Sander's first tooth peeked out from his bottom gum today! He wanted to enter the New Year with a chomp! He was so sneaky that I didn't even know it was there. Dada and Lucy noticed it while spending some quality time with Sander this morning. Lucy was so excited to tell me it was there! So far so good, no biting on mama.
Update: only 3 days later...tooth number two appeared right next to the first tooth. I noticed it at music together when he had a big smile on his face.
This little guy weighs in at a whopping 13 pounds 4 ounces! He's such a little peanut.
Full of smiles, grunts, drools and cuteness, Sander melts our hearts.
Speaking of hearts, he tugs on mine every time he says "mama" which is his latest new skill.
At seven months Sander is combat crawling and rolling everywhere...and he gets into everything. Everything then goes into his mouth.
Mama and Sander take a break while watching Lucy play in the snow.
Lucy and Sander's first time sledding together.
weeeeeeee!
At the bottom of the hill. Canute was very excited.
Sander likes to inspect food, suck on it, smear it around, and sometimes eat it. In a desperate attempt to enjoy and relax while eating my own steak dinner with both arms free, I handed Sander a big strip of porterhouse steak. He was al over it! Needless to say this kept our little guy busy and happy during dinner and beyond.
Checking out the steak.
Check out the two finger technique!
Here are a couple of videos taken the morning of Sander's seventh month. It is hard to get solo videos so he can show his stuff but I have to say, it is so precious to watch videos of both Lucy and Sander together.
It's hard to believe that Sander is already 6 months old! I want to push the stop button and enjoy this babyhood for longer. It is such a fun age. Plus, I know this is the calm before the storm. While Sander cannot crawl yet, this baby likes to move. He moves nonstop. I can only imagine what our world will be like when Sander is on the move!
Canute loves these kids so much.
Sibling love.
So Sander now weighs 13 pounds, he is 27.5 inches long and his head is 18 inches.
He is in the 7th percentile for weight, 70th percentile for length and 85th percentile for head. He has just recently started trying bits of frozen or fresh food in a mesh bag. His latest was blueberries and they were a hit.
Trying some frozen blueberries from Knoll Farm. Sander thought they were delightful.
As you can see Sander was moving too fast to get a clear shot. He flaps his arms around and laughs quite a bit, it's great.
Sander pretty much moves nonstop if he is awake. He also loves to laugh. I think one of Sander's favorite activities is getting put on the changing table (he instantly starts laughing and squealing), getting his clothes and diapers changed, and getting pampered and cleaned up in general. The laughing and squealing is hilarious. We all laugh with him because it is so very contagious. What a fun little guy. He gets frustrated when he is playing and drops something. He loves stuffed animals and has taken to a couple of Lucy's - she actually is really good about letting him play with them.
Inside a round tumbling mat at the gymnastics academy. Lucy asked to have their photo taken.
Yesterday we took a walk down the road, as we do most days, and Lucy came up with a new song. Sander thought it was the best thing he heard all day (as did I) and you can see his reaction below. Having two kids is constant entertainment.
While at a baby shower for a dear friend today Sander decided to put on a show for all the ladies and sit up for the first time unassisted in the warm sunshine. It was so all of a sudden I was honestly quite surprised. You can see how pleased with himself he is here.
Chris visited for the weekend and we had some gorgeous weather for a hike up to Taylor's Lodge near Nebraska Notch and the Long Trail. We all enjoyed it very much. It was so nice to have quality time with Chris as we've all had such a busy life since Sander was born and had missed his company.
Me and my babies.
Us minus Lucy who ran out of the photo.
Lucy strikes a pose for Uncle Chris to take her picture. Too cute.
So, this is one happy baby! Sander rarely cries, which makes me feel really good. After such a rough start due to tummy troubles it is so fabulous to see our little guy glowing more often than not. Sometimes he tires of being in the car (still, but who doesn't) and sometimes he chomps down really hard on his little pointer finger (which is always in his mouth), or sometimes he is just plain tired (or overtired because he wouldn't go to sleep when mama tried to nurse him but rather he wanted to see what else was going on!)...most of the time he is smiling, laughing or exploring an object with his hands and mouth. Sander has become much more vocal. He makes a sound almost like "mama" but more like "baba" while opening his mouth repeatedly like a fish, very wide and then closed again, and quick. It is super cute. One thing that continues to surprise me about Sander is he would rather sleep on his own in bed than with me wearing him - unless we are out for a walk. This is very different than what I am used to. Most days he gets put down for one nap in bed and at night I am able to just put him in bed until we crawl in next to him later on.
Mama tried to take a photo of Sander while wearing him and using a huge heavy SLR camera.
Sleeping peacefully.
The finger is a favorite these days.
The above is a very mild-mannered chomping session. Sander is so orally-oriented it is hilarious. If anyone's skin comes near him, especially a finger, he grabs at it and sticks it in his mouth. He sucks on arms, shoulders and cheeks. This has been going on for the last month. Luckily he is just as enamored with toys. He especially likes frozen breast-milk or ice inside a mesh bag to chomp on.
Some more of that sister love.
Sander has been sitting up really well against pillows! He only rolls over if he is trying to get at something, like his foot which he seems to enjoy chewing on. His arms and legs are always flapping around so much with excitement, it is amazing.
Grandma (NoNo) and Grandpa (Pop-Pop) Neal came to visit us this past weekend. It was a beautifully sunny and warm autumn weekend. We spent time in the Mad River Valley together on Saturday. On Sunday we just relaxed at home in more sunshine!
Lucy wouldn't look at the camera for us!
I love how tiny Sander looks in this photo. Such a peanut!
This is an example of how Sander rarely stays on his activity mat. Usually I find him rolling toward legs of chairs or other pieces of furniture or face down on the floor drooling and smiling. He is such a funny little guy and ends up scratching at new textures and such when he finishes rolling, wherever he ends up.
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