Seven.

You're 7 months old today!  

Seven months ago we met you, face to face, for the first time.

You're getting so big, fascinating us daily with all the things you can do. 

You're becoming very verbal {no surprise} and can say lots of new words. 

Dog = "da-da"

Daddy = "da-da" 

baby = "dada" 

Mama = "da-da" 

Ethan = "da-da" 

more = "da-da" 

... you get the picture. 

Copying your older siblings, Mama was not your first word. 

I decided Kara was on to something when she told me that you're probably trying to say Mama, 

but da-da is the only thing that will come out. 

I believed her until Daddy walked in from work the other day and you smiled and said, "DA-DA!!" 

You're a food eating, nursing champ {thank you!} and are so cuddly and smiley and overall very happy. 

You have your days where I wonder where my sweet boy went, but those are days I remind myself that between cutting teeth, growing pains, and keeping up with this crazy house, you've got a lot going on. 

Sleeping was becoming an issue at night because it was pretty nonexistent. You would sleep for an hour, wake up to eat. Sleep for two hours, wake up to eat. And you didn't nurse a while, just a tad and then went back to sleep. I realized that some of Daddy and my bad sleep habits were rubbing off on you, so we decided to crack down and get disciplined with our schedule, thus helping yours. 

We're on night 3 and you've done amazingly well! You even sleep better during the daytime. 

You officially sleep in your big boy crib in Ethan's room. It was a hard transition for Daddy and me, but you seem to like it and I think I might be sleeping a little better.
Your room is directly across from ours, so at night when we have both doors open, I can see straight to you in your crib. I like the set-up a lot.

You're not crawling yet, but you get on your tummy and roll/scoot all over the place. It amazes me how quickly you can get across the room! 

You love books. You sift through books and talk loudly, sometimes yelling at the pages. It makes all of us laugh-out-loud :-) 

You no longer use an infant car seat! I decided I officially hate those. Just because you can 'tote' them around, doesn't mean they're more convenient. We've grown quite fond of our Ergo carriers and so we bought you a regular car seat. Its rear facing of course and you love it because you sit up more and can see all your siblings while we go on drives. 

At your 6 month well check up {you've still never even had a cold} you weighed 16 pounds and are 27 inches long. Your head was still on the 90% percentile {thank you, Schafer side of the family}.

One of your favorite things to do is sit in your highchair in the kitchen and 'talk' to me while I cook. We have some of our best conversations during those times ;-)
During the sermon time at church you've decided the Pastor is talking TO you, so you'll often just start talking and singing away, as if you're having a 2 way conversation {Kara used to do the same thing when she was a baby}.
You love to be outside.
You pretend to be shy when ladies say hi to you, but you always peek your eyes back at them to see if they'll flirt with you. You're quite the little charmer ;-)
You still have a special place in your heart for bald men.
You are incredibly eager to eat REAL people food, but with no teeth I can't quite give you that desire.
Its hard to see you watch us eat because you dive for our food and drool and make sounds with your mouth that make it clear you want some. The other day I caved and gave you a slice of bacon and you just sat there sucking away to heart's content.
Carrot and celery sticks definitely help you with teething pain, the same way they helped Kara.
Your favorite things to eat are sweet potatoes, ghee, rutabaga, beets and bananas. You pretty much love all food except avocados.

We love you so much, Miles Jon. We're SO thankful God blessed our family with you. 

-Mommy