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!

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!

Texas Trip

This one's not from Texas, but doesn't Evie look cute?! 

 With Aunt Manda and Aunt Andrea at Manda's shower.

 Meeting Uncle Drew

 With Great Grandma

 Great Aunt Shelli and cousin Liana

 Helping Aunt Manda open gifts

 All the girls

 Just hanging out

 More fun pooltime with Edie

 Fun in the pool with Mom and Aunt Lauren

 Cuddle time with Uncle Mark

We had a great time in Texas, and can't wait to go back next month!

Evie's First Pooltime!

All ready!

 Not sure about these sunglasses, Dad.

 Hey!  Those are mine!  Give 'em back!

 About to take her first dip.

 Hmmm, not sure what to think.

 Whoa!  This is one big bathtub!

Evie had a great time on her first pool visit!  It looks like we have a little fish on our hands.

6 Month Pics

Finally!  Here are a few pictures of Evie at 6 months.  The vibrant background is provided by a quilt that Evie's Aunt Lauren made for her.  Isn't it precious?!  And it looks just perfect in her room. 

Evie at 6 Months

*Disclaimer - Blogger is not letting me upload photos right now.  I'll post them in a separate post when I can get them to go through.  For posterity's sake, though, here is Evie's 6 month report.

My oh my!  How time has flown yet again!  I cannot believe that our precious little girl is now 6 months old!  We continue to be blessed in so many ways by Evie.  I absolutely adore her and feel so fortunate to be able to hang out with her all day every day.  I feel like she makes my job so easy, yet I do feel rewarded when people comment about how happy and content she seems and how "tuned-in" she is to the world.  Evie is definitely a joyful baby, and is having so much fun discovering the world around her as well as all of the cool things that she can do in it.  Here's an update on Evie at 6 months.  We are so proud of her!

First, the stats:
Length:  25.59 in. (59%)
Weight:  15.76 lbs. (59%)
Hed Circumference:  69%

Eating - Evie nurses 5 times a day right now - (4 or 5 am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm, and 7pm before bed).  She is increasingly streching that morning feeding closer to her waking time so I think that soon she will drop it and go down to 4 feedings, which her pediatrician says is fine.  She is also really enjoying solid foods.  We do a combination of homemade and jarred foods.  Right now she has tried oatmeal, rice cereal, bananas, avocados, sweet peas, squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes, pears, apples, and peaches.  We are continuing to add to her repertoire every 4-7 days.  She has been eating 1-2 meals a day depending on her mood and schedule, but her pediatrician recommends giving her 3 meals a day now - with snacks too!  She has also started taking water froma sippy cup, but has yet to really master it.

Sleeping - Evie usually sleeps from around 7pm to between 6 and 7am, waking once in the early morning to eat.  She takes 2-3 catnaps each day, ranging form 20-40 minutes each.  I have tried everything, including letting her cry for 1 hour/nap to get her to nap longer, but she won't do it!  Her pediatrician says that this is fine and that she's really getting the 12 hours she needs at nighttime.  Ugh.  I think this means that Evie will be getting to do a little more "independent play" in her exersaucer and pack 'n' play because Mommy HAS to start getting more housework done, and naptime is just not cutting it!  At any rate, Evie seems happy all day and does not show signs of being overtired so I guess we'll just run with this for now.
. 
Playtime - Evie is doing a great job of advancing physically.  Here's a rundown of her achievements:

• spends lots of time babbling using ba, ma, da, ka, ga, etc.  She is also really excited about squealing lately.
• Still loves to stand, and can now do it while she holds onto something stable.  She just doesn't know yet that she has to keep holding on!
• Sits very well on her own, and pretty much only falls when she wants to get down on her tummy.
• She loves to play with little blocks and cups and can use her pincer grasp with them as well as pass them back and forth between hands.
• Sticks everything in her mouth!  She can almost always replace her pacifier when it falls out, even if it takes a few tried.
• She doesn't really mind tummy time now.  She's figuring out how to get her knees up underneath her to crawl, but isn't quite there yet.  She does scoot around sideways and in circles to get to toys that she wants.  She also pretty much sleeps on her stomach now.  We've tried turning her, but she always ends up back on her tummy.  We still always put her to sleep on her back, though.
• Sometimes in the car, I swear she tries to sing along to the music with me.  I am a HUGE car singer, and often when I'm singing really loudly she'll start squealing and babbling loudly too.  Maybe this is coincidence, though? 
• Evie loves Finlay.  There is no other person or thing on this earth that makes her as happy as he does.  She laughs at him and makes these big grunting happy sounds when he comes into her view.  She is learning how to pet him gently, quite a task since previously she thought that petting = hair pulling.

Happy Birthday Nick!

Nick turned 29 on May 26th!  He's such an old man.  I really love giving him a hard time for the whole 5 1/2 months he is a "year" older than I.  I made him dark chocolate cupcakes with dark chocolate icing from scratch to take to his office on the big day!  I also made little "N's" out of white chocolate and sprinkles to put on top so that everyone would know they were for HIS birthday since I knew he wouldn't actually tell anyone what they were for.

 Unfortunately, one of the guys he works with thought that they were "Z's."   What?  For Zorro?  Anyway, they were NOT sweet enough for my taste, but were exactly what Nick wanted so I guess I'm happy.