Will's Seventh Month! 8/11 - 9/10

7 MONTHS OLD!! • I love moving all over the place and don't
like being still (hence the picture) • my mom and dad thought our
house was baby proof, but I have a knack for finding danger •
I can now army crawl, get myself into the sitting position, and
I have pulled myself up to standing once now • I have one tooth
and the second one is on its way • June now steers clear of me
cause I have pulled her tail one too many times, but she gets a
few face and hand licks in after each meal time to get the
extra food off me • I love watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in
 bed with mama in the mornings • I love singing and when my
 mom claps for me • I love when dad carries me around the
house in the ergo • I love my new van • there is not a food I
have tried so far that I can't stand, but green beans are low on my
favorites list • I prefer eating squash, apples, pears, and carrots! •
I love that I am getting to take walks outside more often
in the mornings • my favorite book the the Jabberwocky •
my favorite toy is my play school ring tower! •
my favorite song is still Winnie the Pooh. • Being 7 months old is so fun!

Well we started on this 7th month of life at a sprint... or most honestly at a crawl! Yes, our little nugget, having just barely mastered the art of sitting up decided that it wasn't enough for him anymore and he needed to start scooting! It was starting to become more imperative to him when his toys would be just out of reach and he just NEEDED them and couldn't wait to momma to move them closer. I had been noticing some tiny inches of movement here and there and definitely some good rolling skills to get where I wanted. But, one day while we were playing on the ground, Will caught sight of my phone and just HAD to have it. This was the motivation he needed to do some proper scooting!

There was no stopping after this and it seemed like time sped up by 100x and I don't know how I am supposed to keep up. Gone are the days of being able to put him down and he would stay in the same place. Gone are the days of tummy time and you being content to lay on your back and just stare at my face. You are a mover my sweet boy and you never stop! Will's weight percentile actually went down recently because, according to our pediatrician, is "one of the more active 6 month olds I've ever met." Lucky me!

But actually this new stage of moving had brought out one of my favorite personality traits Will has and that is his curiosity! He wanted to know and discover and explore EVERYTHING! I began the process of really baby proofing the house and Will was ever so helpful at constantly letting me know areas I had missed. It took a couple months to finally be able to relax in the house and know that he was safe (as long at the bathroom and laundry room doors were shut and June's food was up on the counter).

there are outlet protectors on there, they are just clear

As if crawling and scooting weren't enough, Will also started solid foods! No more being able to eat only momma's milkies. The amount of moving he was doing called for a lot more calories. We started on rice cereal as usual and then slowly began to introduce new foods. Will loved everything we gave him... except green beans, which he didn't like, but would still eat.

This month we had a VERY special visitor! Auntie Carla came to visit us all the way from London, England! I was so incredibly excited for her to be here with us and to meet my little man. She brought Will a little Oxford bear since she was starting her teach certification program there in the fall. Will was enamored with her and they were best friends instantly!

It was a short visit and had such a crazy beginning to it! She was initially supposed to be able to stay 10 days, but then a couple months before her trip, her parents got an opportunity to go to Chicago for a conference and decided to bring Carla's little sister Candace with them. Since Candace is only 8 years old, Carla decided to reroute her trip to Chicago for the first 3 days to watch her sister during the conference. Sadly the airline she was flying wouldn't let her change her destination to Chicago, so she ended up keeping her flight to Phoenix and back, but then buying another ticket from Phoenix to Chicago almost immediately. This meant that she was going to fly into Phoenix one night and then immediately fly to Chicago early the next morning. Well with unexpected flight delays in Toronto, it meant that she ended up having to fly directly to Chicago and there was a ton of drama to try to get her tickets to stay valid even though she missed some of her legs. It was so incredibly stressful for her and ended up throwing the whole point of the relaxing vacation into a frenzy. By the time she finally did make it to Phoenix, she was utterly exhausted from the flight drama and caring for an 8 year old for 3 days stuck in a hotel. Needless to say, our time was about relaxing and sitting on the couch watch suits, talking, crying, processing, laughing and enjoying the joy Will created with us!

We had a party for Carla to welcome her with a bunch of people. I sadly didn't take very many pictures, but managed to catch a photo of Carla with Bruce and Janet, who she absolutely loves. Every time she visits she wants to make sure to see them as they were so sweet and intentional with her at our wedding.

My mom, got these photos on her phone from the party. Right before the picture of my dad holding Will with my mom was taken, my mom simply asked my dad if she wanted to take a picture with her and Will. My dad smiled and said, "sure!" and reached out to hold Will! This was the first time my dad ever held my son! I was nearly shaking taking the picture, I was so excited! It is one of my favorite photos of all time. The moment I was done taking the picture, my dad handed him back to my mom and the moment was gone. But I am so thankful for this picture.

Carla noted how different my dad was even from her last visit a year and a half before. It was hard and so sad for her to see his progression. I sometimes don't really stop and take in how much he has changed in the long term. It is easy just to notice the subtle and slow changes from week to week.

During Carla's visit, we also did a day trip up to the Mogollon Rim for the day to escape the heat and show her some beautiful Arizona scenery!

