Now, at seven months, Chase has a real bedtime we can count on and he has started sleeping and napping better which is just about the biggest blessing I could ask for, especially as a mom who works from home and really relies on naptime for productivity. Knowing that, for the most part, I will get a 90-minute to 2-hour nap out of Chase in the late morning is SUCH a relief. Afternoon naps are a little less predictable, but he will still usually nap for a while in the afternoon, too, though I try not to depend on a long, uninterrupted nap for work purposes because it can be a little hit or miss.
Even though sleep was a big focus of ours last month, the real fun happens when Chase is awake!
Walking into Chase’s nursery to scoop him up out of his crib when he wakes up has to be one of my favorite things because of his reaction when he sees me approaching him. Chase’s face breaks out in to the biggest smile and he starts kicking his legs and pumping his arms while he makes all of these breathy, high-pitched noises.
I think we could all learn a thing or two from the way babies and dogs respond to simply seeing their loved ones. It’s pure excitement and it makes my heart soar. It’s truly impossible not to smile back at him when his whole body is reacting in such a joyous way and even during the most challenging days, these moments bring me so much happiness.
Once Chase is up, he is UP and ready for action. Slow-paced activities just don’t cut it for Chase anymore and we spend much of his time playing interactive games or moving from one play spot to the next.
I must give a HUGE shout out to our activity jumper. I swear that thing is the only way I get a free second to do anything when Chase is awake these days. It’s a playtime go-to for us right now and we keep it in front of a large window because Chase loves playing with the toys and looking outside at the birds, squirrels and trees.
I try my best to get out and about and do something fun with Chase every day, whether it be attending a Gymboree class, meeting up with some of my girlfriends for a baby play date or walk outside, attending library story time or a music class, etc. Chase seems to thrive off new experiences and anything different seems to captivate him in the best way.
When Chase is up and active, he seems to move a mile a minute… And that’s saying something for a baby who cannot crawl or walk yet! He looooves kicking his legs. He will kick and kick and kick… but prefers to do all of his kicking naked. It seems like the minute his clothes come off, his legs start movin’! It cracks us up and I think I have at least 10 videos of a naked Chase kicking up a storm on my phone. (His best kicks happen in the bathtub with a very serious look of concentration on his face.)
Chase also loves grabbing my face, clicking his tongue, reaching out for Sadie, kicking and reaching for toys on his activity mat and observing anything going on around him when we go outside. Watching Chase explore, play, concentrate, smile and laugh entertain me to no end and bring me such joy. I love this little boy so much that sometimes it truly overwhelms me and makes me feel an odd mix of emotional and vulnerable in a way I never have before. It’s hard to put into words, but I feel like I feel more than I ever have before ever since Chase came into the world.
Sleeping
A week ago, I shared a very long-winded blog post all about our first sleep training experience, so if you happened to miss that one, all of the details related to changing Chase’s sleep patterns may be found in that post.
Since we worked with Chase to try to get him to drop his three middle-of-the-night feedings, sleep has absolutely been better for Chase, but with the exception of one night, I am still not sleeping very well. I wake up all the time and while I think this is very normal (I mean I spent 6+ months getting out of bed three times a night to feed Chase…), I am hoping my mind chills out a bit and lets me sleep soundly in the future.
As far as a usual night for Chase, we’ll bathe him and enjoy some quiet time in the evenings beginning around 6 p.m. and he’s usually asleep in his crib before 7 p.m. I’ve been continuing with his 10 p.m. dream feed and am not really sure when I plan to drop it since Chase really does eat a lot when I feed him at 10 p.m. and settles back into a deep sleep the moment I place him back in his crib. I’m leaning on the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” crutch right now…
For the most part, Chase sleeps up until around 4:30 a.m. Sometimes we’ll hear a little peep before then, but it’s usually short (basically just enough to wake me up and keep me awake for another hour while Chase returns to sleep two seconds later…) but there’s something about the 4:30 a.m. time that seems to make Chase stir. He’ll usually fuss for a couple of minutes before finding his Wubbanub and returning to sleep until around 6 a.m. At this time, Chase usually wakes up crying, so I go in to feed him since I’d get him up anytime after 6 a.m., but he’s rarely truly ready to be awake, so I’ll feed him and put him back in his crib until close to 7:30 a.m. when he usually wakes up for the day making happy baby coos! Sometimes this changes and I usually figure Chase will be awake for the day anytime between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m.
