7 Months

Elizabeth has been in Illinois with her Amma and Pa for the past week visiting my grandfather and cousins. The rest of the family has used this time for a mini "stay-cation", so I've been away from the computer. Nevertheless, Charlotte did turn 7 months this weekend, so here's the post, even if a little late.

- She now sits wonderfully without any support indefinitely.
- She can even get herself from her tummy to sitting and back to her tummy.
- She's starting to get mobile, as she persistently utilizes any combination of sit up/move to tummy/roll over a few times/sit up again/reach/move to tummy/reeeaaaccchh to get whatever she wants within a several foot radius. She'll throw in a bear crawl or an army crawl every now and then too.
- No teeth yet, but I swear any day. Her middle bottom gums are swollen, and every week or so she has a run of several days where she's just plain cranky about it.
- She plays really well by herself. Rusty and I were just commenting this morning that we think we probably take that for granted. Elizabeth certainly wasn't that way (I think it probably goes with the territory of being the first child). But Charlotte will sit and play with her toys all by herself for 20 or 30 minutes, depending upon the time of day.
- She's loving her solid foods. I mean loving. She now eats peas, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, and squash. I've kind of stalled out on introducing a new food each week because my freezer is full of these foods that she needs to eat up first. I need to call the GI to see if she's allowed to start fruit before we have our next appointment at 8 1/2 months, or if we need to stick with the veggies.
- She's learned how to do this high-pitched squeal/yell that she thinks is so funny but every adult in her life finds highly disturbing. I know it will pass as soon as she finds something new, but for now its her "thing" and we're just trying to live with it without reinforcing it too much. (Plus, I have to admit that as long as it doesn't stick around too long, I actually find it to be kind of cute.)
- She seems to have fallen into a consistent night time sleep/wake pattern, falling asleep by 6:45 or 7:00 and waking at 5:30 or 5:45. I'm not too excited about the 5:45, but it actually works out well for our family's morning routine, and it could be worse. Just her body's natural rhythms, I suppose.
- She's still as sweet as ever! Lots of talking and babbling, with "da da da" being her favorite syllable for now.