It sprinkled as we walked along the rim trail and we just talked and processed life all together. Aaron was able to get the day off work to go up with us and it was so nice to have him with us as we hung out.

Then before we knew it, she was off to return home! It seems each of her trips makes it so much harder for us to part and continue to do life so far away! Thankful for social media and video chats to keep us connected.

With San Diego and Carla's visit behind us, we got back to normal life again and Will just kept growing and changing! He continued eating all the fun new foods we were introducing him to and just grew life a little weed. He had been a little extra fussy and a restless sleeper while Carla was here and I chalked it up to probably being thrown off by a visitor in the house, but as soon as Carla left, I discovered Will had cut his first tooth at some point in the week! No wonder our little man was so sad! I actually was a bit impressed though, because I had expected much worse for a baby cutting their first tooth. He was mild considering what I had pictured.

One of Will's favorite things to do is read books and one book series I am obsessed with for him is the Babylit books! He has a ton of them and we love them! They are board book primers that are based on classic literature! Will's favorite is the Jabberwock, but I also love the Pride & Prejudice counting primer and the Jungle book animal primer. They also have books on cities around the world and the national parks! Since the National Parks were celebrating 100 years on August 25th, I had to do a little photo shoot of Will and one of his favorite books.

Oh this kid is getting so photogenic! He makes the absolute perfect expressions and I can't get over how animated he is. So the photoshoots just kept on coming this month!

We did a little photoshoot with the mommy and me Robin Hood set Nicole gave us for Christmas since Will finally fit in his! I had a vintage Robin Hood lunchbox that was a great prop.

One of my favorite photos of him ever!

Will also got more play time with little friends. We had a play date with Caleb and Livi! Livi is just a couple months older than the boys, so I can't wait to see them all together in Sunday school at church and growing up together. Livi, being the only little girl, had the boys literally chasing (crawling) after her and she was so sweet to give them hugs.

My Mamaw's 92nd birthday was on August 27th, so we made a special visit to her to celebrate! Will loved seeing her again and she even sang him the lullaby she wrote that my mom sang to me and I sing to Will every night. They are so sweet together.

Before we knew it, we were in September! Cooler temps were just weeks away now and I was dreaming of playing outside again. It also was Aaron and my 5 year dating anniversary, so we decided to take Will out to dinner to celebrate all we had done and accomplished in 5 years since dating!

September also meant the beginning of College Football season and Daddy & Will Saturday mornings watching the Georgia Bulldogs! One of Aaron's co-workers had given us the cutest University of Georgia onesie set when Will was born and it was the perfect size for this season!

Like I said... so many photoshoots!

Labor day weekend is our Church's yearly family weekend up North in Payson at Mountain Meadows Ranch, and is a great excuse to get out of the Phoenix heat. We weren't ready to stay overnight and camp with everyone else, so we just headed up for the Sunday that was our big all church day. It was so lovely to let Will be outside in the cool fresh air and take in the forest scenery. We hung out with the Stoops' and other friends, so Caleb got to play with his little friends and cousins. We also got sweet pictures with Grandma & Grandpa. Aaron and Will and I took a walk along the creek while Will was asleep on me. This was the Summer camp that Aaron and I grew up going to with church summer camp. It was so sweet to be able to walk some of my favorite walks and remember having a crush on Aaron as camp there in High School and now to be walking around with him as my husband and with our little baby.

Will had been rocking at all his crawling and sitting up as the month went on, but we reached another fun milestone right before he reached 7 months where he was able to get into the sitting position on his own. I had been excited about this achievement because he often wanted to be sitting up and I had to be constantly available to help him get there if he'd fallen over or tried to crawl. One day I went into his room to get him up from his nap when he called out to find him happily and proudly sitting up!

And then within a couple days he took it one step further and started being able to pull himself up in his crib.

I was so proud of my little boy and so excitement for this new accomplishment. He too was so excited and loved trying out his new tricks. Sadly, he liked trying them out in the middle of the night when he was half asleep and then would wake himself up all the way and have trouble getting back to sleep. Will had been an awful night sleeper since Mother's Day, which was the last time he slept through the night, but was getting so close to getting better after some sleep training. Sadly this derailed him completely and he went back to waking up many times.

To finish off Will's 7th month, we finally decided it was time to upgrade our family vehicle and get a van! I was SO EXCITED! Aaron found us a great deal on a used 2008 Kia Sedona. I was so excited to be able to fit a ton of more stuff and ready for all the family road trips! Will too loved his new wheels and being able to see out the window better!

Between visitors, trips out of town, cutting his first tooth, trying baby food, sitting up on his own and standing, this kid had a pretty awesome and eventful month!!

more food!

When Will wouldn't nap, mom would get cranky

More Georgia Bulldog swag!

Go Dawgs!

falling asleep in the middle of morning playtime with daddy

trying more food

We tried out a movement and dance and reading time for little kids at church,
but Will might have been too small and overwhelmed. 

playing with the baby in the mirror

politely waiting for dinner

he was so excited any time he was ready to eat

hanging out by the back door because it's too hot to go outside

bath time

my two grumpy boys

all the foods

Saturday mornings are game time! Go Dawgs!