Feeding
We waited until Chase was six months old to introduce any kind of real food into his diet, but now that we’re introducing solids, things are a lot messier around here! Though we started with a few days of traditional organic rice cereal, we left that behind pretty quickly in favor of vegetables and fruits.
We’re currently doing a bit of baby led weaning paired with traditional purees and I think the variety is working well! Chase definitely eats more when we feed him the purees but he is such a playful and curious little guy that baby led weaning seems to really stimulate him which is so fun to watch. Using the baby led weaning approach, we’ve let Chase try sweet potatoes, broccoli and avocado and the avocado was definitely his favorite! Though it was slippery (and SO messy), he seemed to enjoy gumming all over the strips of avocado we let him hold.
As far as purees are concerned, Chase loves butternut squash.
It’s clearly his favorite and watching him learn to open his mouth, anticipate the spoon and actually eat more food than he spits out has been really cool!
Obviously none of the solids we are giving him are replacing breast milk at this time and we’re still relying on nursing for all of his nutritional needs. Breastfeeding is going well and ever since we worked with Chase to drop his three middle-of-the-night feedings, he has been eating much better during the day (much to my relief)!
I’m including this next anecdote for my own memories, but lately when I’ve been nursing Chase, he will take the hand closest to my face and run it across my chest and down my arm over and over again, as though he is petting me. It’s just about the cutest thing in the world and even though he’ll sometimes pause to grab at my face or mouth, it’s a habit of his I hope to remember and cherish forever because it’s so darn sweet.
Likes
- Kicking his feet (especially when he’s naked or in the bathtub)
- Clicking his tongue
- Watching Sadie
- Standing up (assisted)
- Butternut squash
- Carrots
- Grabbing faces
- Fingers
- Parachute and bubble time during Gymboree
- When I pretend to eat his fingers
- When we tickle his tummy
- Squealing and babbling
- Holding up his head and legs (similar to a yoga “boat pose”)
Dislikes
- Green beans
- Having his face wiped
- Deep voices
Seven Month Favorites
We’ve had some new discovers this month that Chase seems to love and I’ve added extra notes by these items. This list also includes some of our tried and true favorites that continue to be our go-to items for Chase at seven months old.
PLAY
- Sophie the Giraffe Teether Toy (There’s a lot of hype surrounding Sophie in the baby world, but so far she’s living up to her reputation! Chase loves her squeaker and enjoys chewing on her face and legs.)
- Jelly Strands Baby Teething Necklace (I bring this necklace everywhere. It’s probably Chase’s favorite thing to chew on and he loves it when we wiggle it above him.)
- Manhattan Toy Color Burst Rattle
- Nuby Icybite Teether
- Tagies Monkey
- Baby Einstein Octoplush
- Oball
- Skip Hop Activity Mat
- Baby Einstein Activity Jumper
- Baby Einstein Take Along Musical Toy
EAT
- Chicco 360 Hook On High Chair (We LOVE this high chair! We hooked it onto our kitchen island and it’s wonderful for feeding Chase in the middle of all the kitchen excitement. Plus, it’s apparently travel-friendly which should come in handy in the future.)
- NUK Mash and Serve Bowl
- Munchkin White Hot Infant Safety Spoons
- Hands Free Pumping Bra
SLEEP
- Wubbanubs
- Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit
- myBaby Sound Machine
- Motorola Baby Monitor
- Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth, M.D.
ON THE GO
- Ju-Ju-Be Diaper Bag Backpack (SO awesome! My favorite purchase from last month! It has tons of pockets and is great for keeping shoulders free while lugging around a bunch of baby stuff. There’s also a shoulder strap option you can attach if you prefer.)
