Emma: 7 Months

Emmie,

I absolutely love the first year of a baby's life...so many firsts!  This month was no exception - first Christmas, first time eating finger foods, first allergy, first time trying banana and green beans and apricots and peaches and beans and chicken, first New Years, first time sitting in a highchair at a restaurant, and first time going from laying to sitting and back.  Yikes!  We had a big month!

We started off this month with a bang - CHRISTMAS!  This was your very first Christmas and unfortunately you were sick. :-(  You spent a large part of the day sleeping, with a fever.  Poor baby.  We went back to the walk-in clinic on the day after Christmas and found out your ear infection is now in the other ear.  They upped your dose of amoxicillin (apparently it was too low before) and we were hopeful that that would finally get you feeling better.  To our surprise you broke out in a rash all over your body just two days later.  Back to the doctor we went - thank God for Saturday sick appointments.  They told us that you have an amoxicillin allergy and switched you to azythromicin to clear up the remaining ear infection.  :-(  So many medicines for such a little girl!  Thankfully after a few days of the new antibiotic you were feeling much better.  The bad news now is that you woke up today with ANOTHER runny nose!  I seriously don't know if we will make it through this winter. :-(

Eating continues to be a struggle.  You are just not a big eater - nursing or solids.  You nurse for a maximum of 5 minutes (one side only per feeding) and fuss every time we put you in the highchair to eat solids.  We did have a tiny break through this month when we introduced a few finger foods.  You really love feeding yourself!  I'm definitely looking forward to being able to give you all finger foods so you can be in control.  Come on little teeth! :-)  We are still not very consistent with feeding you solids, mainly because you just don't enjoy them.  So we typically only feed you 1-2 solid "meals" per day.  You are nursing every 3-4 hours during the day and 1 time in the night (sometimes 2).  We did have a couple (very rare) nights this month where you slept 11-11.5 hours straight!  AMAZING!  You nap 2 times per day now, officially dropping the third nap in the beginning of the month.  With only two naps now, we end up putting you to bed fairly early some nights because you just can't make it all the way to bedtime.  My favorite time of day with you is nap time because every time I put you down, I sing your song ("You are my Sunshine") and you put your little head on my shoulder.  Absolutely precious!  I hope you continue that for a long time.

I just can't believe how fast time is flying!  Just the other day we found you sitting up in your crib after nap time.  We had to move your mattress down to the middle height and we decided to take the bumper out of your crib.  You also started army crawling this month, making you officially mobile at not even 7 months old.  I think we will have our hands full with you. 

Your favorite sound right now is "bah, bah, bah".  You say it all the time.  I'm really hoping "mama" will be your first word (unlike your sister who said, "dada" first).  :-)  You do really well playing by yourself (or with Hannah nearby) and rarely fuss when I leave the room.  I'm so thankful that the separation anxiety phase has not hit yet.

7 Month Stats
- Diapers: Size 3
- Clothes: 6 & 9 months (mostly 9)
- Shoes: 1 or 2
- Weight: 17 lbs. 10 oz.
- Height: 27.5"

You are at such a fun age right now.  7 months=perfection.  But I know that I will say that again and again and every age.  The truth is squishy, we just love YOU!  No matter how big you get, we love you!  Do me a favor though...slow down just a little bit. :-)