Violet at 7 Months

 
Growth & Appearance: Your skin is perfect and fair. Sometimes your cheeks are rosy as if you've put a bit of blush on. When you sleep you look like a porcelain doll. Your eyes are small and delicate. Your hair is longer, especially in the front. You've also got a little big of shag over the top of your ears.

You weigh 19.5 lbs and are 28 inches long. You're still in size 3 diapers, but you'll be in size 4 soon. You're wearing 9-12 month everything.
 
Teeth: Still only two.

Development: You're typically good-natured and very affectionate. You love snuggling and rolling around in bed with me. You'll bury your face in the covers for a few seconds and then pop up grinning.

You're really ticklish and you laugh a lot. You've also developed a sense of humor, so you're officially part of the family.

You keep tabs on everything that's going on. Your eyes are always tracking. If I'm nursing you and your dad is around you will nurse for about 10 seconds and then pop off quite loudly to make sure he's still there. You'll look at him a second, grin, then come back for more boob. It's a little ridiculous. Your dad usually has to leave.

You like to gently touch mine and Daddy's faces. Sometimes it's cute and sometimes it's creepy. You will do this open-close-open-close grasp thing and when you do it so delicately to my face there's just something eerie about it. Your father agrees. You like to poke on my lips and rub them. Often times this is followed by you poking one tiny dangerous finger in my mouth and fish hooking me.

You and Drake are officially best friends. You like to "give" him things. You'll reach out a toy and offer it to him. Sometimes he sniffs it, sometimes he licks it, and sometimes he takes it. You like it best when he licks things. Last week I watched you take your pacifier from your mouth, hold it out to Drake, and laugh hysterically as he licked all over it. You promptly popped it right back in your mouth and continued to play. I'm not going to worry until I see you trying to eat dog poop, then I'll make the executive decision to step in.

You're pulling up very well. You're very strong. You often reach for my hands to support you as you stand. This is usually your way of macgyvering your way into my arms. You've pulled up on the arm chair, the coffee table, the tv stand, and the baby gate (which is actually for the dogs.)  Oh, and the dogs of course - you've used and abused them to help you stand up as well. You can maintain a standing position for a while now before falling. Sometimes when you're standing you grow unsteady and it looks like an Elvis dance.

You can rotate a full 360 degrees on your butt. You can also get to just about anything you want within a few feet by scooting. You cannot seem to stay on your butt these days. As soon as I put you down to sit and play you're up on your hands and knees like you've got places to be. You haven't figured out crawling yet, but you're close. You're inability to just go deeply frustrates you. Sometimes you rock back and forth on your hands and knees to the soundtrack of whining. Soon, very soon.

You still like to say "ba-ba-ba-ba," along with "hub-bub." Your newest thing - my favorite - is saying "whew," as if you just got finished doing something incredibly strenuous. You whisper it over and over. You'll only whisper it and never get loud about it.

Eating: You're eating twice a day now. You like peas better, especially when I mix them with something sweet like pears. Green beans are still a no-go and you're really not thrilled with peaches.

You're still nursing a lot, every 3 hours or so. You still fling off of the boob to investigate things. You don't seem to get milk drunk anymore, which makes me sad.

Your straw cup was out of commission for a few days recently while we waited for a replacement straw to come in. We tried a different straw cup and you hated it. The day I put the new straw in you started panting and rocking back and forth when you saw it.

Sleeping: We've come a long way with you getting you to bed. I usually don't have to bounce you anymore. My knees would like to thank you personally. You usually nurse and then lay there beside me and babble until you drift off.

We're officially down to two naps a day. About 10:30 and again around 3:30, both for about an hour.

You're still waking up every three hours to nurse throughout the night. It's like clockwork, the exact same times every night. I've tried ditching the first feeding of the night, which occurs around midnight. No says you. I'm not upset about it. Maybe you're just not ready.

Favorites: We lost the rubber straw. Woe is me. It was such a quiet toy. Currently, your favorite thing is a small golden bell. It emerged from somewhere as I was packing recently and you seized it. You also love the remote controls. We've taken the batteries out of an old one for you, but you still prefer the ones we use. Sometimes we just give in and let you have them. You've recorded Rachael Ray and the customer information channel.