Max - 7 months

7 months

approx. 20 lbs

red hair

blue eyes

Loves: drinking from a cup, playing with Isaiah and Katie, being thrown in the air, bouncing, banging things together to make noise, emptying and scattering baskets full of toys, splashing

Hates: coughing, being ignored, taking naps, messy diapers, waiting to eat

Milestones: rolling front to back, eating crackers and cheerios, signing "all done," bouncing in the johnny jumper, sleeping without being swaddled

Max, you are entertaining yourself more and more as you can get around a little by rolling and turning on your stomach. You're so big! But you're also so strong, and you know what you want. You love to watch Katie and Isaiah, and they love to have you as an audience. They are so proud of you, and I think they'll be your biggest protectors and teachers as you get bigger.

Since you have teeth now, I thought it might be fun to have you try cheerios and soft crackers occasionally. Boy, you love them! You inhale crackers and vanilla cookies so I'm too nervous to give them to you very often, but cheerios are much harder for you to pick up or choke on so we have those frequently. While cleaning out the garage we found the johnny jumper, and Dad hung it up for you to try out. It's now one of your favorite things! Neither of your siblings liked it, but you are a bouncing baby boy for sure. When I need you to play for a few minutes, I know the best way to occupy you is to give you a basket full of toys. It only takes you seconds to empty it and scatter its contents, and then you start banging with a toy on the basket or another toy.

I love spending time with you because most everything delights you. You are a happy baby, full of dimpled smiles, and even as young as you are you hug me every time I pick you up in the morning or after a nap. You love to "give me kisses" (wide-mouth, drooly kisses, but kisses notheless), and I don't know that I've ever willingly submitted to being grabbed and slimed so much by any baby, ever. I have sung "You Are My Sunshine" to all my kids, but you truly are my sunshine.