Daniel: 7 Months Old

Jonathan Daniel at 6 Months

Our little man is more than half a year old already! Daniel will be 7-months-old on May 16th. It's amazing all the things he has started doing over the past couple of months. He has definitely graduated from infancy and is a soon-to-be creeping and crawling little boy. Just days after we arrived in the States, Daniel began sitting up well, and has been getting more and more steady ever since. Since he was about 5 months old, rolling has been his means of getting around. If need be, he will roll across the room to get to where he wants to be. =)
Daniel wants very much to crawl, but hasn't quite figured that out yet. He will push up onto his hands and knees, but when that doesn't get him anywhere, he will drop down onto his stomach again. Sometimes he scoots backwards a bit, but still finds that rolling is a more efficient means of travel so far.

With a little help, Daniel can stand while holding onto things. He still doesn't have great balance, but it's getting better all the time. The couple we are staying with right now has one of those "exersaucer" toys that he can get in and stand in. He loves it, and he's getting lots of practice standing with that.

Daniel LOVES bathtime! He got his first tub bath at 5 1/2 months when we first arrived in the States, and he's hooked. He gets a whole bathtub full of water to splash in, and has a blast!

Sleep has been a challenge since we came to the States. Daniel was sleeping through the night at 10 weeks, but a complete change of timezone really messed him up. After three weeks on the East coast of the U.S., we finally had him sleeping through the night again. But then we traveled west to spend two months in Pacific time, and we're having to start all over again. Sigh! Really though, he's doing remarkably well for all of the changes we have been putting him through. Sleeping through the night will come again, I know!

Daniel got to see the ocean for the first time a couple of weeks ago when we were traveling cross country. Part of our route (in stopping to visit family and friends) took us on a road that wound right by the Pacific ocean on the southern coast of California for awhile. It was almost sunset, and of course we had to stop to stick our feet in. =) Daniel wasn't too sure about it all at first, but he seemed to be enjoying it by the time we left.

FOOD! This picture doesn't show it (in fact it seems to show the opposite), but Daniel really loves his food. Most doctors these days advise waiting until a baby is 6 months before starting them on solids. Daniel, however, was not yet 5 months old when he was grabbing for and looking eagerly at everything we ate. So a week before he turned 5 months, I let him try some rice cereal. He wasn't thrilled with the texture at first, but he quickly got over that and was eating more and more with every meal. Now he's not only eating cereal, but bananas, carrots, squash, sweet potatos, apples, pears, and peas. He still wishes he could get his hands on everything we eat, but he IS enjoying the food we do allow him.

Teeth! Just before Daniel turned 6 months, he got his first tooth. About four days later, it's neighbor decided to make an appearance as well. You probably can't see them in the above picture as they had just come through, but if you look very closely you might be able to see his two tiny bottom teeth coming through. But just for the record, they are coming in quickly and are very sharp!

TV. Aaagh. I am convinced that it's a boy thing, but ever since Daniel was tiny, he has been completely enamored with the television. Even when he was tiny, he would crane his neck around to try and see the TV if it was on. I would intentionally lay him on the floor facing away from the TV, but he would turn his head around trying to see where the noise was coming from. By the time he was about 2 months old, he would wiggle himself around until he could easily watch! I would rather him not watch at all at this age, but of course if he IS watching TV, it is our fault. He's not the one who turns the TV on!

Daniel loves his big sister, and eagerly watches everything she does (and eats, of course). Sometimes you can just see in his eyes that he wants so much to be able to get up and run around with her. Her exuberance is generally very contagious (at least among those her size or smaller), and I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for him at times NOT to be able to do all she does when she is obviously having so much fun (and, of course, eating so many good things)!

Daniel is a charmer. Although I am admittedly biased, he seems to quickly win his way into the hearts of all those who spend any length of time with him. He has a ready smile, and although he is more reserved than his sister, he is more than willing to be friends with anyone who wants to be his. His laugh is completely worthy of the nickname given him by his Grandad Waldock - "Chuckles." He laughs easily, and it is the cutest little chuckle. I could listen to that all day. =)
Although our updates on our little man have unfortunately been few and far between (at least compared to the updates we gave of Rebekah at this age!), we are so very thankful for the precious boy the Lord has entrusted to us. He is a blessing and a great joy! Below are a few more photos of him taken within the last month.