7 months

azalea, you are seven whole months today! time flies when we're having fun :) you are really starting to show your personality and i'm thinking you are going to be a strong-willed little girl. i wonder if this is any indication of what your teenage years will be like? haha. either way, we are enjoying you so much! it's so fun to watch you grow, develop, and learn new things everyday. 

- you are definitely still a peanut. i'm going to guess you weigh close to 16 lbs. i always think you weigh more than you do, so i'm trying to be realistic! you don't go back to the doctor until 9 months.

- you still eat 6 ounces of breast milk or formula every 3 hours. you've started to really pay attention to your bottle before we give it to you. especially when it's time for sleep, you keep your eyes on the table by your rocker as we put you in your jammies. you don't let that bottle out of your sight! i don't know if i've mentioned it here before, but you've always been a big spitter upper....we won't be too sad when you grow out of that :) 

- your solid food intake has also increased this month. you eat solids twice a day (lunch and dinner) and we're planning to add breakfast soon. you've tried lots of fruits and veggies since last month. you love zucchini, squash, and sweet potatoes, but you aren't too crazy about carrots or green beans. you love bananas, but aren't too crazy about apples or pears. thankfully we can usually get you to eat at least a little of anything we give you. i'm looking forward to giving you small pieces of our food pretty soon! 

- you got your first 2 teeth this month, the bottom front ones. you handled them coming in pretty well. you were maybe a little fussier than normal, but sometimes it's hard to tell if that's why. you still love to suck your thumb when you are sleepy.

- you are very vocal, and sometimes it even sounds like you are singing. you like to scrunch up your face and breathe really fast when you are excited.

- the only change in your sleep pattern is that you go to bed very early now. we're talking 6:30 some nights! luckily you sleep through the night, so it's not a problem. you are just so worn out from daycare and usually can't cope with anything by that time of night, so off to bed you go! some nights you don't even want to be rocked, which makes me sad, but i feel lucky that you are so good at falling asleep on you own. we miss spending that extra time with you in the evenings. you do wake up in the night almost every night and talk to yourself for a bit before falling back to sleep on your own. we never go in your room unless you cry (which is almost never). 

- you still sleep as much as ever at daycare. your naps are more hit or miss at home. sometimes they are 30 mins, sometimes they are 2 hours. either way, i don't really mind. we like to take you out and do things and you usually stay pretty happy during the day. we aren't really big on baby schedules, so we just let you nap whenever you start to get cranky.

- for whatever reason you have no interest in sitting up by yourself. when we put you in a sitting position you usually cry or twist yourself around to get out of it. i'm not really sure why, but i'm trying not to worry about it. i think you are physically able to sit up, but you just don't want to. i'm sure it will happen with time. you do roll all over the place, thugh. we have to be careful when we put you on the floor because you can easily roll across the room. no crawling yet, but i wouldn't be surprised if you figure it out soon. 

- you are still wearing size 2 disposables at night, but you pee through them pretty often. probably because you sleep for so long. i need to look into some night time diapers and see if those make a difference. we're still going strong with cloth during the day!

- you are still wearing some 6 month clothes, but i've been adding a lot of 9 month things this week. i love that i get to switch out your wardrobe every couple months. i have an unhealthy obsession with going through all of your clothes and organizing them :) 

- speaking of clothes, you hate getting bundled up to go outside now that it's getting cold.  most days you wear a little fleece jacket, a hat, and mittens. you act like it's absolute torture when we put them on you. it doesn't help that we usually put you into your car seat right after that, which makes you even more mad. poor baby! but you are always happy as soon as we take you outside.

- we officially retired the playmat last week as you usually roll off of it and get stuck in the arches. instead we just have blankets and toys laid out on the floor. you are very into the tags on your toys these days. you still love the johnny jump up, but it's as high as it will go, so im thinking pretty soon you will outgrow it. our options are becoming limited for keeping you contained. oh boy! 

- you are starting to get more excited when i pick you up from daycare. you didn't used to  pay much attention to me, but now you smile and kick your legs and flap your arms. it makes me so happy since i think about you nonstop while i'm at work. you've started wrapping your arms and legs around me so tight when i hold you. i know you don't know what a hug is yet, but i pretend that's what you're doing :) jean and all the kids at daycare just adore you!

- we started putting you in the bath seat this month and you really seem to like it. you're still a little small to reach the toys floating in the tub, but you like to kick your legs and make a splash. you are also such a good sport about getting your hair washed. even when i accidentally get water all over your face, you never complain.

- this weekend and next week we get to celebrate your first halloween. you have lots of opportunities to wear your rooster costume and i can't wait!

finally a smile :)