Dear Spencer... You're 7 Months Old!

Dear Spencer,
You are officially SEVEN months old. I can't believe it, baby boy. As usual, I will say it every time, this beloved first year of your life is passing at lightening speed.
This last month, you have gained so much strength! You are sitting up all by yourself and I never see you tip over. You can go to your belly from sitting and roll every where. You are a pro at getting on to all 4s and crawling backwards. You love to "plank" and are trying to stand up. I am convinced that you will be crawling in the next 6 weeks.
You are also starting to talk and babble a ton. You say "da da da" and "ma ma ma" - although, not to us. You are slowly starting to reach for people who you want to hold you (especially me when you are hungry or want me to hold you). This last month has also been a big month for eating more. It has taken a little time (& patience) but now you will eat a jar or two before bed and in the last few days, I have been giving you a little something in the morning, too. You love sweet potatoes, pears, and bananas. You also eat prunes and are slowly starting to eat apples, too. I will start introducing more in the next month, but for now, you do pretty well with those.
You are growing like crazy. You are our biggest baby and at your 6.5 month check up, you were 18lbs and 8 oz. You aren't quite as long as your older brothers, but I am convinced that you will have a little growth spurt soon. You no longer fit into 6 month sized clothes and easily fill out the 9 month jammies that Gramz got you. You are drooling a lot, so we usually have a little bib on you with your paci attached. You are a paci baby, just like Nolan, and it is nice how quickly it can soothe you. You are still in size 3 diapers.
You are starting to do a little bit better in the car, although I am nervous to write that because I don't want to jinx it. We've been able to do drop off with your siblings with out having to listen to your scream, and it's been much nicer.
You are still a VERY content little baby. You smile and laugh all the time. You love watching your brothers and sister, being held, and playing with toys on the floor. You seem to be very good natured and I love just watching you. You and I have staring contests sometimes and you usually hold your own!
You have such beautiful blue eyes and everyone comments on your fluffy hair. It stands straight up, it has become your trademark! Everywhere we go, people will say "oh, I love his hair". You have a lot of it and it is very soft.
You still are not a good sleeper. Sometimes you will be up every hour, sometimes you are up for hours in the middle of the night, and sometimes you will go in a couple of 3 hour stretches. I am slowly starting to let you figure out how to soothe yourself, but I don't usually let you fuss for long because I don't want to wake everyone up. I know that this phase of sleepiness will pass, soon, so for now I just try to do my best to soak up this sweet baby phase. You also have been hit with colds and runny noses and coughs over the last few months, which has made it a little harder to sleep! We've had to give you a couple puffs of an inhaler this month and suction your little nose a few times to help you sleep more comfortably.
Andie loves to dress you up like a real life doll. You have had a dress on, necklaces, hats, glasses. You just go right along with the flow and love watching her perform and sing to you. Nolan is very affectionate with you and sometimes he will sit next to you in the car and make funny faces and you will just laugh and giggle with him. It is the cutest thing! Cody hasn't had an ounce of jealousy and watching you two interact is really fun. When you are crying, he will yell "baby crying!" and run to bring you a paci. You are SO loved, Spencer.
You have several nicknames: Spence, Spencer-bear, Spanky (Pops calls you that), Spencie (Daddy calls you that), and pretty much anything with the word baby. Everyone in our family tends to call you something a little different and it is fun to hear all of the high pitched voices when they talk to you... you have truly completed our family and we are all so happy you are here.
Spencer, I am crazy for you. You truly fill my heart with so much joy and my whole body feels warmth when I see your little smile. You make daddy and I so happy, just by being here with us. We are proud to be your parents and the best part of my life is getting to see you and your siblings grow and change. I love you forever and ever!
Love,
Mama