Jenni Marie Mommy To Be: September 2012

Sarah,
7 months baby girl! 7 months! I can't believe how fast time is flying by. I just want it to stop sometimes and revel in your small world for awhile. I love this time in your life, you are figuring out things left and right and are so happy when you add something new to the list of things you can do. In just the 4 days that I procrastinated writing this, so many new milestones have been reached. It seems the bigger you get the more joy you bring into our lives. But I have to keep writing these to remember the unique things your doing at this phase. So with that, here they are... I hope I never forget...

Your wiggling! Oh my goodness girl, you don't stop from the time you wake up until the time you fall asleep. You turn circles in our arms, literally. When playing on the floor you roll and scoot and try different theories you come up with to crawl. You're so stinking close, I have no doubt it will all click into place in the next couple days.
The love of solid foods you express. You are now eating two meals a day and we've been trying to get that up to three. I think the only thing you've flat out refused to eat has been Gerber peas. We always feed you Earth's Best organic baby food, but we were out one weekend and daddy went out and bought Gerber at the store (They don't sell Earth's best). Well the tears came fairly quickly along with a rash on your chest. Needless to say, we won't be feeding you those again. (Side note: you love the Earth's Best Peas). But you've loved every other new food you've tried. And yes, you still have absolutely no desire to feed yourself.
You love drinking water! Which is awesome! Talk about a healthy choice. You love drinking from your cup. If we're having dinner and you aren't, you are more than content to sip water until we're finished. And really you're more than happy to sip water anytime.
The daddy's girl you've become. To be honest, I'm a little jealous. You live and breath for your daddy. You want his attention if he's around and there may have been a time or two when I was not the one you wanted to comfort you... But I'm happy that you and daddy have such a strong bond (most of the time...)
Your cute baby signs! We're still only been doing the few that we introduced last month. But you now comprehend most of the signs and will sign back when you want milk and food (all the time!). I don't think you have the dexterity for diaper yet, but I have a feeling that is the next one on your list to start signing back.
The love you have for your routine. We moved last month and had a few rocky days of putting you on a new routine, but now you're so used to it that we actually have a hard time when we change it up.
On that note, you nap like a pro now. You take at least three good 1-2 hour naps a day. You're also trying to move your bedtime up, but I've been resisting that because I know it'll make you rise earlier. You've gotten pretty insistent so that may be in the cards shortly. You also love you're night time routine and know when you are tired that when we start it, you're close to sleep and become a lot more tolerant.
Questioning the concept of sharing. You haven't been around a lot of babies, but when you are and they play with your toys you get a little stressed out and need constant reassurance that it's okay for the other baby to play with them. You've never taken a toy away or flat out cried, but you have whimpered and looked at us with that "Are you seeing this? Are you not going to do something?" look. On that note, you do great in a nursery setting when you know the toys aren't yours. This only comes into play when it's your toy being played with.
Reaching for the people you want. Not only have you started reaching for people you want to hold you, but you will figure out a way to roll and scoot to someone you want attention from and then hug their leg, foot, arm,whatever you can reach for a cuddle.
Your love of cuddling. On the rare occasion you aren't wiggling, you want to stop and cuddle. You love resting your head on whoever's chest is holding you and cooing softly to them. You also give out baby kisses when your in this mood. It's so sweet.
Determination. You are absolutely determined to figure out how to crawl on your own. You absolutely do not want our help to figure it out. If we try, you get mad at us for interfering. I love this about you! It may take a little longer, but I know the sense of accomplishment you'll feel at the end!
You're definitely expressing your opinion more. You'll let us know when you like something or don't. We're running into this a lot with items that aren't toys that you are not allowed to play with. You don't like being turned down. That'll be fun in a couple years... haha just kidding... kinda...
I don't think you have a favorite toy or type of toy at the moment. You like all of the things you've liked before but vary what you want to play with from one playtime to the next. You do really enjoy your stacker and musical dog though (especially when Haley helps you play songs). Oh! and you've become pretty attached to a small pink bear at nap and nighttime. You don't sleep with it, but you want it when you're falling asleep.
Your cute baby booty! Yeah, that may seem a little weird, but I see it all day long during diaper changes. It seems the second you are layed down for a diaper change I'm staring at booty. I have to constantly flip you back over. Sometimes a toy helps, sometimes it doesn't. You're just on the move.
Your stiff arm. Seriously yo. You have gotten into the habit of pushing your arms and legs against us when we're holding you. You look like a sideways tee pee. It's fine most of the time, except when you push on our necks. We've been working to correct the next pushing. Ouch!
You have tremendous balance! You hardly ever topple, even when it looks like you will. You can catch yourself every time. You get so excited sometimes that your arms and legs go stiff, usually resulting in you balancing on your butt for a few seconds. It's quite impressive!
Spitting. Yes girly! You love to blow raspberry's, which is a nice way of saying you spit. I took you to the mall the other day where you sat in your stroller and spit the whole time. People kept stopping to say hi and how cute you are and you would look at them and spit. It was really quite funny! You also spit when you don't know what to do. If you're done being tickled, you start spitting. Don't want to eat anymore? Spit. I don't know how it became a catch all, but it did.
Bouncing and kicking are still a favorite, but you have been taking more interest in the motion of stepping and standing. You know how to stand, but I think seeing your cousin walking has led to an increase in walking motions.
Your double cowlicks! You've had them since birth, but now your hair is long enough that right at your crown, you have a tuft of hair that swirls straight into each other and sticks up. It's so cute!

Okay, now because it's a few days into 7 month's I'm going to separate these next few, because these have been in the last couple of days and maybe should be on next months... but I really can't wait that long!

You have two teethy's!!!! We first noticed them on Friday September 7th, but there is a good chance they broke through on the 6th. (I didn't check on the 6th) But you had a rough night Wednesday night. You tossed and turned and cried out in your sleep a couple of times. Drove your sister crazy! But anyway, you have two little teeth on the bottom. You don't want anyone to see them, but they're there.
You've said your first official word! Sure you've been saying "mimi" and "adada" at times, but Wednesday you very clearly said "Mom ma". I heard it and Haley heard it. Then you repeated it several times for daddy. Yay! Maybe mommy has a shot at rivaling daddy for favorite! I mean... it's not a competition... You don't have a favorite... Um... ...
Rocking. You can get on your hands and knees and rock, but you haven't officially crawled. You also rock when you're sitting.

Honey, I love you so much! I am so blessed that you've come into my life. I can't imagine life being any different. I'm going to borrow a line from one of your favorite books right now (Snuggle Puppy) "I love what you are and I love what you do"! I love being your mom. I love watching you grow and learn. I love your sweet nature and unique personality. I just LOVE you kiddo!
Love forever and ever,
Mommy