Seven months old

Ian is 7 months old now. I am completely shocked--I have no idea how this is happening so fast.
He's a champion "talker" now. Babbles constantly. While he's babbling, we can babble back, and he'll talk back to us. It actually keeps him entertained for a little while (when he's in a good mood). He says "da" pretty regularly, but not "da-da". "Ma" comes out once in awhile, too, but not nearly as often as "da" (figures). When we say "ma-ma" and "da-da" to him, he just smiles. He doesn't try to repeat it.
He's also learned a new "fun" sound--he likes to pretend he's pooping!! He was doing a really serious job on a diaper the other day, and Hazen and I couldn't stop laughing. Wouldn't you know he'd figure out "Hmm, they think this is funny" and now he's always grunting and making faces. He'll even do it occassionally while he's cranky. At first I was worried he was constipated, but I'm pretty sure that's not the issue. He's still filling his pants a few times a day; he just seems to think this is a fun sound. He's also a really good shrieker now, also something that has just gotten regular in the last couple of days. There were times I heard a baby squeal and didn't know it was mine! Hazen was the one pushing him in the stroller, so I had no idea. He's getting so vocal!
His hair is finally growing back, thank goodness. He was as bald as bald can be for awhile there. I think we might even have to pull out the baby brush sometime soon (definitely not yet though). We still have no idea what color his hair will be. Both Hazen and his brother Joe have a million hair colors, so I'm thinking Ian will be the same. He has red eyebrows, super dark eyelashes, white blonde hair in some spots and light brown in others, with a couple little streaks of reddish blonde. I don't know. I thought maybe I'd be able to tell once his hair started to come back, but I still have no idea.
I'm a little worried I might have a crawler in the next couple of weeks. He tries so hard, he just can't figure it out. He loves to sit up and throw his toys. But then he'll decide he wants the toy that he just chucked. So, from the sitting up position, he will "walk" his hands out in front of him as far as he can until he either reaches the toy or falls over. He'll get himself with his tummy flat on the ground, but still have his bottom half sitting on the floor. He's also gotten up on his feet and hands a couple of times, but he falls over immediately after. He still has no idea what to do with his legs. Once he gets on his stomach, he just lies and kicks until he gets frustrated, and then he cries. I kind of think he won't be a conventional crawler. I think he'll do something other than the knees and hands method. He can wiggle himself to new places: we'll leave him in one spot, go somewhere else for a second, and find him somewhere else. Hazen thinks he rolls, but he's also able to use his hands and kind of scoot his butt where he wants to be. He never makes it too far, so I'm not too worried yet, but I know one day I'll leave him on his blankie in the living room and find him hanging out in the bathroom or something. We're not really ready for a mobile baby yet--we're not babyproofed, and his room isn't even done yet. Still boxes and no organization or furniture (other than the crib). I need to get on it.
Sleep. Ugh. Still up every 1-2 hours, though he's been nicer lately and is pretty much just waking ever 2 hours. It's something. This morning he came into bed with me for a couple of hourse because he WOULD NOT SLEEP unless I was holding him for over an hour from 3:30 on. It's not really his fault--he's got a cold and a plugged up nose so I know he doesn't feel well, so that was probably a lot of it. I was too tired to deal with it and Hazen was getting ready for work so I just brought him in with me. He still didn't go to sleep until almost 5:30 and slept for (you guessed it) two hours. I'm crazy and still keep hoping every night that he'll learn to sleep.
He's getting fussy at me, so I need to get to him. I'll probably update some more when I can. Not a lot of free time between the kid, husband, and school.