Bennett 7.5 Month Updates: Formula, Pulling Up, and more!

We have such a busy little guy here lately!  He was sick for about three weeks straight and it was miserable, but this past week he has been feeling much better and it seems like he grew (developmentally) overnight!

First of all, he's still not crawling.  But he can go from sitting, to tummy, turn all around on his tummy, and go back up to sitting.  He can also sort of crawl backwards, but he isn't getting the forward motion thing yet.  His legs move, but he doesn't yet realize his arms also have to get involved.  :)  But Bennett is just not content to sit still!  He wants to move around constantly, looking for Cooper, pulling up on EVERYTHING (my legs, the couch, his activity table, you name it!).  If you hold his hands he can take some small wobbly steps towards what he wants (mostly Cooper - poor dog).  He has also stood all by himself for about 5-10 seconds a few times!  I'm getting nervous for how much running around I'm going to have to do once he gets the hang of crawling considering how much he already tries to move around...

Bennett is also starting to use a sippy cup with water in it.  He actually is pretty good at holding it and he knows he has to suck on the top, but he doesn't understand yet that he has to tip it to get water out.  He prefers if Mom or Dad tip it back for him.  :)  We try not to do too much for him, because being an only child he gets so much attention but we really want him to learn to be independent, too.  It's so easy to pick him up if he gets mad on his tummy, but that's not going to help him learn how to crawl or sit himself back up.  Some days it seems like he's better with figuring things out on his own, but some days he just squeals right away for help.

He wants to be a part of EVERYTHING Brad and I do...so we were sorting Christmas lights, and he was helping!

Bennett also had his first formula bottle!  I was not happy about it, but he woke up and insisted on eating at 10:30pm and I knew I wouldn't be able to nurse him at that time, since I never do anymore so my body wouldn't be used to it.  And I did not want to use up my pumped milk since I needed it for the babysitter's house.  So I thought, "If you insist upon eating at a weird time when you don't really need to eat, you're going to have to have formula!"  And he actually sucked it down.  It smelled gross and made me a little sad....but he survived.  :)  I just might have to use formula for the middle-of-the-night feedings so Brad can take some turns.  Haha.  (Yes, he still wakes up once, sometimes twice a night to nurse!!!).

Cheesy little grin filled with sweet potatoes!

Bennett is also developing his own opinion.  When he's sick of being in the high chair...he's done!  He's started sticking his tongue out when we try to approach him with more food.  The stinker!  He often will eat more once he's out of the high chair...