Bashy Boo!

Oh man, poor Bash is suffering from Second Child Syndrome like whoa.  His baby book isn't quite as up to date as August's was at this point, all of his clothes are hand me downs, and we are forever calling him August or Mia.  Which is crazy, because he's the cutest little man on his own!  The baby state is kind of exhausting and it's easy to get bogged down in the minutiae of his sleeping and eating routine, but when I take a step back, it is just awesome how much of his own person he embodies.
Could that sentence have been put any more awkwardly?

At seven months (!!), Bash is blowing me away with his independence.  Perhaps in an effort to keep up with the big kids he sees on a daily basis, and his own big brother, Bash is seriously on the move.  He's crawling, pulling himself to standing against whatever he can get his hands on, and is enamored of all the toys scattered around our house.  It's so cool that he's already in this stage of mobility; he's been working so hard for weeks, so his sense of accomplishment must be high to be here so early.
Oh, and Bash has his first tooth!  He cut it while on vacation in Florida, so that was super fun, but he loves to show it off with lots of big smiles and laughs for whoever will look at him.

We're on a very basic meal plan of breakfast and dinner purees.  So far he's liked everything we've put in front of him, though we have to feed him fast because the boy is impatient.  We shovel it in for five minutes, then give him a little water, and let him crawl around while the rest of us eat or start bath time.  He still nurses a few times a day, and he gets a couple of formula bottles throughout the day.  It works for us, and gives me a little more flexibility for our days.

His sleep routine has been pretty rough for the last few weeks, but I see some improvement this week.  He goes down at about 7, wakes up for a couple of pacifier adjustments, eats at 5ish, then sleeps again until 730am.  August's sleep has been broken up as well, so JP and I are kind of in that zombie parenting state lately.  Baby sleep is always in flux, so we just shrug and know it's apt to change again soon.

I didn't really think having two kids would be so doable and gratifying.  We have rough moments, but 80% of our days are really lovely and sprinkled with heart-eye moments.  Bash always looks around for August when he wakes up in his crib, and, if big brother is in there, his eyes just light up.  When I'm holding him in a store or playground, he'll look at me with these beautiful, soft eyes and touch my cheek.  We just adore him.