- SkipHop Portable Changing Station (Great for travel! I cannot tell you how many times we’ve been hurrying out the door and grab this thing in a rush.)
- Chicco TRE Stroller
- Chicco Bravo Stroller
- Pottery Barn Stroller Blanket
Past Baby Updates
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
Hahaha dislikes: deep voices! Haha how cute!! He looks like the happiest/sweetest baby! So glad he’s getting into a routine – yay for more sleep!
A man started talking to him at Gymboree yesterday in a deep voice and he immediately started crying! It was so sad and so adorable all at the same time. 🙂
such a cutie! at almost 23 months, the wubbanub is still one of william’s favorites! 🙂
Those things are GOLD in our house!
My little guy is about 5 weeks older than Chase and I could not agree more with the first two paragraphs of this post! Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work. Chase is adorable!
haha wow so much cuteness in one post! 🙂 Thats so funny that he doesnt like deep voices!
Hey girl I’m a long time reader and love your blog! It’s been so fun to hear about your new experiences as a new mom. I have a one year old and so I am a new mom myself. I too struggled to sleep even when my baby slept. I had a terrible time falling asleep and staying asleep. The lack of sleep caught up to me and I could barely function. I sought help and was diagnosed with postpartum depression and anxiety. This surprised me because my main problems were insomnia and anxiety. i needed medication to help me, but there are a few other things that helped me sleep. I got a noise machine for the babies room to help drown out the “baby sounds” so all that I could hear is if she was actually crying. I started taking natural calm supplement before bed. And if all else failed my dr told me to take a Benadryl which worked amazingly and is sill safe for breastfeeding especially if you are done with night feeds. If You can’t turn your mind off and rough sleep continue longer than a week or 2 talk to your OB and see what her thoughts are. Sorry to be the unsolicited advice person, but I struggled so much and don’t want to see anyone else go through what I did. Hope your good sleep comes soon! Feel free to email me.
-Amber
I looooovveeee that little green jacket!!! He’s sooo cute!
He is wayyy too cute!! Love the butternut squash all over his face!
Oh my word! Our little girl hates deep voices too. I found out when we were reading beauty and the beast and my husband did a beast voice. She freaked out! Chase is too cute and I enjoy reading all your updates because I feel like our daughter is very similar to Chase in so many ways.
Does he still sleep in the sleep suit? We just put our fourth month old in it last week when we had to quit swaddling him. Wondering how long we should leave him in it?
We used the Merlin suit religiously from about 2.5 months to about 6 months old. They technically can stay in it until they are able to roll over back to front in it. But our doctor told us at 6 months old she should be ready to transition out of it.
I’d be interested in learning a little more about your baby led weaning experience. I’m having troubles introducing food with my second. I can’t tell if he’s just not interested right now or if I’m not finding the right technique for him. How big of pieces are you giving win the Baby Led Weaning and do you have a good source you’re using? I joined a Facebook group and left so confused when I saw a reply to a post ” you are “Baby Led Weaning” if you’ve already introduced puree, that’s just normal progression of feeding!” And they then recommended to hold off on food for two weeks to begin a Baby Led Weaning process. I haven’t checked back in to that group since, lol.
“You are NOT”*
he is precious and i love his striped outfits!
Love these updates and seeing what is working for your little guy! I noticed you listed two strollers on your favorites list. Would you elaborate on what you like about each and what situation you prefer each one for?
Sure!! I went into more detail about them in a past post but I’m sure it’s waaay lost among everything else, so I’ll just give you the short rundown here. We love the Bravo for everyday use. I actually keep it in my car because it folds up so well and tend to use it during errands or basically anything we do away from home. The TRE is probably my favorite because it’s SO smooth and it’s wonderful for long walks, running and more active activities. It doesn’t fold down as well though, so it’s not as great for travel.
My friends baby is now 8 months. Such a good age, they get so much more sturdy and robust…!!!
