It seems like I just finished writing a birthday post, so there must not be much more to tell, right? But then I thought about it, and you know. A month in Baby Time is quite a long while! Enough to get a lot done, certainly. Here's what's new in the world of Little Miss:
Out:
PACIFIERS
Yep. We did a gradual phase out followed by a cold-turkey day and thankfully the Paci-DT's were less severe than we had feared. I'm not saying She didn't miss them. Or that She wouldn't fall off the wagon in a heartbeat if given the choice. But She's soldiered on pretty well.
BACKWARDS SCOOTCHING
She's finally figured out forward propulsion. It's still an inch-worm type locomotion, but it works. And She's always up on those hands and knees; rocking, reaching, just knowing that there is something to this that is going to work out at some point. I have a feeling that She'll be crawling by the next birthday post. Then we'll really be in for it.
SLEEPING ALONE
Little Miss wants so much to be nursed or rocked or snuggled or at least held to sleep. So much! When She's put down alone in bed to fall asleep on Her own, about half the time She will protest at least a little. She feels much better about it at night, when Little One is in the room with Her. Possibly because Little One still soothes Her when She's fussing; bringing toys, patting Her through the crib slats, singing to Her.
THE VACUUM
We have no idea why. But Miss has decided that vacuum cleaners, most especially the Roomba, are evil and out to get Her. This is silly, of course. The Roomba is a Godsend and the regular vacuum is only out to get me.
In:
TEETH!
Yes! She is so sweet-natured that we had no idea She was even teething until I happened to see a little pearly edge peeping out a few days ago. Sadly for Miss, for all of us really, She cut Her first tooth during a terrible fever/cough/cold, and cut another the very next day. Even this Buddha baby isn't zen enough to withstand all that. The last few days She has fussed more than in Her whole short life combined I think. But those teeny chompers are awfully cute, though.
THE GASP
Possibly because this long-running cold has made it so hard to breathe, Miss has developed this really strange and distinctive gasping noise that She makes whenever She tries to cry or nurse. It is really loud and kind of terrible sounding. We're not sure if She's just found a new sound to make or if it's really unintentional, but it's a big enough part of Her vocabulary to be included here.
BABBLES
Miss has mastered the B, G, M, and D consonants, and loves to try them out with different vowels and babble away. No real words yet, but if you ask Her She has a lot of important things to say.
RASPBERRIES
Yes, She's very into practicing all kinds of noises, isn't She? She is a master raspberry-blower. Seriously, if there were a contest we would win big.
FOOD
It's about time, if you ask Her. Little One had the great honor of feeding Little Miss Her first solid food, and they were both delighted by the experience. We've continued to give Her spoons of thick rice cereal, and have yet to find the bottom of Her stomach with it. She has consumed- in one sitting!- 3, 4....FIVE small bowls of the stuff and still wanted more. Each time, I just cut Her off at some point, because seriously. Who eats that much?!
Solid food has done several things: confirmed Her long held suspicion that things people are eating are yummy, making Her impossible to wrangle if you are eating or handling food, because She will GET IT IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO, and either end up with it all over Herself, you, or the floor. It has caused Her to get suddenly hungry and beg like a puppy when other people are eating. It has also given Her a fondness for spoons which is quite funny. Useful, too. When out to eat, hand that girl a spoon and She will be entertained for ages, just gumming it, cooing at it, and looking at it like at any moment something delicious will surely appear in it.
I think it's safe to say She will be a good eater.
WATER
Not just to splash in, though that's now a daily dose of happy. To drink. Little Miss can drink both from a cup (held for Her) and a straw, and very thoroughly enjoys both.
BOOKS
She just now starting to see the charm in sitting quietly and looking at books. Before it was too frustrating not to be allowed to eat them.
LITTLE ONE
Miss is a bit of a Mamma's girl. She's entirely crazy about Her dad, too, and She continues to be friendly and jovial with everyone. But She has a special love for Her sister. It melts my heart to see it, and it amazes me to see it in a little baby. But truly, Little Miss saves Her biggest, most joyful grins, Her deepest, most heart-felt belly laughs, and Her most twinkling, lit up looks of adoration for Little One. Nothing gets Her quite as excited as seeing Her sister coming over, or having Little One sing and talk to Her. Nothing makes Her little face fall as fast as seeing Little One walk away.
Little One for Her part is 3 and has no clue the power She has over Miss's emotions. Sometimes She'd rather color with chalk than heed Miss's pleading cries for Her attention. Something that will likely break both my and Miss's hearts a few million times in the future. But fortunately, for the most part and so far, Little One generally does go out of Her way to comfort Miss when She's sad, to play with Her, hug and kiss Her, and to include Her in whatever we are doing. I've yet to say, "can Miss read/build blocks/snuggle/dress up/go with us?" and been told "no" by Little One. I almost never even have to ask Her to share with Her baby sister. In fact, I'm more often asking Her not to (when its food or too small or dangerous). There is a special something there.
MUSIC
Little Miss has started to really notice music. The the better beat, the more She's into it. The most thrilled I've seen Her yet was the other day at the fair, watching some drummers perform. One of Her favorite things is listening to Little One sing.
SMILES
Still Her natural state of being. Despite the sickness/teething fussiness and the loss of the pacifier and the new decision to be insulted by sleeping alone, Little Miss is still altogether the picture of a happy, easy baby. She laughs and smiles so often; it's just hard to get this girl down. And She still smiles when She meets people, smiles when you talk to Her, smiles when She sees the camera. The best overall description of Miss would be: A smile, punctuated by toothlets, surrounded by cheeks, accessorized by baby.
CUDDLES
This girl so loves to cuddle. She's still not the quiet, pressed in, all-day-long kind of snuggler that Little One was (and largely still is). But She wants very much always to be held, and to have Her arms around your shoulders so She can every so often lay Her head down and sigh. She loves to grab my cheeks and dive in giggling to give me slobbery baby kisses. She loves to grab onto us when we're within reach and yank us over to bury Her face in our shirts.
CHUBS
Miss keeps growing, and growing, and growing. She's not actually a giant baby. In fact, holding steady around the 30th percentile, as babies go She's actually on the smallish side of normal. But that still puts Her only 10lb behind Her big sister, and has me ever unsure what drawer to put things in, since so many clothes fit them both. We are thrilled to see Her growing; so happy, and so healthy.
We are thrilled with Her in general! At seven months, I know we have begun the slide down the back of this first year, gathering steam as we roll away from Baby and into Toddler. I'm so glad we have a few months left before we arrive. I am eating up every chubby, cuddly, cooey, gooey baby moment I can! But I'm also loving watching how much She grows and learns each day, and finding out more and more about Her personality all the time. You know, seven is my lucky number! And looking at Miss this month, that is just how we all feel. Lucky.
She may be the happiest little girl in the whole world. I love her big wonderful smile :)
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