Tuesday, July 26, 2011

7 Months

I know, I know.  I'm late with another monthly post!  Evie turned 7 months old on July 3.  Here's what she's been up to this month.

Eating: She is doing much better about eating 3 meals a day, although she is not the biggest fan of lunch.  She tried Yo-Baby yogurt this month, and loves it!  She now gets yogurt or yogurt and fruit for breakfast, a veggie and cereal for lunch, and a meat and fruit or veggie for dinner.  So far, the only meat she's tried is turkey.  I continue to make a lot of her food, but she does get jarred food as well.  This has been a good balance for us, and I hope to keep it up!  She still nurses the same - 4am, 7-8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 7pm before bed.  I know that she will give up that 4am feeding when she's ready so I am trying to wait patiently for it to happen!

Sleeping:  Evie sleeps from 7pm-7 or 8am, waking once to eat.  Naps are still a struggle, although she is napping more on schedule than she was.  She sleeps for about 30 minutes about 1 hour after she wakes up in the morning, and then again for 30 minutes either right before or right after her noon nursing.  Sometimes she goes down again in the late afternoon, but that is very inconsistent.

Milestones: 

Evie started crawling on June 28th!  Now she is all over the place!  As soon as she could crawl, she was wanting to pull up on everything too.  Now she is working on pulling up and/or balancing with just one hand holding on and taking steps holding my hands.  This child is determined to be as mobile as possible as quickly as possible!  Our babyproofing efforts have kicked into high gear, and our days are now much more entertaining.  The only problem so far is that she seems to prefer Finlay's toys to her own.  If she sees one she motors across the room as fast as she can to get it!  Poor Finlay is a good sport about it, and of course I don't let her play with them.  So far she is just as happy with my quick substitutions - thank goodness!

In that same vein, we dropped Evie's crib mattress on June 29th, and now she is always standing up in her crib when I go in to get her in the morning or after naps.  This makes it easier on my back to get her out! 

Since Evie is now mobile, I have ordered a big stationary playyard for her.  I can move it from room to room, but it is big enough for her to really move and play in, and it is sturdy enough that she can pull up on it.  I have just set it up, and I am excited to *hopefully* get more housework done during the day utilizing this new tool.

Evie still babbles lots!  The only word she seems to say intentionally is mama.  Sweet, right?  Well, kind of.  She only uses it when she is really sad.  Like when she wakes up from sleeping and is upset, she will yell out "Maaama!" for me to come get her.  Or when she falls down or bangs into something while cruising around, "Maaama!"  So I guess this means I am associated with comfort - great!  But it also means I only hear her say my name when she is sad - not so great.

No teeth yet!  I can feel the bottom ones pushing up through her gums, but she doesn't seem to be bothered by it like she was a few months ago.

Back to eating, she is able to self-feed a little bit.  She can definitely get her spoon to her mouth with 100% success.  I have also been breaking up Puffs for her during mealtime, and about 25% of the time those make it into her mouth.  She has a great pincer grasp, and if I left them whole she'd do better, but the choking risk freaks me out.

Evie and I took My Smart Hands baby signing classes in June.  Her instructor said that babies usually can't start making signs themselves until 9 or 10 months so of course Evie is not doing that yet, but she does seem to understand a few of my signs, and gets happy when I guess correctly about what she wants.  For example, if she is getting ready to nurse, I will make the sign for milk, and her face will light up in a big smile.  Also, when she is done eating a solids meal, she is OVER IT.  If she starts to fuss then, and I make the sign for "all done" she will immediately stop fussing and smile at me!  We are mainly working on food and drink signs right now, like eat, more, drink, water, milk, yogurt, cereal, vegetables, fruit, meat, and finished.  I feel like these are the most important for her to be able to communicate.  Once she starts to recognize and/or use more of these we'll start working on other like "change me," playing signs, etc.

This month Evie moved up to size 3 diapers, and is fitting into her 6-9 month clothes very well. 

That's it for the 7 month report!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Summer Fun!

 Evie and Dad having fun in her baby pool
 Fun with pool toys


Lounging in front of the new landscaping
 
 Just chillin' on the blanket with her bff, Finlay
 Oooh, that sunshine feels nice!  (No worries - it was after 6pm so no sunburn risk here).
About to crawl away!  Evie is now crawling up a storm.  We are having fun babyproofing the house!