Seven Months Old

Wow, I just sat down and typed "Four Months Old."  Umm...no.  SEVEN months old.  Yikes.  I'm really slipping.  Some days I wonder if I'm going crazy.  The other day I sat down with my journal and went to wrote the date and I almost wrote October.  Yeah.  Moving on...

Kayden is 7 months old today!  She is growing up in every sense of the word.  According to the measurement at her last immunization appointment, she has hit a growth spurt!  Though I'm fairly certain that the measurement at her last appointment was off so it's probably just a steady growth.  She's getting closer to 50th percentile though has always been under.  In the weight vs height ratio, though, she's right near the top!  That's the technical way of saying I have a chubby little girl on my hands.  And it's lovely!  She's so cute :)  Kayden weighed 14.8lbs at her last appointment.  She could easily be 15lbs by now.  She's wearing 6-12 month clothes. 

Kayden is sitting with ease, not really tipping much at all anymore.  She started sitting in the wagon for walks this month, without having to be tied to the corner with a scarf  :D  She's an old pro.  She stood for a couple seconds at the couch yesterday but she's not really there yet.  She doesn't really understand the concept of hanging on to help balance.  If she starts tipping, she just falls straight over.  (oops) 

 Kayden loves baths.  She's a little water-baby.  She and Levi are having baths together these days and they both enjoy playing with each other.  Levi was getting a bit too brave in the splashing and pouring of water, though, so the rule quickly became that whatever he does to Kayden in the bath happens to him next.  So if he pours a container of water on her face, guess what buddy?  You get water in your face too.  He's not as comfortable in the water as Kayden is so he's gotten much better about not water-boarding his baby sister all the time.

Kayden doesn't love solid foods, but she doesn't hate them either.  Her favourite is slightly warm baby cereal.  It doesn't seem to matter what kind.  Mix in some raspberries, and that's ok too.  She doesn't really enjoy anything with much flavour yet though.  Health nurse says I need to be feeding her foods with iron and skip the baby cereal completely.  Well, if my baby ate absolutely anything, then great!  Bring on the beef/eggs/green veggies.  But if she's not going to eat them, I'd rather she fill her little tummy with SOMETHING and perhaps sleep a bit longer at night?  She's eaten a couple Aeroroot crackers and animal crackers too, which are a complete and total mess, but she seems to enjoy having something to suck on.

Speaking of sleeping...this month has been a gong show in that department.  She had been pretty steady for the first 6 months.  And then I decided to push my luck and see if I could eliminate the night-time feeds.  I had a couple glorious nights of 10 hours between feeds but since then she's gone to wanting to eat every 3.5-4 hours all night long, which is worse than before.  Ugh!  Some nights are good, some are bad.  I think I'd rather just have a predictable routine if I'm going to be getting up at night.  Not knowing if I have an hour or 3 or 6 from the time I go to bed is hard on the body!  Naps have been shifting too.  We were in a good routine with her longest nap being at the same time as Levi's.  Now she's wanting to take her long naps morning and evening and hardly sleeps an hour at the same time as Levi.  So I guess we're in a transition time with her and sleep.  Makes for a VERY tired Mommy!

We moved Kayden into Levi's room this month!  We were at my parents' place visiting and decided to put them in the same room and it worked really well so we figured we'd just continue to have them share a room when we got home.  It has been an adjustment, let me tell you!  Trying to figure out how much noise needs to happen before we respond (finding a balance between letting them adjust to each other's noise and not wanting everyone in the house awake all night).  There have been many a silent curse in the middle of the night of our decision to buy a 2 bedroom house instead of a 3 bedroom.  GAH!  But it seems like we're making progress and it is nice to have our master bedroom back.

Kayden remains a content baby.  She's been sick the past week or so and even in the midst of a runny nose and sore throat (if it's what Levi and I had), she's always ready with a smile for her family!  She is a bit more shy with others but so far no full-blown stranger anxiety.  Kayden will happily sit in the grass outside for a long time while I garden, just looking around and feeling the grass under her.  The same goes for in the house.  She's often happy to just hang out in the jolly jumper, exersaucer or on the floor, watching what's going on around her - and with a busy, two year old brother, there's always something happening!  Levi loves to make her laugh.  His favourite game with her seems to be peek-a-boo which is fairly loud and involves lots of yelling, but fortunately there's a lot of laughter from her too so I just leave them to have fun, despite the decibel being a bit high for my ears.  Levi also loves to get her toys and play with her by rolling her over for tummy time and "blowing" on her belly.  She takes a lot but there always comes a point when she's just done.

Kayden has started reaching for absolutely everything.  And everything she grabs goes straight to her mouth.  When she notices that something makes noise, though, she'll wave her arm up and down to see if she can make the noise again.  She has no teeth yet, though I think she must be teething.  We'll enjoy her gummy smile for a bit longer.  Kayden has yet to roll over.  She still has blue eyes, though some days I think I might be seeing a bit of hazel(?) coming in from the middle.  I do hope that they stay the dark blue that they are right now but I'm sure they'll be beautiful, whatever colour they are.  Kayden is starting to babble more.  "dadada...aaaaa..."  She laughs most when Levi plays with her or when you tickle her ribs.  Kayden always wakes up with a smile; going to get her after a nap or in the morning is always so rewarding.  (I'm sure it would be rewarding in the middle of the night too, if I could see anything through the groggy blur...)

I'm looking forward to month number 8!  I can't believe we're getting well into the second half of Kayden's first year!  And yet, it feels like she's been here so long already.  Being a mom of 2 is completely routine by now.  There are very few moments when I feel pulled in half because both kids need me at once.  We've gotten into a wonderful groove and I'm loving it!