7 Months (and counting)

This might be all over the place, but I just want to highlight a bunch of things before I forget when they happened and whatnot.

Nehemiah is 7 months old and has 8 teeth now. Yes, 8 chompers that have all cut through. I can't believe how quickly he has been getting his teeth in. He has experimented with biting to let me know when he is done eating, but after a few no-nos!, he is starting to do it ever-so-gently if I try to get him to feed when he has decided he has finished.

He is still like a vampire, trying to suck our necks. It is so adorable, though--when I pick him up these days, he puts his arms around my neck and just hugs me so tightly. I love it. I'll never get tired of it.

He has been developing like crazy lately. Yesterday, he pulled himself up to his feet by himself for the first time. He can easily do it when someone is holding him, but this was the first time to did it all on his own. We're in big trouble now!

His balance is getting much better. He thinks it's hilarious to stand with the support of the couch and try to reach for objects that have been placed strategically out of reach. He is able to scoot by himself from side to side, but he definitely needs to be watched while doing so. Nehemiah also loves to stand holding his crib rail with one hand and reaching for his mobile with the other.

In addition, I've noticed that when he's playing in his activity center (his around-we-go), he doesn't always lean forward while walking/running anymore. He often looks like he is holding himself upright instead of always leaning. That boy is incredibly fast now, too. His new trick is running as fast as he can and then lifting up his feet so he can just glide some distance. It is just hilarious and simply adorable. I test his balance sometimes, and he does have some instances where he can stand unsupported or take a couple of steps, but it is nowhere near consistent at this time.

I cannot believe how smart he is. Just today, I put him in his crib to play around since his Appa was in that room (not helping) while I was trying to get something done, so I put his music on. As soon as I did that, he turned around and started whining at me because he knew I was going to leave the room. He has known "kiss-kiss!" for some time now, but he follows along so much better. His appa has taught him 뽀뽀~! (the Korean "kiss-kiss"), and he apparently does it for him, too.

We've been trying to get him accustomed to drinking from a cup. Apparently, some children are resilient to do so, but he certainly is not. I don't know if it's the taste/feel of water he enjoys or if it's the pride of being able to drink out of a cup, but he loves it. Even though we don't feed him his food when we eat out dinner, he sits with us in his chair. We give him his snacks, as well as some of our rice. When he doesn't want any more food and just wants to get out, the cup of water comes in to save the day. It's important to me for us to sit down for family meals, so I truly enjoy this time with him.

He loves being outdoors. We take him to the playground downstairs to walk around and so he can show off to everyone what a big boy he is. He sometimes feel a little intimidated by the presence of so many older boys and girls, but he later ends up wanting to run around to see what everyone is doing.

Nehemiah is still as happy as ever, if not even more than ever. He has his cranky moments, but he is just a genuinely and naturally happy boy. There are no words to express just how much joy he brings to us. It's so wonderful to come home after class to a boy flailing his arms and legs in excitement just because he has heard my voice.

For now, I had best be off. Because someone mentioned above was too involved in his own sleepy time (and still is at almost 12 noon), I was not able to get all that I wanted to accomplished this morning. I now need to prepare to head out for class. Tomorrow, however, we are using up as many of our hotel membership coupons as possible for a mini getaway. We'll be heading to Icheon Miranda Hotel, and for about $90, we'll be staying in a deluxe room (regularly closer to $300!), getting a free lunch and dinner, as well as a free breakfast buffet and free admission to their Spa Plus spa/waterpark. We bought an inner tube for him and can't wait to see how much he enjoys it since he absolutely loves water. I've been seriously lacking in the photo department this month, but I will be sure to take plenty while we are there.

Sending prayers for all who read this. God bless!

All I Want for Christmas...

On about May 20th, Nehemiah sprouted three--yes, three--new teeth. He's decided to be a rebel about it, however, and has skipped his two front teeth. As his teeth continue to grow, it looks like he has vampire fangs. They are the teeth that are next to the front teeth and not the canines, but still.

For those who know their teeth terminology, he has just sprouted his two upper lateral incisors and one on the bottom. If this is wrong, don't blame me, blame the chart I am looking at.

It's hard to say whether or not his front teeth are starting to show, but I noticed that his other lower lateral incisor (glad I'm typing that and not speaking it!) is starting to sprout. That means we've got five teeth right now with at least a sixth on the way.

When he was getting his three new ones in, it caused him to have a pretty runny nose. No fever or anything, just a runny nose. I share that for others who might be nearing this stage soon.

In other news, Nehemiah surprised us yesterday by pulling himself up to a kneeling position on the side of his Bumbo. He also was easily able to *try* to stand. He'll have it in no time now. We're in trouble, that's for sure!

I just wanted to type a quick one for now. I leave you with this photo of ridiculous measures of adorableness, though many have already seen it: