Castlegar and Cousins

We went to visit Erin, Kif and Gray in Castlegar over the weekend. It was a great time and the cousins loved hanging out again. Here are the pictures to prove it.

Good times!

7 Months Old!

Esme another month has passed since the last post and you have changed so much in just a few short weeks.

You are getting better and better at naps but aren't needing as much time asleep in the day. Usually you take a short nap about an hour after you wake up (for 45 minutes). Then play for an hour and are ready for a longer nap (1 1/2 to 2 hours). Some time in the afternoon you will have another hour to two hour nap.  The time and length of this nap usually depends on how much we've been out and about and how many people you've been interacting with. The more we do, the longer you stay awake because you want to take it all in and can't stand to miss a second of the action. Especially if there are kids involved. Once we get home and things are quiet, you crash and need to sleep. You almost never fight a nap and will happily go down and sleep right away. 

Bedtime is a different story. Somehow you can tell the difference between bedtime and naptime. Maybe you just hate missing out on all the stuff you think happens while you sleep at night. You will almost always cry for a bit at bedtime. Usually we'll pick you up again and wait for you to chill out. The second time we put you down you are ok with going to sleep. No matter what we try we can't seem to skip this double take. Once you get to sleep for the night you sleep well and we are down to one feeding per night (most nights). And that still seems to be necessary because you will eat ravenously and then conk right out and sleep for the rest of the night. 

Eating solids is getting better. For months you have shown literally no interest in the baby cereals. We branched out and have now found a few foods that you are willing to swallow. Your favourites so far are Baby Mum-Mums and homemade applesauce. Applesauce is the first thing we have given  you that you will lean forward and open your mouth to ask for more of. We've started using the food-mill to give you bits and bobs of the food we eat for supper trying to avoid the 'picky-eater' thing. You are getting into more textures and flavours.

Kids are still a favourite of yours. You love people; being around people, watching people, talking to people. This is interesting to us, since your dad and I are both shy and have never been super socialites. You like the activity and interact with almost everyone you see. Babies especially! Just looking at babies, whether they are real or just pictures on the computer, will make you laugh and squeal and strain against us to get to that baby. 

In stores you will hone in on the other babies in the carts and will call out to them with a happy squeal. Most of them don't notice you and are focusing on something in their hands or cart. That doesn't hinder your enjoyment of them. You'll keep calling out until you see the next exciting thing or person.

You are now able to sit. We stay close because you will suddenly fling yourself back and you don't always transition well from sitting to crawling, but you can definitely sit. A few times you've even pushed yourself from your back into a sitting position on the couch. You have graduated to sitting in restaurant high chairs and shopping carts in stores. Since they are also made to fit older kids, you look adorably tiny and get a lot of attention from strangers.

Crawling is getting easier and easier for you. The more you do it, the stronger you get. Now if we turn our backs for a second you've crawled all the way over to the most unsafe item in any given room. We have to watch you like a hawk and are getting into serious baby-proofing. You used to stop at the edge of the carpet and hesitate. Now you've figured out that the world doesn't end there and you have crawled into our kitchen and entry way and are getting more and more mobile.

Still no teeth have popped through. We have heard clinking various times and had some cranky days, which seemed to indicate teeth were coming in but so far none are visible to the naked eye.

The way you play with toys is changing. You are better able to control them using your fingers individually not just your hands. You enjoy playing with toys and love chewing on your plastic dishes and spoons.

You have now had a few showers, rather than just baths. Like all other times you've been exposed to water, you loved it and have shown no fear. When we do regular baths (as opposed to a shower) you are getting into the splashing thing. You will splash and splash, regardless of how much gets in your face or on our clothes. Your favourite bath pastime is sucking on your washcloth. It is the first thing you grab and you will squawk loudly if we take it away from you.

Your Dad has had some time off recently, which makes a nice change from the 12 hour days he was working before that. I take the nights and he will get up with you when you wake up for the day, so I can sleep a bit longer. You are loving having your Dad at home. I can hear you babbling away to him while he changes your diaper in the morning and squealing in delight from the living room where he is tickling you and playing peek-a-boo. Nobody does peek-a-boo quite like Daddy. You scream in anticipation and laugh as hard as you can. 

You talk most to your Dad but when I come in to feed you in the night, you will babble away as you frantically wait for me to get into position and sometimes it even sounds like you are saying Mama or Mom. Although I'm pretty sure that's just coincidence.

Although you still seem small next to other kids, you are moving up in clothing and diaper size and pretty much fit exactly the size range listed on the clothes. You have now moved up into size 6-12 month clothing and are wearing size 3 diapers (although I don't think you've gotten to 17 pounds yet, which is the bottom of the weight range for that size of diapers). 

Last time we weighed you was at your 6 month appointment and you were 14 pounds 8 ounces. Your weight gain has slowed somewhat, mostly due to being an extremely active baby that is now crawling. But you are still healthy with the rolls and chub that we love.

You are our favourite. We love you to bits. Our lovely, bubbly, jolly baby girl :)