Dear Joseph,

You are 7 months old, baby!

You are so precious to us.  Every day, I marvel at how much you’ve grown and developed.  It’s hard for me to grasp how quickly time has flown since your birth – 7 whole months!

We started you on solid foods when you were about 6 months old.  So far, you’ve loved everything that you’ve tasted: chicken, avos (avocado), spinach, carrots, parsnip, bananas, apples, pears… the list goes on!

You do a wonderful job at sitting up on your own.  I used to be a bit worried about you falling over (with good reason!) but lately, it’s as if you don’t need me around at all!

Either way, I like to keep a pillow nearby juuuuuust in case you decide to keel over backwards.

You do need me around, you know.  And I know – trust me!  Lately, you’ve had this thing where you don’t want (most people) except your momma.  You can be happily playing on your own, fully engaged, and then shriek at the realization that I’m no longer within your line of sight.  Same deal if you wake up during a nap.  Where before you would just grab your passie (pacifier) and catch a few more “zzzz’s”, now you cry and cry until I come in and give you kisses.  I figure it’s all just a phase and in the meantime, enjoy the fact that you love snuggling with me.

I’m not too fussed about your nap-time awakenings, because you’re doing a wonderful job with your sleep.  You get a bit cranky around 6pm and by 7pm, it’s lights out.  You generally wake around 6/6:30am.  When you do wake, what do you want?  Me!  You’re fine with Daddy for about 10 minutes, but if you catch sight of me out of the corner of your eye, it’s a no-holds-barred crying jag until I pick you up and feed you.  Don’t worry, sweetie – I’m hungry in the mornings, too 🙂

Most of our days are spent playing and reading and taking walks and visiting with friends.  You got to see your friend Rex this past week and it was pretty cute watching the 2 of you interact!  You also love your “girlfriends” Sophia and Zoe at church, and I can’t wait for you to meet some of the other bubs that are soon-to-arrive.

Some of your favorite pastimes include reading…

Hanging out in your Jolly Jumper…

You also love to go on walks around town in your pram.  Now that it’s summer, you really enjoy kicking your heels up and seeing the sights!

You’re doing a wonderful job with your practice-crawling.  You scoot yourself all over the place (mostly backwards!) and sometimes, I don’t know how you end up where you end up.  Any day now, you’re going to figure the whole thing out and then we’ll have to step it up in the baby-proofing department.

Oh, and in case you begin to get smug and think that you’re always a doll and happy as can be, just check out the following photo (which your father insisted I put in!):

You do have your moments 😉

We love you!