You are seven months old! I guess it's time for me to start planning your first birthday party now! It'll be here before we know it . . . it seems like just yesterday we were bringing you home from the hospital. It also seems like you've been with us forever, a part of us forever. And, I guess, in a way, you have been.
So this month marked your third round of antibiotics for, what I believe, was the same ear infection that began just before Christmas. But I took you to the doctor again this past Monday, and Dr. K said your ears look perfect. I am so thankful to have that behind us, so thankful for a healthy baby girl. You weigh 14 lbs 7 oz. You are 25 1/8 inches long. You are in the 10th percentile for weight and almost 25th percentile for height. You have a big head though! Your head measures in the 75th percentile! At your last check-up, the nurse even measured your head again because she thought she'd made a mistake when she saw the stats for your weight and height. But I assured her it wasn't a mistake. Your brother and sister always had big heads, too!
You sometimes wear a size 2 diaper and sometimes a size 3. I know that doesn't make any sense. It just seems like the size 2 is a bit too small, but the size 3 is too big. So it just depends on the day, I guess. You can still wear some 6 month outfits but are moving on up into 9 month outfits.
You absolutely LOVE to play with your toys. You needs something in your hands at all times. You are so intrigued by bright colors and sounds and buttons. You also love really soft toys like your babies and your blanket. We got you this activity cube for Christmas, and you just love it! You will sit for long periods of time playing with it. When I stack the blocks on top, you pull them down. When I put a block in the center, you pull it out.
Your biggest accomplishment this month was learning to sit up all by yourself! I still put the boppy pillow behind you most times, but, for the most part you sit up like a big girl all by yourself. Everyone also comments on how straight you sit up and your posture. You have tried to pull up on your activity cube several times. But you aren't crawling or nearly crawling or showing an interest in going anywhere yet. This picture makes me laugh. I don't know if it's the flower in your hair or that ridiculous looking paci in your mouth!
And here you are, cute little naked baby!
Besides sitting up, another big accomplishment this month is saying, "Da da." Or da da da da da! You LOVE to talk! You talk all the time. You also moan, "Mmmmmm," when you want my attention or when you are sleepy. Here you are sweet, sleeping beauty. You usually sleep on your right side and then end up on your back later in the night. You are not a stomach sleeper unless Daddy is holding you. You take a good morning nap. You fight your afternoon nap like crazy, but we're working on something new with that. By 8:00 you're really tired and ready to go to bed so you are usually asleep and down for the night by 8:30 or so. Since you had that ear infection, you woke up A LOT during the night, and I feared you'd forgotten how to "sleep through the night," but you've been back to your regular schedule for almost two weeks now. You wake up at 4:00am to nurse and then you go right back to sleep until 7:00. I've been working hard to get you to drop that 4:00am feeding, but you just won't do it. Two nights ago you actually slept until 6:00, and it was so. nice! So, between you and me, why don't you try that again?! And I know your hair has a reddish tint in this picture, but it isn't that way at all. Hannah Kate is my strawberry blond. Your hair is the color of Mason's. It also looks like you're going to have straight hair. Mason and Hannah Kate both have a lot of wave in their hair, but yours (or what there is of it!) is growing straight out and not curling a bit. So we'll see.
You LOVE to eat! Love it! Your favorite veggie is butternut squash. You also like sweet potatoes. You actually like all your veggies except green peas! It's hard to say what your favorite fruit is. You love apples, pears and also blueberries. Your meal times line up with ours now for breakfast, lunch and supper. You are still teething, but I still don't see anything yet. I just love that gummy, toothless grin anyway! You also nurse at 4:00am and 8:00pm. I still can not believe we are still doing this nursing business! My goal from the very beginning was just one day at a time. I wanted to make it to six months but didn't think I could do it. Of course, you're such a little stinker that you won't take a bottle! I say that . . . it took over a month of trying and FIVE different kinds of bottles. But I finally found one you'd take. Only you won't take it from me! Abbie was the very first person you took a bottle from. And you'll take it from your MawMaw, but that's it!
Another favorite memory from this month was your baby dedication.
In case I haven't mentioned it lately, you light up our world! All of us! Mason and Hannah Kate are smitten with you and you with them. I absolutely love watching the three of you play together, watching the two biggies take care of you. You are one blessed little girl. And we are so blessed to have you!
I love you!
Mama