My little boy will be 7 months old next week. I’ve loved following your blog since ours are so close in age! We started solids at 6 months also, and I have been so interested in baby led weaning… but it also freaks me out. haha So far, the only food I haven’t pureed for him is banana. It didn’t scare me as much as other foods. So my question is, how do you go about giving him the non-pureed food? (The avocado I understand because it’s so soft.) How “mushy” do you make your broccoli and sweet potatoes? And what size bites to you let him have. I’m totally convinced that mine will choke on whatever I give him!
I am FAR from an expert on BLW but right now I’m only really comfortable giving him super soft foods. For the broccoli, I steamed it until it was really soft and then chilled it in the fridge. Chase seemed to love sucking on the florets more than really eating/swallowing it. For the sweet potato, I peeled and roasted long strips (I tossed them in coconut oil before roasting), so they were also quite soft. Chase did better with the long strips because he could hold onto them and suck on them. I keep the bites quite small unless we give him a strip of something like avocado or sweet potato. Also, if you’re on Instagram, check out @BLWIdeas — her page is great and she is awesome about responding to questions!
If you aren’t giving rice cereal anymore how is he getting some iron? Are you giving purreed meat? I’m genuinely curious because my daughter is 5 months so I’m starting to get ready for solids in another month or so. Love your blog- so nice to read about an active mom/baby that’s a few months ahead of us. Your wubbanub recommendation SAVED me a few months ago and it’s still a favourite around here!
Julie, I love your blog, but you italicize words way too much, to the point where it is distracting. Good writers should not have to use italics to over-emphasize what they mean to say – it should just be apparent.
Thank you for the feedback! I used to bold AND italicize words — eek! I think I just get excited when I’m writing sometimes but I absolutely see what you mean. I’ll definitely take your feedback into account in the future. Thanks, Mallory!
thanks for the graceful response:)
I’ve loved reading your blog and reading your baby updates. I have a 4 month old girl (first baby) and feel like I’m walking in your shoes, just a couple of steps behind. Today, you said something that made me grin and tear up at the same time – “I think we could all learn a thing or two from the way babies and dogs respond to simply seeing their loved ones. It’s pure excitement and it makes my heart soar. It’s truly impossible not to smile back at him when his whole body is reacting in such a joyous way and even during the most challenging days, these moments bring me so much happiness.” You are SO SO SO right. I couldn’t have said it better!
<3 Thank you for reading and commenting, Sara! I'm glad your little girl is giving you the same smiles whenever she sees you. It really is the best!
Our 4 month baby girl is starting to come into her personality and really talk and coo and squeal and it is THE BEST! I can totally relate with you on the whole baby fog thing. I feel like I had such bad anxiety those first 12 weeks that now that I’m feeling better and more confident with a baby, it has been so heart warming to feel like she can interact with me! Chase is a cutie patootie!!!
I have a baby boy on the way (due in July), and I love your baby product reviews! I am literally basing my registry off of your recommendations 🙂
I love all the pics and can’t wait to cuddle in a few weeks!
Julie he is PRECIOUS!!!! Has anyone ever told you before that his expressions look very grown up? When I look at his face I sometimes feel like he’s older than he is and there’s a big ol’ brain in there, haha! But I mean that in the BEST way, like he’s a very wise baby and he’s fooling us all!
Re the dreamfeed, I say, don’t stress it! Our experience with the dreamfeed was much like yours: we stuck with it for a long time because…why not? From about 6-9 months the baby would wake up between 10-11pm looking for a feed, so I did, and he slept through to early morning. And then at about 9 months, it would get to be 11pm and baby would still be sleeping, but I wanted to go to bed so I would pop in and feed him, and that lasted for a few weeks. And then we hit a few nights where I went in to do the DF, and he seemed really annoyed that I was waking him up, he hardly ate, and clearly just wanted to go back to sleep. At that point we tried dropping it cold turkey, and that was the end.
Just mentioning it to say “don’t worry!” it won’t ‘last forever!
Chase is so adorable! Off topic a bit but what versions of TOMS are you wearing in baby music class picture? They look so cute!
They are the Avalon nylon sneakers! 🙂
I would love to see a post in the future about your diaper bag. I have heard great things about it and would be curious to see your review of it.
