MONTH SEVEN.

Technically month seven + thirteen days. I don't know if there is any sense in writing now when it will be time to do so again so soon, but there is just so much to say! So much that has changed! So much newness and complete astonishment on my part, really.

Finnegan Francis is just so capable. He now uses his crib solely for playing and taking laps around over and over and over. (Notice how I didn't say sleeping... hmph). I love to watch him grab the crib rail with one hand, and bend down to grab something with the other. He still hasn't had a done a proper crawl, but he does so many other incredible things that this doesn't bother me one bit. I can see four teeth perfectly outlined in his top gums, but no signs up them popping through soon. I'm crossing my fingers for a cute little gap like my brother Jordan had. Another thing that has been completely life changing/mind altering/hormone raging/blah blah blah/INCREDIBLE is hearing Finn say "dada." He certainly won't do it on command, but sometimes he just feels like it and we will say it back and forth to each other over and over. He will look to me, very intently, and whisper the phrase again and again. That has got to be one of the sweetest things I have ever seen. So sweet, in fact, that I don't mind that he didn't say "mama" first. Additionally, my independent, anti-cuddle baby has actually rested his head of my shoulder a number of times over the past week and also grabs my face and pulls it in for what I am taking the liberty of calling a kiss. He has also taken to finding things funny that don't involve tickling him, like silly faces or sounds. On the food front, Finn is making leaps and bounds. He eats pureed peaches, carrots, peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, broccoli, pears, and plums mixed with oatmeal and/or cottage cheese. He seems to have chewing completely figured out and loves to munch on multi-grain Cherrios, Mum-Mums, whole peas, lentils, and sweet potato fries, although he doesn't quite have the pincher finger thing down yet.

On a somewhat related not, this month, although incredibly exhausting, has finally taken a turn for the better. After a ton of hard work and sad, weepy nights by me, Finn is sleeping so much better than he was even a week ago (I just put him down awake for the fourth night in a row and not a single tear!!!). My hopes are set high. I hope that it will stick. It is incredible how different life feels when you have a few simultaneous hours of sleep under your belt. I am finally feeling prepared to get out of the house and up for the challenge of taking Finn with me instead of dreading it. I am really starting to feel excitement about spending time with him. Now that he is getting a little older, I am realizing how lucky I am to have the opportunity to share the world with this magical boy. There is so much fun, beauty, and love that I get the pleasure of exposing him to.