7 Months

Ainsley turned 7 months old this past Sunday. Boy does time fly! I keep saying every month that that month is my favorite age. Yet again, this is my favorite age! She is so interactive and fun, but she is still a baby. I just love this little girl more than anything in the world!

At 7 months Ainsley is:

~loving her food! She eats cereal in the morning, a veggie and fruit for lunch, and a veggie and fruit for dinner (Stage 2). She gets excited at the site of container of food and the spoon. She has gotten to where she will eat all of the foods. The greens are still the most difficult, but with some fruit every other bite she has no problems eating it. She's getting a baby belly and we love it!

~"eating" crackers. We will give her (saltless) Saltines to "eat", which really just ends up making a big mess for me to clean up! But she loves them and it entertains her for all of 5 minutes.

~going to bed at 8:00. She really gets fussy for bed time between 7:00-7:30, especially if she took a shorter afternoon nap. But I try to get her to stay awake until 8:00 to keep her on her morning schedule.

~sleeping around 9 1/2 to 10 1/2 hours a night. She is still waking up once during the night every now and then. But it hasn't been real consistent. I actually let her "cry it out" for the first time about a week ago. Talk about hard to do. I just laid in bed and almost cried myself. But the doctor recommended this because at this point she should be able to put herself back to sleep without my help. But like I said it's inconsistent, so I don't know if it will actually help.

~taking a morning nap (around 45 minutes to 2 hours) and an afternoon nap (around 1 to 3 hours). You just never know with this one! The only thing that is consistent is that she takes a nap in the morning and one in the afternoon.

~wearing a size 2 diaper

~wearing size 3-6 months in most clothes still.

~rolling from back to stomach. I have a hard time believing this one considering she has done it twice and both times was when Brantley was watching her in the morning. She hasn't done it for me yet! Oh well, I guess I'll believe him.

~sitting up with our support. She is still wanting to lean to the side or back when we let go of her. But with the boppy or our help she will sit just fine. She did sit by herself the other night for a minute or so, but still not quite ready.

~reaching for our faces, especially our mouths. I LOVE this!

~pulling mommy's hair. I don't love this!

~fussing when I lay her on her changing table. It's as if she doesn't want me to put her down, but right when I start the motion of laying her on it she begins crying. All I have to do is give her her paci and she stops. She doesn't mind having her diaper changed. I think she's just being a little spoiled stinker!

~also fussy and throws a fit when we put her in her car seat. Yet again her paci usually does the trick. It's like she expects it.

~reaching for her toes and holding her feet.

~reaching her arms out when I reach to get her.

~giving wide open wet mouth kisses.

~reaching for toys, along with the tv remote and our cell phones which she is intrigued by.

~still playing with her favorite toy: the paci

~able to get her paci and put it in her mouth by herself (although I keep a couple in her crib at night and am still unsure if she knows to do this during the night).

That about wraps it up. I'm probably missing some things. But if I haven't already thought of them they must not be too important. But it's past my 9:30 bed time (haha) and I'm about to crash. Hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving next week! I know I will!

I guess she thought if she strangled the bear I wouldn't be able to take any more pictures.

Bear, or no bear...the picture taking continued. (Don't worry I stopped after this. I just had to capture her usual "I've had enough of this" mood for my own record keeping.)