Anthony is 7 months old today!

Anthony is enjoying life as a 7-month-old! Here’s what the little guy is up to these days:

He’s on the move...

Anthony isn't exactly crawling, but he’s definitely no longer confined to where we put him. He started by turning around in a circle, like a little baby sundial. That progressed to rolling over and over to relocate by a few feet. Now he does a little shimmy/scoot, which enables him to go pretty much where he wants, provided he has the patience for the time it takes him to get there.

Not surprisingly, where he wants to go is rarely where WE want him to go. Although Anthony is a boy who is passionate about his toys...

...his impetus for getting a move on is often not a toy, but some baby-inappropriate item like a newspaper, pen, adult’s dinner plate or cell phone...

... another favorite, if I get lazy and change his diaper on the floor (yes, I do put a blanket down, and I do put it in the wash afterwards, I’m not THAT lazy), is to go after either the wipes, just-removed dirty diaper or the ready-for-installation clean one (this is my preference). He doesn’t yet protest being changed, but he’s certainly no longer a passive participant in the exercise...

Clearly, he finds this hilarious.

Anthony also enjoys journeying to the leg of his highchair, then hanging on to it as if for dear life, like – and I apologize for the cheesy movie reference – Rose clung to Jack at the end of Titanic.

Meanwhile, mealtime is also changing...

While I wouldn’t take Anthony for high tea with the queen, his eating habits are maturing, and the appearance of his first tooth means bigger and better things to come (like Tobin’s pizza!).

In all honesty, Brandon and I think it’s a struggle to give Anthony solid foods, largely because we both lack patience. But, when he returned to daycare after the two-week holiday break, two of his teachers, independent of one another, told me he’s "doing so great" with solids.

I don’t say that to brag -- not sure a kid's face-stuffing is something parents brag about, but I want to make that clear just in case -- but to express my shock. I didn't want to embarrass myself (or the little fella...his friends were right there, after all...), so I agreed with his teachers, all the time thinking, "If you think that's good, I don't want to be at your house at dinnertime..."

But it has been going better as of late, which led to the following conversation:

Brandon: Will you feed Anthony for the 167th time in a row while I lay on the sofa? It’s so hard to feed him. I hate doing it.
Me: Sure, darling, whatever you ask.
Brandon: Wow, he’s doing a lot better!
Me: That’s because his mother is patient and loving with him.
Brandon: No, it’s because his teachers at daycare have been feeding him for the past week and they actually know what they’re doing.

Surprisingly, Brandon is still alive after that exchange, which may or may not be mildly fictionalized. If you want to judge for yourself regarding Anthony's eating acumen, here is some before, during and after evidence:

All the books say give them their own spoon to play with while you feed them with another...that either leads to peas on the nose or Anthony grabbing both spoons and us getting nowhere.

How's a guy to focus on eating with so many fascinating distractions?

Anthony's tray table and the boy himself following some delicious squash.

Finally, and I apologize for my long-windedness, everything else is going well.

Anthony continues to grow well – he’s about 18-and-a-half pounds and over 27 inches – and adds new sounds to his repertoire all the time (blowing raspberries and saying something that sounds almost like "Hi": cute. Loud, shrill screech: not cute.)

He still shows ZERO signs of wanting to sleep through the night, but is making improvements in terms of sitting up by himself, holding his own bottle (really, really cute) and playing with his toys in the way they were meant to be played with (I hear this is a good sign of normalness).
Best of all, as we still haven't reached the onset of "stranger anxiety," he remains a social little guy who loved spending time with Grandma and Grandpa Lantau last month and can’t wait to see Grandma and Grandpa Schaffer tomorrow!