little black journal

Our big little baby turned seven months old on Monday!  Seven months old, and smarter/stronger/sillier/sweeter than ever…

We’re adding new foods to Juliette’s menu every week and have had a lot of fun watching her enjoy eating with such gusto.  Favorites include sweet potatoes, zucchini, and any kind of fruit.  Peas and avocados will be consumed with some coaxing, but mixed with pears they’re a hit.

She’ll eat most food as quickly as I can shovel it into her mouth and is left looking for more once her bowl is empty.  But occasionally she decides for herself when she’s done, showering me in sweet potato spray halfway through the meal.  It’s nights like these I wish I had also worn a bib.

This mesh feeder was a baby shower gift and has become kind of essential.  I put frozen pears in it and she’ll happily chomp away on this thing for 15-30 minutes, sucking the fruit down to nothing but pulp.  Her first week at daycare, her teachers asked us each evening to bring more pears in the following day, since this thing is such an expert soother.  “Mayday, Mayday, more PEARS!”

We still go on lots of walks together and make it to Jefferson Park at least once a week.  I huffed and puffed around this loop dozens of times when I was pregnant – I wonder if Jules was smiling like this in utero?

These days our walks almost always include a detour to the playground – Juliette loves the swings, and it’s a fun way to interact with her on our outings now that she’s facing away from me while in the stroller.  I grab her toes or kiss her cheeks each time she swings toward me and she smiles like it’s the greatest game ever played.

Shane took her down the slide last weekend and she seemed a little perplexed by the whole ordeal, like the ride was over before she knew what had happened.

Now that Jules is too big to be diapered and jammied on the bathroom counter after her bath, we wrap her in her towel and bring her up to the living room for pajama time.  Turns out that she enjoys having a few minutes to “air dry” before we dress her, to roll and squirm and grab her toes to flash us her squishy, dimpled bottom.

We’re still total suckers for that sweet baby giggle, and papa is increasingly hilarious these days.  Tossing a ball behind his back, nuzzling her belly while chanting “bless you!”, pretend-munching on her toes – these have become fan favorites.

I admit, I boasted a bit about our super-advanced baby, rolling over at just two months old.  And then, between months three and six, not a single flip-flop, despite her dad’s daily regimen of tummy time boot camp.  Hmmph.  But as of a couple weeks ago, she’s back on the move!  I can no longer rest with the assurance that she’ll stay right where I leave her if I dart downstairs to grab the laundry or go to the bathroom – I’ll turn my back just for a minute and find her on the other side of the living room rug.

She’s also rolling over in her crib a lot, which either results in her yelling at us to come flip her back over, or her falling asleep on her belly.  She’s hard to resist when she looks directly into the monitor’s camera, like she’s saying “Come get me!”  But we usually let her be and she’s been quickly settling to sleep on her stomach.

Bonus: these new sleeping positions make for a pretty adorable case of bedhead.

She’s talking up  a storm these days, and I love, love, love the sound of her voice.  “B” is the letter of the week.  Funny how she can carry on an entire conversation with just one syllable.

She’s been on the verge of sitting on her own for a few weeks now, holding her balance for several seconds at a time before falling back into my lap, or, if I’m not watching, face-planting on the carpet.  I went to visit her at daycare during my lunch hour yesterday and remarked how well her 6-month old little buddy, baby M, was sitting up on her own.  Apparently Jules was not to be outdone, because when we brought her home last night and set her down on the floor for her daily sitting “practice”, she put her hands on her chubby thighs, held her head high, and sat.  And sat!  She was on her own for a good five minutes before tumbling onto her back.

Happy seven months, silly girl.  Mama loves you.