I think Peter may be crawling within a few weeks... then again, I thought he was teething at three months and four months later we still have nothing! Let's hope he can hold off until we move in June, as it would be a pain to have to babyproof a month before we leave!
I can't believe Peter is almost seven months old, and my maternity leave is more than half over!
The last few weeks have been a lot of fun - so many new experiences. One of them is solid foods. So far he likes things that can be pureed very smooth - apples, pears, sweet potatoes and so on. He's got a sweet tooth like his mummy! He does not like squash, carrots or yams. I think he has something against orange.
Peter went to the beach this weekend for the first time, at least the first time that he could really take it in - that was a lot of fun. He was quite befuddled by the sand, picking it up and dropping it. Silly me let him lie on his back though and soon he had dumped a handful right into his mouth and eyes. Woops! It was a little chilly for an ocean dip, so we will postpone that experience.
He is sitting up quite solidly now. He does wobble a bit, so I try not to go too far from him, but at other times he can sit for a good five or six minutes straight. He is also starting, just in the past couple of days, to mobilize a little bit. He does this two ways - on his tummy, he is starting to do a little bit of an army crawl. Now Peter is an easily frustrated guy so he does start to cry a bit when he does this, particularly as he often manages to maneuver himself backwards rather than forwards. The other thing he has started doing is scooting a tiny bit on his hands. He can push himself a little bit while sitting and he moves a centimetre or too. He is experimenting a lot with balancing himself in a tripod position and wiggling around from there - leaning over to get things and so on.
He has some new mannerisms as well - he has discovered his ear, and he tends to tug on it when he's tired. He is also looking at his hands more these days - I am hoping that he may clap soon, or make some other sort of sign. That would be a lot of fun. I am still doing some sign language with him, and he does seem to understand some. When I sign "Up" or "All done" he will often lift his arms in preparation for being picked up.
Now this may be too much information for some, but there are some disadvantages to a baby who eats solids. As a result, I have been occasionally putting him on the potty when I notice he is pooping. I'd say he manages to go in the toilet about 50% of the time - and that's a win/win for everyone! I haven't tried with pees yet - I'm not quite that ambitious.
I'm telling you, this baby thing just keeps getting more and more fun! Five and a half months is very exciting. Peter is starting to recognise what's important in our world - for example, he loves to "talk" on the phone. He can be sitting in his exersaucer surrounded by brightly-coloured toys, but they are no comparison to a big black plastic phone. His face will light up if he sees it. If he hears Julian's voice on the speaker he smiles and reaches for it. Of course he also smiles when he hears the dial tone... but don't tell Daddy.
He definitely recognises voices now; the other day I was watching a short video I took the night before when Julian came home. Julian was saying "Hi Peter!" and Peter smiled and looked around expectantly. As well, I find that I can now calm him down a bit by saying "Peter, I'm right here!" Or "I'll be back in a moment" when he starts to fuss because I'm out of sight.
We have been taking Baby Sign for a while now and he is definitely starting to recognise some signs. For example, if I do the "up" sign he'll wiggle or even reach out if he wants up. And when I do the "breastfeeding" sign he gets quite excited if he is hungry, although that one's a bit more hit and miss, probably because I've been less consistent with it. I also use some signs and words to tell him what we are doing next, i.e. "diaper change" or "bath" and it seems to register. When I give him warning he doesn't seem as peeved when he is stripped from the waist down.
He continues to like animals. The other day we spent several hours in a house with a golden lab. That night he spent quite a while looking looking at a picture of an identical lab on his exersaucer and smiled when he first noticed it.
Another big development has been that he has taken milk from a sippy cup - that's exciting as it means I don't have to worry so much if I leave him for a couple of hours. He still needs help holding the cup up though he'd prefer to do it himself. At this rate he'll be feeding himself before long! What's next - making bacon and eggs for Mum and Dad?
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