Six and then Seven Months Old!

Dear Cohen,

You are now seven months old! Before I could even sit down and right out your six month Newsletter, two months had flown by! So here we are with another double whammy! And it's a long one!These last two months were packed full with travel, holidays, fun, excitement, eating, exploring, gifts, still not sleeping, a few good nights and a new year!
In November for Thanksgiving we went to Moab to participate in our annual family gathering and feast! We stayed with your Great Grandma and Grandpa Tibbetts and we enjoyed the time we got to spend with them. They loved watching you play and talk and do all of your adorable baby things. Most of my mom's extended family hadn't met you yet and they were all so surprised at how fast you had grown and what a big boy your are!One night, right before you turned six months, I woke up at about 4 AM in a panic because you had been sleeping since 9 PM and hadn't woken me up yet. I had to fight the urge to check on you knowing you were perfectly fine sleeping soundly in your crib less than six feet away from me, with only a wall separating us. I fell back asleep until at 7 AM! You let me know it was morning in your usual way by cooing and aahing in your sweet baby voice. I was so proud and elated that we had a full nights sleep and excited that there might be more of these in the future!
Unfortunately, when we went to Moab, it through you out of this new sleep pattern where you only woke up once a night or, like a few blissful nights, not at all!
The first night at Grandma and Grandpa's you spent most of it in bed between us talking to the flowery wreath hanging above our heads, this kept your daddy and I up almost the entire night. We were there three nights and it got a little bit better as we went on, but I was excited to get some rest when we returned home.
For Christmas we had made a last minute decision to drive to California and spend it with your Grandma and Grandpa Green! Grandmommy was sad to see us go, but we celebrated with her and Papaps before we left and you were showered with adorable outfits and exciting toys. You love when we make the piggy noise and Grandmommy found a pig that shakes and grunts that seemed to be perfect for you. Among the other toys you loved, including the ones sent from your Great Grandma and Grandpa Tibbetts, was a little car that you love to sit on and smack the horn as I drive you around.
The drive to California took us about 12 hours and you did surprisingly well! You slept off and on and we stopped to change and nurse you every few hours. The hand driers in the gas stations posed a problem for us because the loud humming sound really frightened you. At the end of each diaper change you would leave the restroom with a tear streaked face and a death-grip on my t-shirt. I was always thankful when the restrooms had paper towel dispensers instead.
I sat in the back seat with you to keep you busy and we read books, played with every toy available multiple times and sang just about any song that came into my head. At one point we were about twenty miles to our next stop, but you wanted out NOW, so I gave you your first taste of red licorice to hold you over. You loved the flavor and I am sure you were grateful it wasn't that disgusting strained baby food I continually encourage you to eat. I was happy when we finally stopped and I was able to feed you something that had some nutritional value. Izzy came with us on our adventure and sat on the other side of your car seat and offered an occasional lick of encouragement along the way.

In California, we had so much fun taking you to the beach! You really seemed to enjoy it at first and I think I stood on the beach and enjoyed the scenery for about 2.5 seconds before you realized that the air was... DUN, DUN, DUN, moving! WIND! OH, NO! You still have the reflex where you hold your breath and become frantic if the breeze touches your face, so I ran as quickly as I could through the sand, while you continued to hold your breath convinced you couldn't breath, to the side of the nearest building for shelter to get you out of the moving air. You were so angry I endangered your life like that! You told me how you felt by letting out anguishing screams in protest. We immediately left.
The first night you slept well and only woke up once, but it all went down hill from there. It got to the point that every nap and every night was a struggle to get you to sleep. I even made it as much like home as possible, but I think you didn't want to miss a minute of the action or something.
For Christmas you got a new wardrobe of 12 month close since all your 6-9 month stuff was getting too tight and short! Santa also brought you a Glow Worm which you love and several new books! Your Grandparents gave you adorable little snowman jammies for Christmas Eve and an activity walker which you have really enjoyed playing with! Your pile of loot was ridiculously big!
You surprised me, the night after Christmas while I was dressing you after your bath, by suddenly shouting out, "DAD! Dada, Dada, Dada!" When I excitedly went to get your Daddy to show him your new trick you wouldn't say it again for him! The next day you twisted your tung around and said "Dada" with great enthusiasm. That is now your favorite word. We love to listen to you babble, even though you don't know what it means yet, but it means a lot to us!
Along with new developments in your vocabulary, you now sit up pretty well! You can still be pretty wobbly, you have toppled over and hit your head on the hardwood floors in our house a couple times, surely to be the first of many "bonks". I try to keep you padded all around, just in case.
We had a late start leaving California so we stayed in Las Vegas with your Aunt Tracy. She let us take over her condo and bedroom which we were so grateful for and it really made the trip back a lot easier on you. You love to play with Tracy so a little more time with her was great! You really enjoyed seeing your Grandma and Grandpa Green for the week were visiting, along with your cousins, Andrew, Nate and William. You watched them, wide eyed, as they bounced around the house occasionally stopping to say hi and make faces for you. James was too little, 3 months, to keep your attention for long. Your Grandparents loved getting to see your little personality and it was nice to have lots of one-on-one time with them for the first time since you were born. Your Grandma taught you the song "The Wheels on the Bus..." and you thought it was so much fun! We were really glad we spent your first Christmas there!
You rang in your first New Years at home with your Daddy, Izzy and I. I am not sure why you stayed up until midnight, but as soon as we all shared New Years kisses, you were ready for bed!
You love to admire you little baby hands and you will flip them from back to front and back again inspecting each chubby finger carefully and then you will quickly stuff your thumb in your mouth.
At six months you weighed 19 pounds 10 ounces and were 28 inches long. I am sure you are now over 20 pounds and are probably close to 30 inches long! You have almost outgrown you infant car seat, I already need to upgrade to a new one!When you take a long nap I get the chance to miss you. And then I hear your calls and when I go to get you from you crib, you give me your adorable squinty blue eyed, wide-open mouthed giant gummy grin. I pick you up and tell you how much I love you and squeeze you tightly.
It is such a wonderful feeling seeing how happy and healthy you are and to see you growing, exploring and learning everyday!
I love you, Cohen! Thank you for being my baby!

Love, Mama