seven months: having a blast!

 Well here we are at SEVEN months. Of course, time is flying, and we are having a blast. July has been mostly gloomy here in Seattle, but we tried to capture some good shots on our few good days. I've been planning the 'Wade Family Pictures at the Beach'.. meant to capture O at 6 months. After several necessary  reschedules, we finally captured them last night! If you have a facebook account, I would highly recommend that you check out the 'teasers' by Yee Feng, the photog. They are fantastic!

You can tell he likes his solid foods.. LOOK AT THAT BELLY! We may turn him in to a chunk yet.

Owen loves to play with balls already.. this soccer ball is his favorite, and he really likes the beach ball at the church nursery. I suppose we may have a little athlete on our hands here... hope his coordination potential comes from his daddy. 

We've taken the opportunity to turn gloomy July into a month of nap training. You all know the drama of my sleepless first born, but as he began to do better at night, he started to take only 30 minute naps.

30min x3 a day = 90 minutes of nap time daily.

= not enough down time for mom or baby

I think I finally realized that the baby can't keep up with my schedule. He won't sleep anywhere (like some babies), and a schedule could be really good for him. I don't know why it took me 6 months to figure this out, but I suppose that is the price of being a first time parent. It's interesting the sacrifices you need to make that never crossed your mind while pregnant. Yes, I need to amend my social calendar around the baby's nap time. He comes first. It seems so simple when I write it out, but it's definitely been a learning process for me. (Thanks for with holding your judgement =) )

We are on week 3 of nap training, and at times he has slept up to 3 hrs and 40 minutes a day. 2.5- 3 hrs is the average. It's been great for both of us!

He really is rolling everywhere, and I've been baby proofing like crazy.

(it's also a great way to finally make better use of the storage space we do have in this 900 sq ft condo)

He hasn't figured out getting up on his knees or advancing forward, but he can sure roll to accomplish his goals, and I think he's content with that for now! 

Mustache mania. Here we are at my friend Lam's baby shower. She is a co-worker from the school of nursing (as you can see by the trach mannequin in the background!). She's also having a baby boy (due Aug 20), so we thought we would wear mustaches to "masculine-ize" the girly baby shower! I think O looks hilarious here!

July 5th: The temp reached 75, so we trialed a wading pool with my friend Stephanie from high school and her 4 yo daughter, Sophia (whom I love).

It really was just an excuse for me to put him in his swim trunks. He wasn't a huge fan of the water (though very warm). There were lots of big kids splashing, and I'm sure it was loud to him. We'll have to try again with Grandma Cooper's swim pool in STL!

Here he is rolling under his crib. Looks like he picked up a diaper along the way! I love waiting to see where he will end up!

We had a nice second weekend of July, and so we travelled up north a bit to strawberry pick and go to an air show. I got to hold the baby while Mike did the picking.

I learned something about Mike that day.. he is very particular about the strawberries he picks. They must be the quintessential strawberry shape, and of course perfectly red. I knelt down to pick a few (and I don't mind the crazy shapes).. and I quickly realized that my strawberries 'didn't belong' amongst the beautifully similar berries in Mike's box.

This is what he calls a picture perfect berry!

Here they are in all of their glory. $15 worth of strawberries.. that we downed in about a week! I made a strawberry pie. Actually.. I attempted my first homemade pie crust with this pie. It tasted delicious but sort of melted down in the pie pan (ie.. was not pretty). Any tips?

Mike practicing his airplane photog skills.. pretty good!

We dressed O in a 'little aviator' shirt that day, but we couldn't get a good picture of him in that shirt. I have a feeling, though, that he will be a little aviator. Likely in more ways than one!

Mike has great timing!

I really like this Mizzou Tigers shirt, so I had to take a picture. I took it off by the time Mike got home (just kidding).

Additional highlights of the month:

• We were blessed by a week long visit by Dr. Steve Schuster who had a medical conference here in Seattle. It was awesome catching up and hearing his stories about Delaney (4) and Will (2). We hope they can play together soon. We're hoping to take a trip to Phoenix in April 2012.. fingers crossed!
• Owen continues to love his solid foods. We now have a variety of delights to choose from: peas, carrots, avocado, pears, bananas, apricots, squash. I'm having a blast 'scheduling' out what to try next.
• Owen has conquered the 'B' sound, frequently exclaiming 'BABABABABABA' when Mike feeds him dinner. 
• He loves to rub his own head/have his head rubbed (just like his daddy)
• We are getting little glimpses of his temper. They come out when I change his diaper and read a book. He knows this symbolizes nap time. As of yesterday he also clinches his fist and expresses frustration when I am not quick enough with the spoonfuls of food. It's so hilarious, I delay just a bit longer...
• Owen has new cousins! My cousin Will and his wife Amy had twin Cooper boys on July 18. Kipton and Coleson. Mike's cousin Emily and her husband Tony welcomed baby Eliza on July 21! What an exciting week!
• We are baptizing Owen in STL on Sunday. Kurt Stone, the pastor that married us, will be doing the honors. We can't wait to attempt another plane ride tomorrow (though we are both a but worried as he is much more squirmy now)...

Of course we love all of you, and we treasure your interest in the lives of our precious Owen. We are so grateful to God for the blessing of this baby BOY! Love, M, H, O, and O