My little girl is almost 6 months and always has her hand on my face or chest while she nurses. I think it’s one of the things I will miss the most when she stops!
His little faces crack me up! He is so cute:) Also, I love your Toms!
What a happy little guy! While I don’t have children, I’m thinking that I should incorporate going back to sleep until I wake up happy into my personal routine. Sounds like the perfect way to wake up each day. 🙂
Chase is such a cutie and I love seeing the updates! I have two girls, 3.5 and 18 months. It’s hard to imagine that it wasn’t that long ago that my youngest was Chase’s age! It goes way too fast!
This is totally random and unrelated but I love your shoes in the picture in the post! I have been trying to find other shoes to wear with my skinnies. Do you mind sharing what brand they are and where you got them?
You never sleep the same after having a baby! They start sleeping huge stretches, yet somehow it’s impossible for us!
He is so stinking cute and happy!
We are getting ready to start solids! I’d like to do a mix of purees and BLW, too. How do you decide which foods to do for BLW? I am scared of choking, but I don’t want that to be a factor in not trying it. Any advice or rules of thumb you follow?
He has such a cute smile and I love the picture with food on his face! I am dreaming of the day when my 8 week old will sleep better but I know I have quite a ways to go! lol
How cute! I dislike greenbeans and deep voices too. 😉
Glad you are getting more sleep and the fog is lifting! I used to find my daughter would wake around 4.30/5am (and sometimes still does even at 3 years) because that is offline the chilliest time of the night/morning, so making sure she was warm enough sometimes helped her to sleep through till 7 – although sometimes I think they just get into the habit of waking at specific times! Chase is a real sweetheart 🙂
I love all of his cute outfits! I am having a little boy soon, so it makes me happy to see so many cute baby boy clothes. I have only ever shopped for a little girl. 🙂 Oh and his sweet smiles in your pictures just melts my heart! 🙂
Where did you get Chase’s Fun Size shirt… He’s such a cutie. My own baby boy is only a month and a half younger than him, so I love hearing your recommendations and seeing all of the adorable photos of Chase!
I love Chase’s shoes! What brand are they? 🙂
I swear you JUST posted Chase’s 6 month update! He is so cute and I remember how fun of a time it was (my son is now almost 17 months). I just have to warn you – guard Sophie the Giraffe with your life! My dachshund destroyed 2 of them! We’re ok with #3 – although she does have a tiny blemish – and hopefully Sadie is trained a little better than Iggy, lol. 🙂
He’s so beautiful! Seven months is such a fun age, with those little gummy grins <3
I love these updates! He is the cutest! Doing great momma!
He is such a cutie! I’m obsessed with his super blonde hair!! Mine doesn’t have much hair haha
Where did you get his ‘Fun Size’ shirt and his striped outfit? Super cute!
The striped outfit is from Baby Gap and the t-shirt is from Zulily but the brand is The Talking Tee! 🙂
Hey Julie,
I am long out of the baby phase (9 year old and 4 year old), your posts about Chase make me so nostalgic. One tip for you sleeping better is to turn your monitor off in favor of sleeping with doors open. Obviously I don’t know how your house is set up, but once we realized we could hear our daughter clearly when she was crying without the monitor it made such a difference. Not hearing all those little grunts and soft fusses allowed us to start finally sleeping through the night (our oldest didn’t until 7.5 months and probably took us a month or 2 longer, lol). Happy weekend!
~Amie~
Julie, I’ve been following your blog for over 5 years now (time flies, I can’t believe it either!) and I can’t thank you enough for putting yourself out there. It’s helped me tremendously in living a much healthier life style! I was so happy for you when you got pregnant with Chase but only skimmed your posts because I did not have any children myself and I just could not relate. Well, I gave birth to my baby girl, Penelope, this past August and I have to tell you how much I’ve been enjoying your past posts, from your baby registry (helped me out BIG time!) to monthly updates of Chase’s progress. My absolute favorite is getting her up in the morning and seeing her big gummy smile first thing! I’m excited to follow along Chase’s adventures as Penelope grows. Thank you again <3 much love and blessings to you and your family