7 months of JW (part 1)

Honesty, I can barely keep up with these monthly update posts. I write one, blink, and it’s time for the next one. Is that just life with children? Am I going to blink and realize they’re grown? On the hard days, it sure doesn’t feel like it, but I fear that’s the reality. So, I’m trying to capture and savor it all. Like this sweet face . . .Because who would want to forget that?!? I’ve yet to take pictures of John Wicks with his 7 month sticker, but I did manage to snag a few of him in this sweet outfit that has been passed down through the Rice boy cousins. It was originally Bricen’s, who is now 13. {I’m guessing dressy clothes stay in pretty nice condition since they’re rarely worn, because it looks brand new to me.} What a funny little guy our John Wicks is! He is so physical. Loves to bounce, pull hair, swing his legs, bat his arms, roll everywhere {right off his blanket onto the hard floor}, and get his hands on anything and everything. He is seriously eating us out of house and home. The child can put away some baby food. I’m wondering how we are going to afford groceries when we have two teenaged boys. He usually eats 5 containers of baby food a day (broken up between 3 meals) with rice cereal at 2 of those meals. Still nursing 5ish times a day as well. I know. The child is a hoss. I completely missed his 6 month appointment {which fell in the busyness of the Christmas season}, so I’m not sure about his weight/height stats yet. Let’s just say, I’m hoping to have some firm arm muscles for summer after carrying the little chunk around for a year.
JW is very alert and aware of what’s going on. He smiles and laughs at Luke and acts very interested in whatever he’s doing. L has had some practice sharing a few of his new trains which, as you might imagine, can be a bit of a challenge for him. But he’s done pretty well. John Wicks is definitely showing preferences. He gets upset, acts disinterested, or just refuses to eat if he doesn’t like what I’m feeding him {typically the green veggies}. He gets frustrated if he loses a toy or can’t handle it correctly. He screams when I won’t let him chew on a plastic bag of wipes {LOVES wipes and the crunchy sound they make}.
He has two teeth that are almost completely in. You can sort of see them in the picture above. I feel like he has had an eternal cold. He has definitely been fighting one since before Thanksgiving. He’s also had some eczema issues. When the weather turned cold and dry, he broke out terribly on his legs, neck, and the side of his face. 2.5% hydrocortisone cream cleared up the first bad break-out, but we have to moisturize him with Aquaphor or CeraVe cream after every bath to keep his skin from getting too dry and out of control. Sleeping through the night {most nights}. We put him down around 8 and he usually sleeps until sometime between 6 and 7. I nurse him and try to put him back down, especially if it’s before 7. Sometimes we’ll put him in bed with us in the morning {a big no-no for us at night} to try to get him to sleep just a little longer  Every third night or so he’ll wake up crying because of congestion or because he’s flipped to his stomach and can’t get back over. Sometimes he wakes up crying several times a night, but I feel like it’s getting more rare. He’s still swaddled, although most nights he breaks his arms out.
Loves to babble and coo and “sing.” He can hold a note forever.  Started sitting up on his own shortly after Christmas. I usually sit him on a thick quilt and surround him with pillows because he still topples.  Seems to be pretty social. Loves people and attention. LOVED my parents’ dogs while we were home and didn’t even mind them licking him in the face. Both my boys love dogs. I fear there may be a dog in our {distant?} future.  Gets referred to as a “she” pretty often. When I correct it, the person usually says, “Oh, well he’s too pretty to be a boy.” Really? I guess that just makes him a pretty boy.  I’m so thankful for another month with this precious gift! Happy 7 months to our John Wicks!