Happy 7 months to my sweet boy. And what a month it has been. To say it’s been busy is an understatement. And I hate to even go on about being “busy” – we genuinely do not try to be “busy” for some kind of weird status symbol. We try to have plenty of downtime and a routine for our baby but this month was full of challenges. We’ve gotten through with help from family and friends, a bit less sleep than usual, and a lot of patience and grace toward our situation and with each other. The good news is our baby continues to be healthy and strong, and full of wonderful curiosity that brightens our days. 

The month started off with Harrison in his first full week of daycare. It was quite a schedule change for all of us but Harrison handled everything wonderfully – and he was good and tired at night so he slept great!

Alas, it did not last. The runny/stuffy nose started but he did ok. Then came Daylight Savings and 5 nights in a row of extraordinarily restless sleep. This coincided with a visit from Sean’s dad and stepmom – who generously offered to extend their stay by 3 nights to watch the baby since Sean was going out of town for work for 3 nights. It was hard to have him away, but I definitely appreciated them watching Harrison so he didn’t have to go to daycare with his mild cold.

Harrison continued with his palate training during this month, adding lots more new foods to his menu – quinoa, carrots, zucchini, butternut squash and pears to name a few. Carrots have been his LEAST favorite – which was surprising to us. But we keep offering and we find that he now tolerates them fairly well – at least for a few bites. 

Harrison loves playing with his feet and rolls to his side constantly to reach for toys. He can roll over but he doesn’t do it very often. He has become more engaged with his toys and can happily play with two at the same time now. 

After Sean’s parents came to visit, Sean went on another work trip, I had a huge company announcement for my job and had to work over the weekend (including a Monday conference call at 2am), and my parents came to stay for a week. My mom and stepdad watched Harrison during the day – and Harrison loved reading books with his grandma. He was a good eater for them but towards the end of their visit, he developed a very phlem-y cough so we took him to the doctor. Not much to do except rest and fluids but it was very hard seeing him sick and watching his entire demeanor change. He was definitely less smiley and a lot fussier. Poor baby. 

I traveled to Chicago for work the day my parents left, and when I came back, Harrison was still not feeling great and neither was Sean. I was starting to feel under the weather myself but carried on over the weekend because we had to get ready for the arrival of our au pair, and I was getting ready to leave on another work trip for NYC.

It was hard to leave again so soon especially knowing my two boys were sick. Sean’s cousin Patrick came to town while I was gone and stayed with us – and I know how much he and Sean like to spend time together so that was nice. 🙂

Despite his being sick with a cold for over two weeks, Harrison was still doing really well. Fussier, yes, but overall still such a sweet and good boy.

The morning after I got back from NYC, Harrison had red bumps all over his body. Swamped with work and both of us sick, we rushed baby boy to the doctor to find out he had Hand, Foot and Mouth. Two days before our au pair was set to arrive and coming off what we thought was an incredibly difficult and busy time. A huge curveball and our poor little baby was just so out of it. 🙁 The second day with the virus his appetite decreased considerably and we started to get really worried. But he woke the next day very hungry and was definitely on the mend. True to the doctor’s notes, his bumps started disappearing after 48 hours – right as he turned 7 months and we went to greet Daniela at the airport and welcome her to our home and family.

A trying month. An exhausting month. I am glad to be through it. And though I feel overall I have less details to report about Harrison this month because it was so hectic, I know it was also a wonderful time for our family who got to spend good amounts of quality time with their grandson. And now we have our helpful, kind and loving au pair who is already proving to be a tremendous help. Here’s to month 8, getting over sickness and getting back to fun and laugher!!

Enjoy the photos from early in the month to later – you can really see how much Harrison’s hair has grown!