Seven Months

Bridget is now over half a year old! We are closer to her first birthday now than we are to the day she was born. That’s so weird to me.

She is now a sitting fiend. I no longer worry about her falling over when she’s sitting. Nope, she’s solid. The problem is that now she tries to crawl away. She can’t “officially” crawl - what she does resembles that Navy SEAL belly and elbow crawl - but she gets where she wants to go. It won’t be long, though, until she is crawling all over. Note to self: Get baby gates up ASAP at the top and bottom of the stairs.

Bridget delights in pulling herself up on things, usually the arm or the back of the couch. Or me. Or anything that stands still long enough to let her grab on and pull up. She’s no longer happy to be contained in her carrier when we go places, like restaurants or stores. She can sit up in high chairs and carts now, or she needs to be in her stroller. I guess there are good and bad aspects to every stage, because I am kind of missing the days when I could tuck her carrier under a table or in a sling, and she’d sleep through a meal. But I do love now that she can sit up in a high chair and play with us and be part of the meal.

She gave us a scare about her eating last month and we struggled to come to a resolution to that issue. At first we were just replacing one feeding a day with formula. But then it just started to be more and more difficult to nurse her during the day. She just wanted no part of it when there were exciting things going on, like the cat! And the dog! And the ceiling fan! And Mommy’s bra strap! I think that in order to make it work, I’d have to hang blackout curtains in her room, put a blanket over her head, and nurse her with my hair in a ponytail while wearing no other clothes that she could possibly grab on to. To make a long story short (too late!) all her daytime feedings are formula, and we nurse before bed, any feedings in the middle of the night, and the first feeding in the morning. It works for us. We’ll see how much weight she’s gained soon - I’m due to take her for a weight check next week.

As far as other eating goes, she loves most solids I’ve given her. So far she’s had carrots, sweet potatoes, avocado, banana, apples, pears, peaches, peas, prunes, butternut squash, broccoli and green beans. Broccoli was a hit the first feeding, but the next day she wasn’t quite so impressed. Also peas were not her favorite, but I’m going to try again soon. She’s also had some combo foods by Earth’s Best, like their spinach and potatoes and summer vegetable dinner. I make a lot of her food myself, but only the things that are feasible to make. I find the squash to be hard to deal with because it’s hard to find - I have to all the way to Central Market to find it - and it’s hard to peel and cut. The cooking and pureeing is really easy. I’ve been trying to introduce the cup to her, but she really hasn’t figured out that she has to close her lips around the nub and suck to make the water come out. We’ll keep trying and I’m sure she’ll figure it out very soon.

Teeth, not so much. Sometimes I wonder if she is feeling some teeth movement, but as of yet, nothing has poked through the gums. Makes me wonder if she even has teeth under there. I’m sure she does and I should not be in any hurry for them to emerge. I think it’s just because I am dreading it. I’d rather just get it over with already so it’s no longer hanging over my head.

She’s a pretty independent baby and is happy to spend some time playing by herself sitting in her play pen. I was worried that she wouldn’t be an independent baby because I do spend so much time with her, holding her and playing with her. But I shouldn’t have worried. She has enough of her dad in her to make her happy to spend some alone time. I think that is so important for kids to be able to do. I really don’t want to have a child that always needs to be entertained. I think the ability to occupy herself is an important skill. Especially if Mommy and Daddy are going to be able to have any sort of life beyond her when she’s older.

I almost can’t believe that this is the same teeny baby we brought home from the hospital. It seems impossible that she was ever so small and helpless. I now understand why parents are always saying they want to stop their kids from growing up. It does go so fast. I almost can’t bear to think about it. But at the same time, I can’t wait to see what she does next.

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