You are seven months old now, and you are bursting at the seams with personality. You'll take any opportunity to smile at someone, a trait that I hope you always keep. You make us smile over and over (and over) again...day after day (after day). Thank you for this gift that you continue to give us so generously!
You have a desire to see, touch, and hold everything, which keeps us on our toes. Your monthly photo shoot is becoming more of a challenge, as you are determined to investigate all objects around you!
And in about 30 seconds, here's where you end up! You make us laugh though, and we love to watch you learn and explore.
You have become somewhat mobile, as you slide around our hardwood floors — so far you mainly go backwards. Your teachers say that you'll travel backwards from one side of the classroom to the other! You really don't care for lying on your back these days — you want to be upright, monitoring the action.
We just adore you, little one, and we think you like us pretty well too! Often times we'll both wake you up before school, and you're so happy to see us! You'll look at one of us, smile, and then look at the other, smile, and start all over again. It's as if you know how much we love you. We do the same routine almost every morning, but we never grow tired of seeing you smile, hearing your sweet sounds, or receiving your hugs.
Sleeping: You are still maintaining about a 12-hour night (approx. 7pm - 7am). You typically nap twice a day, sometimes three times when you're at daycare. Lately at daycare, you've been enjoying a snooze late in the day, around the time when we pick you up. On the weekends, your naps have improved to at least an hour for the most part. Sometimes you'll surprise us and sleep for 2-3 hours at a stretch! We interpret this as you needing extra sleep, and it hasn't affected your nighttime sleeping thus far.
You mostly sleep on your tummy now. For naps, you've been sleeping on your tummy for nearly the whole month. And just recently we started putting you down on your belly at night too because otherwise you were waking up frustrated as you tried to roll in your crib. We felt better knowing you were already comfortable on your tummy than having you end up pressed against the rails of your crib from rolling over mid-sleep.
Eating: You love food! While you still have several bottles throughout the day (5-6; about 28 oz.), I think you're becoming less interested in them and would prefer to eat instead.
You have three meals a day now. New foods that you've tried this month include yogurt, pastina, ricotta, berry purees, and some fruit/veggie combos. We also started giving you quick-to-dissolve finger foods like puffs and yogurt melts — you love eating these and will sit in your highchair for a while trying to pick them up and eat them. Your ability to pick up these small treats has greatly improved, and you're pretty quick now!
Stats: You had your 6-month appointment early this month, and you were 16 lb. 4 oz. and 26 1/2" tall. We are using up the last of the size 2 diapers at home, and you are wearing size 3 at daycare.
Most of your 3-6 month clothes are too small at this point — even if they fit, the sleeves are often too short. You wear mostly 6 months and 6-9 months (or 6-12 months for Baby Gap). We just bought you a larger sleep sack (medium) because your old one was so short that you couldn't freely move your legs inside. Now you have lots of room to kick and roll over.
Milestones/Firsts: You became mobile for the first time, as you've been sliding around backwards. You sit by yourself now without any support. And you also figured out how to transition from sitting to being on your belly. You've grown very much in agility and mobility!
You had your first Valentine's Day, and Grandma Kathy sent you an adorable outfit!You had your first finger foods this month (see Eating).
You've started to babble and say new consonants, and we love hearing you "talk"! We can hear sounds that resemble "hi", "mom", "dad", and "ba", so we can't wait until you can say the words more clearly! It is very noticeable, however, that you are saying distinctly new sounds.
Sadly, you also attended your first funeral for your Great Grandpa (your happy spirit was much appreciated during such a sad time, and I think you brought a lot of smiles to people who otherwise would not have felt like smiling). We were so happy that you had the chance to meet him when you were just two weeks old.
You went to your first kids party for your cousin Joey's 2nd birthday. You loved watching all of the kids run around, and I think you wished that you could run with them! Next year I'm sure you will be a bigger part of the action. You seem to feel much more comfortable in larger crowds, so you're enjoying gatherings like this much more than you used to.
Likes/Dislikes: You like so much right now. You love waking up and seeing us in your room. You love listening to your Daddy and watching his every move. And even when he leaves the room, you watch the hallway/doorway until he comes back. You really seem to enjoy daycare, and you love your teachers! You play very well with several other babies, and your teacher even said that she'll have you do "tummy time" with one of the younger babies who has a hard time with it — she says that you smile so much that you cheer him up when he gets fussy! I love hearing stories like that about you, sweet girl!
You love to play! You've suddenly become very interested in toys, including ones with buttons, lights, and sounds. Most things go straight to your mouth too for a taste. You spend a lot of time playing on the floor, especially now that you're stable sitting on your own.
You also love a ladybug "exer-saucer"that was handed down from your cousin Joey. You have a lot of fun and love being able to stand! When you push the button that plays music, you always look at Daddy or me to see if we're doing a silly dance to the music (and we usually are!).
You and Daddy often spend a couple hours together on Saturday mornings together, and from the looks of the photos that he takes during that time, you love that special time!
You like to read and look at books, although often times you end up wanting to chew the pages more than turn them. So the stories sometimes go at a rather slow pace, but you enjoy them nonetheless!
You love to stand! Even when you get a little fussy, we stand you up and you instantly smile. I think you love the view from a standing position, and you like to be upright. We practice walking with you by holding your hands and moving across the floor. You love to pick up each foot to take steps. You're very strong and steady!
As far as dislikes go, you seem to have an aversion to sleeves. Even for just those couple of minutes, you love to make sounds of protest, just so we know that you aren't enjoying yourself. You love watching people and will smile at them as long as they keep a reasonable distance. Sometimes strangers like to put their faces close to yours, and you don't like this (I wouldn't either!). You're not a fan of laying flat on your back anymore unless Daddy or me is sitting right next to you and playing with you. You're showing more signs of separation anxiety than you used to; sometimes if I leave the room or am out of sight, you will cry out. Or some nights when I arrive at daycare to get you, you don't want me to put you down once you know I'm there. And I'm so happy to after a long day of work!
Little one, you are so much joy in such a little package. I hope you're always this happy and joyful, as this world could use a few more people like you. We just adore you, Kaitlyn!
