A Fine Mess: 7 Months!!

Here we are again. I just can't believe how fast my baby is growing!

Age: 7 Months

Weight: 16 lbs 9 oz

Length: 25 inches at her 6 month appointment

Size: still in 6-9 month and 9 month clothes

Hair: brown, still with adorable side "wings." I have some natural red highlights in my hair and I *think* I'm starting to see some in her hair.

Eyes: brown. Many people have commented on her eyes and how big and bright they are. She has always been a very "aware" baby. Even the pediatrician commented on it.

Teeth: Still none in sight!

Sleeping:We are struggling with this. It seems like we'll make progress and then something will happen (illness, travel, etc) and we start all over. I am trying to soothe her without nursing unless it's been 5 or more hours since she's eaten. It's very difficult in the middle of the night when I'm exhausted and I know that I can nurse her and she will be back to sleep in 5 minutes. Standing over her offering the paci and patting her can sometimes take 15 minutes or so. Last weekend we were out of town and she ended up sleeping with me. This week she has been up every 3 hours. I'm not sure if the weekend caused this or not, but I hope it gets better. Until then, I remind myself what a gift I've been given and that I'm so lucky to have a baby to be up with all night :).

Eating: Still nursing for almost all of her nutrition. I am so lucky to have enough milk that I am able to pump enough for her while she is with her babysitter. She is hit or miss on solids. Some days she eats a lot, some days she's not interested. Her favorites are squash, pears with oatmeal, apples, and green beans. I have made all of her fruits and veggies just by buying whole ones and baking or roasting them. Oh and she LOVES puffs. She will open her mouth and stick out her tongue for them. Those don't exactly fill her up, so we've been trying to give her more table food because she wants to feed herself. Last night we gave her a bread stick and she "bit" off a hunk right away. My mom, grandma, and I gave her some crackers over the weekend and she liked those. I made homemade teething "biscuits" by rolling up a piece of bread and placing it in the microwave for a minute. It becomes hard and she is able to suck/chew on it for quite awhile. She has also been eating rice cakes and seems to like those. Tonight I am making chicken and noodles for dinner and I'm hoping she will like it. We've done some cottage cheese, but otherwise she hasn't had much dairy. So far no allergic reactions to anything!

Movement: She is rolling all over the place. I will put her in one spot and the next thing I know she is halfway across the room! She knows how to roll to what she wants. She is not showing signs of crawling yet. She is still a little wobbly when she sits on her own. She can do it for awhile, but I still like to put pillows around her because eventually she will topple over. She will grab for anything! I am amazed at what she can pick up. During a family gathering she dropped a piece of celery on the ground. My brother jokingly held her over it, not thinking she would actually pick it up off the ground. She did! Last night she picked a CD case up off of our desk.

Milestones: She had her first illness and fever. She had a virus/bad cold and her temp was up to 102 for several nights. We had lots of warm baths and snuggles. I stayed home with her the first day, but once she was back at the sitter she did well. Then 2 weeks later the same thing happened! I hope this cold is gone for good now. She celebrated her first Valentine's day, went on her first tour of Dayton, and is learning to drink water out of a sippy on her own. and went to Gatlinburg to visit her great aunt Char, great uncle Greg, and cousin Michael. We had a lot of fun just being together for a weekend. She did a great job on the car ride there. We found a town called Sadieville in Kentucky! We stopped and changed her poopy diaper there :). She also starting saying dadadada and babababa. She is very into her voice and will squeal and babble over and over. I think she just likes hearing herself. She has also learned to "kiss." Basically she will open her mouth and stick out her tongue when you kiss her. I've caught her and Shorty kissing more often than I'd like to admit.

Favorite Toys/Activities: She still loves her beauty salon. My mom got a pop-up toy at the Goodwill and she likes that a lot too. She lights up for daddy and just loves looking around out in public. We were at Target earlier and she as happy and babbling until we got in the fitting room. She fussed until we came back out because she didn't have anything to look at except boring old Mommy! She loves anything with a tag. She had "Taggies" toys, but she will find the tag on anything and chew on it. She likes her exersaucer. One of the toys on top is loose, and if she pulls it enough it will come off. She knows exactly which toy it is and will go directly for that one.

Dislikes: She doesn't like waiting for food. I need to do my finger foods because she has started making this grunting sound in between bites if I don't feed her fast enough. We've been doing the sign for more to hopefully help with that. She also doesn't like being in her car seat for extended periods of time (who would?), and she doesn't like taking naps in her crib. She is very easy to put down at night, but for some reason during the day she thinks it's party time in her crib. She will go from almost asleep to wide awake quickly.

Words & Sounds: I mentioned the dadada and bababa above. It's amazing how things change so quickly. She will make a sound for a couple of days and then move on to something else. For awhile it was this gasping noise that made it sound like she was scared. It was very dramatic. Then it was squealing. Now it's mostly dada and baba. I love hearing her sweet voice.