7 Months Old

My happy 7 month old baby girl.  How can one baby be sooooo cute?

Goodness gracious, time is slipping away from me and my baby is growing up.  It does happen faster (in some ways) since she is the third child.  However, I'm also noticing that I'm slowing myself down more and stressed less since she is the third one.  Sometimes it's just still such a shocker to me that I have three kids?!  When did that happen?  Hearing myself tell other people is when it hits the most.  I guess saying it out loud makes it official.  Um, yeah she's 7 months old now...you'd think I would have accepted this by now right?  ;)

And goodness is this 7 month old a joy.  Nine times out of ten she is.  She's getting into a new phase which comes with good and bad.  Read on for the deets of both...


GOOD:

Her personality is just the cutest thing.  She's a happy baby and she loves to giggle.  Addison is still the one that can get her giggling the most.  Usually by them squawking at each other very loudly.  Not always the funnest sound to hear in the world but the giggles that follow it are adorable so I embrace it.  

John and I are betting she's a pretty feisty little thing.  I don't see her being as timid/shy as Addison was/is.  She is more like Jonas where she has bouts of shyness but is usually pretty social despite it.  

She jabbers a TON.  It's oh so adorable.  Part of it involves squealing and screaming, not in anger - just in a "this is how I communicate" type way.  It's fun to listen to.  Especially when she gets herself all riled up while she does it.  She has an adorable sounding voice.  One day I hope to be able to understand what those jibber jabbers mean.  I'm not too concerned since I'm still struggling to decipher Jonas'  jabbers and he's 2 1/2!  Communicating with your children can be a beautiful thing and cut out so many tantrums...on both people.  ;)

She has TEEFERS!!  Not just a TOOFER but TWO teeth=TEEFERS!  They are both on the bottom and she does well showing them off.  She was a bit fussy when they came in and of course I just got frustrated she was so whiney.  Horrible Mommy award goes to me as I soon learned it was because she was in pain!  Sorry Brooklyn! :(  We were pretty excited to see her first toofer come in.  None of us noticed until I was sitting in church and letting her gum on my finger and then she bit down and it hurt!  I was excited and pinned her down right then and there to find that new toofer.  Of course I had to tell/show John immediately.  Not the most appropriate church activity but it was a momentous occasion folks!  Within the following week that tooth got a buddy right next to it.  She has cute little chiclets - just like my other two babies did too.  

She's sitting up but not quite a professional at it by any means.  Hopefully she can figure it out soon because I can see she is growing very tired of laying down to play.  We've started propping her against the couch (on the floor) so if she does a backward flail then she has something to flail against.  She's not a fan of the bumbo chair so we don't use it often.  She will immediately arch backwards until she slides right out of it so it has since gone to storage.  

BAD:

It's hard to imagine anything "bad" coming from such a cute and adorable and squeezy little girly but sometimes it does.  Not super bad - just not easy.  Which is rare because she has spent 96% of her life being an easy baby.  

For starters, she is STILL not the least bit interested in eating baby food.  The little stinker clamps her jaws shut so for me to get food in there its like opening the jaws of life to cram it in.  Only to have her spit the majority of it right back out at me.  What's up with this girly?  Addison was eating by 4 months.  Jonas was eating MORE than enough at 6 months and this girl is not the least bit interested.  I've tried rice cereal, I've tried veggies, I've even sneaked in a few fruits thinking that she'd fall in love.  Nope, she's not having it.  And since she's my third child - I'm not having it either.  So, for now we embrace the bottle/formula as her main source of eating.  She's a pretty chunky little gal so I have no worries she isn't getting enough.  And strictly eating from the bottle is super easy/convenient for me so we are rolling with it.  

Her first taste of rice cereal.  She wasn't fond of it and we shelved all solid eating for the time being.  I don't have the time or the energy to wrestle her at every meal just yet.  Luckily, she's eating enough formula to make up for what she's lacking in solids.  ;)

We even tried juicing on some fruit.  She was a bit perplexed and didn't quite know what to think.

She's very fond of Mommy.  On any normal day I would LOVE it.  However, when it happens 24 hours a day and 7 days a week it gets a bit taxing.  Sometimes I'd like to just be able to hand her off and get something done.  She doesn't like it.  Not just with "strangers" but even Addison and John can't keep her happy when I leave the room.  If I do sit her down I get to do whatever I need to do while listening to an echoing cry the whole time.  I don't fare well being surrounded by cries from a mad baby.  It makes me stressed and grouchy and cranky and frustrated.  I know I should be the good Momma that just relishes in the fact that I'm the only one that can make her happy - but I'm not.  I just want some free time folks - that doesn't involve me listening to a baby cry while I get it.  However, I vividly remember this phase with the other two siblings so I know eventually it will get better/easier and she won't need to be in my arms all the time.  Here's to hoping!

Sleeping - For the most part she's a decent/good sleeper.  However, she's had her fair share of the yucky sickies and germs this past Winter season.  And with that stuffy nose and wheezy breathing comes sleepless nights.  I've been laying in the same room with her for a bit and if she does eventually fall asleep she'll wake many MANY times during the night.  So it's a lot of get up and give her the binky - rinse and repeat.  And if it's not that then she's doing a full on feet up in the air - flop them down to the bed - type body slam that is impossible for me to sleep through.  I can't wait until she gets feeling better and FINALLY returns to a normal sleep schedule.  I'm tired of being tired.

So, I think that covers this baby girl's 7 month update.  We just love her to pieces and can't help but smile when she looks at us and immediately starts cheesing and showing off those pearly whites.  Happy 7 Months Old Brooklyn!

Goooooo Buckeyes!