7 Months

Owen is 7 months. Lately he's been doing many things that remind me of our earliest days, and I love it. He still makes a fist with his thumb under his index finger. Sometimes he still curls his toes under his feet. He still crosses his ankles, and it's possibly the cutest little mannerism. He watches intently as we do anything in front of him. A couple of times recently he even held his leg up in the air for a little bit. I get so focused on how fast he is growing that I forget we've only had him for such a short time. Each time he shows one of his earliest mannerisms, I'm reminded that it actually wasn't that long ago, and I like to sit with that feeling and enjoy it for a bit.

He's in size 3 diapers and mostly 3-6 month clothing. He's sleeping well and eating well, and he is working on cutting some more teeth. He drools like it's his job. He loves basically everything, but mostly just looking around and observing everything. He loves riding in the car and seeing out the window, and he his favorite thing to do is pull my hair. He reaches for it from far away. He reaches for everything he sees, actually, and I've almost dropped him several times because he is ridiculously determined. He hates snuggling. He won't do it. He's never really done it, but it was possible to force it a little bit. Not anymore. I didn't realize how not-snuggly he was until I held several of my friends' babies recently. Every single one of them immediately melted in my arms and laid their heads on my chests. Owen did that one time. One time. And I took pictures. It was a big deal. ha! My mom has always said that's the way I was, and I now understand why that is something she remembers: it's sad. I'll have happy Owen in my arms, but when I try to make him nuzzle in, he gets upset. It's a little bit funny; he is too interested in his surroundings to have time for that. He also hates the nosefrieda. If I recorded his screaming, you would think I was setting him on fire. Same goes for brushing his teeth, although that's hit or miss. Some days he loves it, some days he hates it. He has learned to use his arms to push mine away from him, and I'm not strong enough to physically handle him a lot of the time. He's strong. He always has been! We have always speculated about his personality, but right now I'd say he's quite the determined fireball. He's so sweet, too.  And freakin' cute. He smiles all the time, and I'm curious to know how much of that is innate and how much of that is learned because his mama has a case of the smileys, too.

I love him. Ryan and I both love him. I'd be leaving out something important if I didn't include that Ryan is seriously Owen's favorite human on earth. I'm ok with it; I think he's a great person to favor. :) Owen is so fun--such a gift--and I'm proud that he is my son.