1st tooth, sitting in the bath, and expanding taste buds

No pictures with this post, because it is a quick update (and 8 month pictures will be coming soon!).  Robbie has been cutting his first tooth this past week, which is very exciting!  It's the lower front right one, and it's sharp.  I keep wondering how teething on just the lower gums doesn't irritate or cut the upper gums?  Anyways, it has greatly disrupted his sleep - he wakes up at 1:00am almost like clockwork, and isn't soothed until I take him into the guest room and sleep the remainder of the night with him.  (That is NOT me complaining!)  He slept most of last night on his own without waking up, so I'm not concerned that this will spoil him or wreck all of the sleep training we've done so far.

Also, he's doing great sitting up for long periods of time on his own.  This morning I decided it was time for Robbie to take his bath sitting up.  Oh my goodness did he love it!  He kept looking around at everything, like this new vantage point was opening up another world to him.  He really enjoyed splashing the water, kicking his legs, playing with rubber duckies and grabbing his feet.  And it was accidentally heavy-on-the-bubbles, so of course he had to sample them once.  Yum.  I have tried to do what I can to encourage water on his face so that he's not a fusser every time water splashes on him, in the bath or at the pool / lake.  Today I poured a big cup of water over his head, slowly, to wash away the soap and shampoo... and he didn't bat an eye!  I got excited and told him what a big boy he was, and he grinned and splashed around like it was no big deal.  I am so thankful for his natural disposition and how ready he is to try new things.  It makes things so easy on me as a mom.

He continues to try to crawl, but has still only mastered rotating in circles, scooting backwards, and rolling anywhere he wants to go (and quickly!).  I find him completely on the other side of the crib when I go in to get him after naps, facing the opposite direction.  Not sure how he spins around in there since it is fairly narrow?!  His evening routine now includes wrestling time with dad, and it is by far the sweetest part of my day to watch them play together.  Robbie cannot wait for Rob to get home in the evenings and he even acts a little differently on the weekends when Rob is around during the day.  The boy loves his dad!  

And finally, he is eating a wider variety of foods.  He got to eat some of dad's pumpkin pancakes when we went out to brunch the other day, and likes to have bits of bread or part of my sandwich bun when I have it.  I made him an apple / pear / apricot with vanilla breakfast blend, and 2 'beef with vegetables' blends this week which will last us a good 2 weeks or so (one has parsnips, potatoes and celery and the other has sweet potatoes and carrots).  Robbie really likes the flavor, and I have to try not to gag as I feed it to him - it looks and smells a lot like wet cat food!  Gross.  But he gets so many different vitamins and minerals from each of them that it's worth it.  I have a sugar pumpkin, acorn squash, cherries, cantaloup, bananas, and more apples and pears to play with for next week!  I am getting my recipes from a great book called "The Top 100 Baby Purees", in case you are interested.  Robbie has tasted vanilla, thyme, parsley and a few other herbs and spices and it will be fun to introduce him to more.