Seven months old

Wow, you are seven months old! Being six months old was a very busy time for you! You started infant swim classes; you went to the beach; you spent time with your great-grandparents; you started eating solids; you began babbling; you went to the park to feed the ducks often; and you pooped in the tub with Daddy for the first time! We have enjoyed you so much–you have such a sweet disposition and hardly ever cry and you love to laugh.

Your first food besides milk was banana when you were about six months, 1 week old, mashed up and fed to you on mommy’s finger. You were confused by it and didn’t eat very much and made silly faces and a big mess. Now, a few weeks later, you know all about how to open your mouth for the food (when you are feeding yourself or when a spoon is coming) and how to keep it in your mouth and swallow it. When I am feeding you and you want more, you reach out to grab the spoon!

After banana, in order, you have tried:

Applesauce—at first eh, later pretty good
Sweet potato wedges—loved them (a fave every time we serve it)
Avocado—in the mesh feeder, and on a spoon loved it
Mashed peas—icky unless warmed
Pear in the mesh feeder—yummy
Carrots—very, very good, a favorite!
Whole apple—you loved to suck on it!
Yogurt–tasty

Your first real babble that we heard was, of course, directed to your good friend Pudding: you said MM-bah (on 2/25/07). You also say blah blah blah over and over again, and aye aye aye! You can be really talkative! You’ll stick some fingers in your mouth (still no teeth, but we can see them under the gums!) and chat away to yourself. In the mornings, you also talk to yourself for several minutes before you want to be picked up and fed.

Water has been a big feature of this month, what with the tub, the pool, and the beach. You just love to kick and splash! In the tub you grab at your toys and the faucet, and could spend all day in there, I bet. You also have enjoyed your swim lessons (sometimes more than others since it’s during your morning naptime and you can be a little sensitive). There we chase after toys and sing songs and swim in a circle; you are really starting to enjoy it. The toysies keep moving in the water and are fun to reach for.

Our trip to the beach with Grandmama and Daddy was very enjoyable. Although the ocean was too cold for swimming (though of course your Daddy swum, the Swede), you thought it was neat to put your toes in, and you especially enjoyed playing in the sand (yum!). You kept raking the sand with your fingers, and then examining your hands carefully visually and a couple of times with your mouth. You also enjoyed the hammock at the beach, and the sunshine and fresh air there, and all the attention from family!

It’s been a few weeks at least since the last time you took a pacifier. You really prefer your thumb. Sometimes you will switch between both thumbs rapidly; it looks like you are deciding which one is the tastiest! Your thumb really helps you to sleep; it is so adorable to see you slumbering away with your thumb firmly in your mouth.

It really was a busy month; we also went to a wildlife farm this month where you petted a deer, a donkey, a bunny, and a goat! You really seem to adore animals and the outdoors. You have such a good attention span for observing animals, and a trip outside captivates you every time.

And you’re such a good sitter now that we can put sit you in a semi-circle of toys and you can entertain yourself. Your current favorites are a teeny tiny four-note piano and the cloth cube you’ve adored for months (right now you think the tag on it is fascinating). But what you’d really like to play with is whatever Mommy and Daddy are touching—a book, a fork, a telephone. What a grabby little baby! And you think toys are meant for two things: banging up and down, and exploring with your mouth.

You are so much fun, baby girl. We are enjoying every day with you and watching you grow up (it’s happening much too fast!) You are such a sweet, smart, strong, pretty, curious little bunny, and we love you!

From your adoring
Mother