Dear William,

Today you turn seven months old. It has been an interesting month; lots of changes. The biggest one is how your sleeping pattern has gone totally wonky. I used to have the schedule down pat, and could actually plan things like when to best drive you somewhere in the car or what I could watch on the TiFaux while you were napping. Now, it's gone mostly random. You're awake for longer and longer periods when I want you to sleep, and sleeping forever when I need you to wake up. As I've learned, waking you up to put you in your car seat is not an option. At least, not an option I would like to deal with.

You have finally started napping on your own, in your crib though. You probably would have started earlier if I didn't love to hold you so much while you're sleeping. You don't nap on my lap very well anymore, and I already miss it. I have to say though, it is quite nice to get a chance to do some things while you doze away in your room. And it tickles my heart when I come in as you're waking up and you give me that "Hey! It's you!" smile.

We started feeding you more and more different things, though that went a bit by the wayside when our whole family was so sick. You especially loved peaches, and would eat every bite, and hated carrots, though that may have more to do with the fact I'm slightly incompetent at making baby food. You also hated squash, and I'm a bit worried that veggies are looking like a no-go, but I'm going to give you sweet potatoes next to trick you into liking a veggie.

You've taken to sticking your tongue out all the time. All the better to lick things with, I guess, as you're still exploring via your mouth. We think it won't be too much longer until you're exploring on your hands and knees though... you can spin around any direction on your tummy and you've started moving backwards a bit, so the crawling, or at least the squirming, may not be too far off. You've also started trying to pull yourself up on things, like the edge of your crib or your bathtub, when you're sitting down. I guess it's time to move the crib down so there are no surprise escapes in your future.

You've started babbling a lot more too; the consonant sounds are finally appearing after months of "aaaaaaaaaEEEEEuuuuuuuuu". You've got your w's, b's, m's, and sometimes your d's going. Every once in awhile you'll start saying "Mummummummum" and even though I know it's not directed towards me it still makes me melt. And you reach for me sometimes too which make me melt even more.

Things are starting to look like a lot of fun, soon. I can't wait until you're crawling.

But you really need to work on that sleeping through the night thing, OK?

Love, Mom