Seven Months Old Today!

Yep, little Lila is 7 months old! How is that possible? I'm sad that she's growing up but so excited to watch her grow and learn new things. This is a great age but I know it's fleeting. The other night she woke up about an hour and half after her bedtime (I think it was gas)... and I rocked her and sang to her and she fell back asleep with her little arms wrapped around my neck. I lost it! I sat there and cried! I love this little girl so much!!!

No doctors appointments this month, so no weigh in. I think she is 17.5 lbs or so. She hasn't gained as much as she normally does in a month... I might call and ask the pediatrician about that. She seems fine, but I usually expect a gain of at least a lb per month.

Sizes: Same sizes as last month. 6-9 months in mostly everything, some 12 month pants and sleepers. Size 3 diapers.

Eating: Lila usually eats 4 times a day, sometimes 5. I’m trying to slowly wean off of pumping and eventually nursing all together. Right now: I nurse her if she’s hungry overnight (hasn't happened in a few weeks), in the morning around 7:15, then she has one pumped bottle and one formula bottle at daycare, nurses after daycare and then a bedtime bottle around 7. Sometimes the last two feedings are right after another. I feed her and then Neil tops her off with the bottle. I’m down to pumping once a day at lunchtime - often while I’m eating! I'm thinking we are going to be done nursing soon as my supply is dwindling and I'm not doing much to help it. I feel SO PROUD to have nursed her for 7 months and pumped for 3. Well beyond what I thought I could do, especially with our rocky start. I'm sad to stop, but I think it's for the best!

Solids are a challenge. Lila does NOT like baby food. She doesn't like baby spoons. She doesn't really like her high chair either! I've tried different purees but she's not into it AT ALL.

Purees we've tried: Sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, pears, oatmeal/fruit mix (spit up a lot the day after so I stopped), peas with brown rice, rice cereal. Verdict - EH. Not interested! Some days she does better than others. She does the best with applesauce, but some days she will not eat at all. The girls at daycare can’t get her to eat purees either, so it’s not just me! I’m trying not to get bent out of shape about it.

On the other hand, she loves feeding herself and LOVES big people food. She still loves Baby mum mums. And this month has started with puffs and yogurt melts. She does a good job with the pincer grasp (finger and thumb) but doesn’t always get the food into her mouth successfully.

Big people foods we tried this month (mostly just a bite or two) - sweet potato fries, broccoli cheddar soup, mashed potato, shredded cheese, pieces of cracker, a bite of ice cream (!) raspberry and strawberry yogurt. LOVED!

I would go straight to table foods but she gagged and threw up a piece of sweet potato and now I’m scared to give her big pieces of food ala Baby Led Weaning. I’m trying to be patient with her and hopefully milk/formula is all she needs right now.

Sleeping: She’s dropped 3rd nap for the most part and is now taking a morning and afternoon nap with a much earlier bedtime around 7-7:30. We still have the occasional off day (usually on the weekends) where she naps around 5 and then goes to bed later at like 8 or 8:30. That works for us because then we can go out for dinner or shopping with her if we want/need to. She has been sleeping through the night for a week and a half now. Loving our newfound evening free time but I do miss playing with her and spending time in the evenings. We are also doing much better at letting her fall asleep on her own and trying to give her a few minutes if we hear her on the monitor in the middle of the night. She usually goes back to sleep after fussing for a minute or so.

Talking: She babbles all the time and is saying lots of different syllables. Da-da is still her favorite word. She also is experimenting with pitch and volume! She is so loud sometimes!! Her favorite thing is screaming DA-DA!! She is starting to say ma-ma, ba-ba, ga-ga, etc...

Motion: Still just army crawling but does get up on her hands and knees and rocks forward. It’s only a matter of time before she is truly crawling. Every time I put her on the floor she does a little bit better!

Developmental milestones:

- Waves hi and bye, but waves towards herself most of the time (this morning she was waving at me when I went to get her out of her crib)
- Loves to bang things together or uses her toys to bang table tops or whatever like a drum
- Pincer grasp, can pick up small things like puffs
- Separation anxiety has already started! She freaks when there are a lot of people around and tends to cry if a man she hasnt seen in a while holds her. She just wants mommy or daddy but eventually warms up
- Starting to clap (albeit very uncoordinated-ly)
- Finally “razzing”, she never did this until month 6
- Can drink out of a straw!!
- More sophisticated hand movements and play
- Got from a crawling position to sitting once that I saw

Nicknames:

We mostly just call her Lila, but the big nickname for her is Lila Bean! Like a lima bean :) So she gets called Bean a lot. Or we call her smiley, sleepy gus, grumpy gus... etc depending on her mood! We of course call her sweetie, sweetheart, baby girl, etc.. all the normal stuff.

Funnies, Firsts and Memories:

First Reds game! She loved it.

Started consistently "sleeping through the night" (Hallelujah!)

First time at the park. We put her in the baby swing and she laughed the entire time!!!!

Also, it was the first time someone called her a "he". She was wearing blue.. but it was a dress! Come on people!

One of my favorite memories this month wasn't really of Lila, but of Neil. We were talking before bed one night and laughing about something Lila did, and he just said (with emphasis) "I just LOVE her!" It was cute.

Lila loves crawling through/under things - last night she crawled completely under the dining room table and through two chairs. She's also crawled in between her pack and play and a chair squeezing through a tiny path. I love how adventurous she is!

Her favorite things to crawl towards are of course the forbidden things for babies - cords, the DVR, outlets, etc.. I try to baby proof as much as possible, but usually just pick her up and redirect her to a toy or something safe. Well earlier this month I was in the kitchen and could see her playing and then I looked away and then all I could see was little feet... I got closer and she was trying to grab the laptop cord but was looking over her shoulder to see if I was watching!!! We are gonna be in trouble!

Words to describe her: Funny, curious, HAPPY, impatient, flirt, physical, hyper

Future Predictions:

Lila is showing us so much personality lately, I thought it'd be fun to make some predictions about her development and what she might like in the future.

Lila at 1: I think she'll definitely be walking and already showing toddler behavior! Hopefully she's eating food and drinking from a cup by then. I also hope she has enough hair to make a ponytail on the top of her head, or at least something I can brush!

Lila at 5: I hope Lila at 5 will be a big sister! I think she will be very active whether its dance, t-ball or soccer. She is a very physical/energetic baby (always moving/kicking, very strong, and ahead of the curve developmentally) so I hope we can channel the energy into something organized!

Lila at 15: Oh lordy, I can't even think that far ahead! I hope she still lets mom and dad hug her, isn't too embarrassed by me and has a good group of friends. I have no clue who she'll be, but I can't wait to see!