Look Whooo Is 7 Months Old!!

This is my favorite picture I took today! She loves smiling with her tongue between her lips!

Time is flying by with this sweet little one! Today marks her being 7 months old!! She is such a big girl, and everyday I'm seeing her learn new skills, or perfecting skills she already has. Her daddy and I just love her so much. She is happy, smiley, and mostly easy-going. She is 7 months old, so we have had temper tantrums, small meltdowns when she's too tired, and she's definitely been exerting her independence in tasks that she wants to do herself (brushing her teeth, feeding herself with a spoon, etc). I actually like that she will brush her own teeth. I give her a toothbrush with toothpaste first, she moves it around her mouth for awhile, and then I actually "brush" her teeth. If I just stick the toothbrush to her mouth, she'll close her mouth and turn her head away from it. It's just funny to see that, at 7 months old, she's already got that "I can do it myself" mentality. The funny thing is, in some things she is very independent, but then other times, she's very clingy, and wants to be held. I'm getting good at doing some things one-handed :) I have no problem toting her around with me, and I'm probably spoiling her, but I love when babies are at the age that they show that they want to be held. It's so cute! OK, on to the important stuff! :)

Weight: About 17ish lbs

Head circ/length: I don't know

Sleep: Audrey takes 3 naps a day, but we're trying to transition to 2 because her evening nap ends up being (what we think) is quiet time. Most of the time when I go in to get her up from her evening nap, she's awake and just lying in bed sucking her thumb....so we're not sure if she sleeps at that time. Anyways, her morning nap is about an hour long, and her afternoon nap is still her best nap of the day - anywhere from an hour and a half to 3 hours long, depending on how much sleep she's had that day, and how tired she is! Long afternoon naps haven't affected her nighttime sleep, so I generally let her sleep until she wakes up (unless we have plans and I need her up at a specific time).

Eating: She has a bottle 4 times a day, and usually eats 24-27oz of formula in a day. She's finally eating solids, too! Usually she eats solids twice a day as a mid-morning snack, and mid-afternoon snack, and usually eats 1-2 TB per feeding. So far, it looks like she absolutely LOVES prunes, peas, and sweet potatoes. She likes carrots, and she HATES bananas...but I'm not giving up on them!

Clothes: We are mainly in 6m clothes. Some 3-6m things can fit, but are getting too small. Some of her 6-9m clothes fit, but some are still too big for her.

New achievements of the month:
1. She lifts her hands when she wants to be picked up. Whether she's on the floor (tummy or back), in her exersaucer, bouncy seat, wherever, she'll call to get your attention and once you look at her she raises her hands up. She's pretty smart!
2. Increased the sounds she makes while babbling to include ka, ga, da, ba. I still don't hear a lot of ma, but she'll make a continuous mmmmmm sound.
3. Has developed a fake cough and a fake laugh - both are hilarious! I think she uses them when she wants attention
4. If I'm holding her and she wants her daddy to hold her she'll reach her arms out and lean out to him.
5. She can sit up!!! I wouldn't call her an "independent sitter" quite yet because I wouldn't leave her unattended while sitting, but she's made drastic improvement in the length of time that she can sit without falling over
6. Whenever we shake her bottle to mix the formula and water together, she immediately stops any activity she was doing to look in the direction of the bottle being shaken.
7. When we pray at night, we always tell her "Put your praying hands together" and about 8 times this month she did it all on her own! They didn't stay together for more than a second or two, but she's getting the idea!

Things she likes:
1. Playdates with friends
2. Her toy monkey, and now her stuffed lamb
3. Brushing her teeth herself
4. Still is a daddy's girl!
5. Sucking her thumb
6. Random songs that Mommy and Daddy make up
7. Ninja
8. Swimming! (just discovered this yesterday)
9. Being tossed in the air
10. Chewing on her washrag during bath time
11. Pulling Mommy's hair (we are working to make sure she does NOT like this)

Things she doesn't like:
1.  Mommy helping in her room at church - I sub in the baby wing, and I was in her room last Sunday. The ladies always tell me that she never fusses, but I saw a different side. She was so fussy, and full-out crying part of the time I was in there. The only way she would stop fussing, or crying is if I held her...which was, in no way, helpful to the other 2 workers and 7 babies that were in the nursery. I asked the lady in charge not to put me in Audrey's room anymore. I think she got jealous when she saw me holding other babies and she was swinging, or in an exersaucer.
2. Not having that bottle in her mouth quickly enough
3. Mommy taking a shower. I try to only shower while she's sleeping. Sometimes that doesn't happen (today, for instance). I always bring her in the bathroom with toys or her bouncy seat while I shower, and it never fails, she will fuss/whine/cry until I'm out of the shower. Who knows??

I have to end with this cute picture of her dressed for church one day. I bought this outfit when I was actually shopping for a baby shower present for a friend of mine (it never fails...when shopping for baby shower gifts, I always end up buying my own baby gifts!), but anyways, it was on sale, and she seriously is TUTU cute!!

She has been 7 months of pure joy, and a complete stinker! But we love her to pieces, and wouldn't trade her for the world! :)