and thumb and then how to get them into his mouth, but now he's a pro!

Moments

Sometimes life passes by really quickly (case in point, my baby is now seven months old!) but little moments can stick out and stay with you. Last night I had one of those moments. William has not been sleeping well the past few weeks. He use to easily go to sleep and stay asleep 8 hours before eating and heading back to sleep for a few more hours. Lately it has been hard to get him to sleep and harder to keep him asleep. Since I do not function well on limited sleep this has been difficult for me and I've found myself getting easily frustrated when he wakes up in the middle of the night. Last night though, William reminded me that he sometimes just wants to be close to his parents. He woke up at 11pm, right when Taylor and I were heading to bed. I fed him and put him back down but he wasn't able to soothe himself asleep again. After a few more cuddles and back in the crib attempts, Taylor brought a wide awake William to our bed. We sat him down on the bed in between us and I laid down and closed my eyes hoping to trick him to sleep. Instead my little boy babbled away happily. When he realized that my eyes were closed, he leaned over and patted my face saying, "Ha. Ha." (William speak for Hi.) He did this over and over until I opened my eyes causing him to giggle. It was impossible to be annoyed with him for being awake when he was so happy and so proud of himself for waking me up! He did fall asleep soon after that. It was one of the few nights he's spent in our room, snuggled with us and the dogs in the bed. Next time he wakes up in the middle of the night, I will remember this moment instead of getting upset at the lack of sleep.

William "Smelly Pants" Chesnik

Someone should have warned me about the diaper situation when babies start solid food. Phew! I am thinking of changing William's name...

Seven Months Old!

I can't believe my little baby is seven months old! He's getting to be such a big boy and I am beginning to see the toddler he is turning into when I look at him. He has such specific likes and dislikes. For example, he loves fruit and hates peas.

William is such a lucky baby to have wonderful Grandparents who took him, and us, to St. Thomas for a week! We had such a great time. William loves the beach. He dug his hands into the sand and made little holes and piles with it. Then he looked up at me as if to say, "How do I get it off my hands?". He also loved the water. We'd float him on his stomach and he'd kick his legs and paddle with his arms! He didn't want to get out!

While we were in St. Thomas William started sleeping on his side. But because he likes to sleep with his neck stretched out, he arches back in his sleep and makes almost a question mark with his body. It's pretty cute and I'll post a picture when I manage to take one of that pose. In the meantime, below are pictures from the trip! (Yes, that is his lunch on his face in many of the pictures! He hates to have his face washed.)