7 Months

Little E turned 7 months on December 5th and we celebrated by taking his pictures and taking him out for a ski.  It seems to me that he made a big jump towards toddlerhood this month - it seems like his face looks older and he has started to move more like a little kid than a baby. 

In his 7th month, Ethan grew two more teeth (to make 4 total!), improved his balance while standing (whew!), started babbling in conversational tones, and really started to like solid foods. 

E didn't talk at all while we were in Colorado with lots of family and noise around but as soon as we got home he started talking again and its been non stop.  His verbal skills are getting better so that he now strings syllables together and has conversations in babble.  The potatoes in the pantry seem to be his favorite things to talk to and has a daily conference with them as I cook dinner.

Now that he has mastered crawling he is working hard on his walking skills, including pulling up on everything, and now climbing.  He has figured out how to bring his knee up to try and climb into things.  He likes to get inside this little end table now...which is cute until he falls out the other side... 

E's favorite thing is to hold our hands and walk around the room.  We're still months away from really walking but I think in his mind he's there.  He has also started to walk around tables as he hangs onto the edges. 

Ethan has learned how to fall and not hurt himself, mostly.  Aaron worked with him for a few days showing him how to stick his bottom out and fall on it instead of falling straight back like a tree in the forest.  He can also tell when he's getting off balance and works to get control or fall gracefully.  I know we'll still have lots of bumps and bruises but its good to know he is now trying to avoid it!

A few weeks ago Ethan figured out that his mouth is a great place to carry things while he crawls.  It cracks me up to see him scooting quickly down the hall with two socks and a toothbrush in his mouth.  Another thing to add to the list of how he's like our little puppy dog.

E's newest two teeth have come in pretty much at the same time but have been more painful for him than the first two.  The funny thing is that most kids get their two front teeth first on the top, but Ethan has sprouted his canines (the big fang looking ones) instead.  He might have a goofy little smile for a while until he fills in a few more teeth.  :)

As you can see in the pictures, E's hair is growing fast.  Its long enough now that it sticks out at all angles most of the time.  He has a funkly natural part down the center of his head so we've started combing it to the side so he doesn't look like a little Alfalfa. 

The days are getting very short here in Anchorage as we're down to just 6 hours of light a day.  The sun starts coming up around 9:30 and goes down around 3:30.  This picture was taken at 2:30 last weekend and you can see how low the sun is in the sky by the long shadows.  Its definitely a little strange to think that if we don't get our hour outside in before 3 we'll be doing it in the dark!