7 Months and Babbling

 

We are now over the half-way mark of Anna's first year and she's made some big changes during the past month.  Let me catch you up on Anna's newest milestones, "tricks," and changes.  First, and foremost, Anna got her first taste of baby food!  And sadly, this was way more exciting for me than it was for her!  :)  I decided that I'm going to take a stab at making my own baby food this time around and went with carrots as her first option.  She took a few bites and was ok with it.  And by the 5th or 6th bite, she was in full gag mode!!  I'm sad to report that she even threw up from gagging so much!  WHAT??  She's already gagging on the first new food she tried?!?  It appears I may have an "Aunt Maggie situation" on my hands.  When we were little, Mom would make her eat 1 (YES 1) green bean and she would literally gag from the moment it touched her lips until she swallowed it!  Maybe she'll somehow learn to survive on only fruity pebbles and hawaiian bread dipped in BBQ sauce like Aunt Maggie too!!  WAHAHAHA!!    

Anna is now sitting up on her own for the most part.  Just over the past few days, we've let her sit up without the boppy around her for support.  She's doing really well, but still has an occasional face plant!

No little, snaggle teeth have popped through yet.  Although, she has become a big fan of her paci lately and that can only tell me that some are on the way.  Her hair is getting thicker and longer and now hangs over her ears.  Her little, bald spot is even filling in on the back of her head! :)  Misty, we may have to come see you soon!

She's starting to show signs that crawling may be in her near future.  She leans forward to reach for toys and ALMOST pops up on all fours.  She will rock back and forth but hasn't made it into full crawling stance yet.  Her feet go a mile a minute when she's laying on her belly (and really anytime for that matter).  Something tells me when she does get mobile, she's going to be a "Flo-Jo" crawler going at 25mph!!  Baby gates, I can hear you calling our names!!   

Bath time in her big girl seat!

First "campout"

Anna LOVES music and even has her own "move" established that involves rocking and bouncing while sitting indian style.  I found a nursery rhymes section on our On Demand.  When I turn it on she gets excited and starts her little dance!  I've tried to get it on video but I've had no success so far.  Hopefully, you'll get to hear that soon!

WHOOPS!!

Anna is NOW SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!!!!  HALLELUJAH!!!!  She had a brief relapse when she got a cold/cough, but is now back on the wagon!!  Ahhhhhhh!  She usually falls asleep around 8:30 - 9:00pm while I'm feeding her, wakes up for one last tap-off around 10pm, and will sleep until 8:00 - 8:30am!  She takes 2-3 naps a day depending on what time she wakes up from her afternoon nap.  If she wakes up after 4pm, she's usually good to go for the rest of the night.  She's VERY easy to put down!  I simply lay her down, give her her "me" and paci, turn on her music, and she's usually asleep within 5 minutes with little to no fussing!  Sure she still belts it out every now and then, but for the most part, she's caves into exhaustion within minutes.
Something that I find hilarious is what happens when she looks at herself in the mirror!  I'm not sure if I talked about this in her 6-month update, so sorry if I did.  I'll stand her up and let her look at herself in the mirror after I change her diaper and her reaction usually goes a little something like this:  Ohhhh great big smile, are you looking at me, great big smile, maybe I'll do a little jig to show off a bit, great big smile, oh there's mommy, great big smile, mouth wipe open and babbling, great big smile!  I'll have to get that on video for you as well!
Oh, Harding's you are going to appreciate this one!  Anna has officially started doing "strong girl!"  YAY!!  Matt and I noticed it a couple weeks ago and she's now doing it more and more often.  The "strong girl" expression that I'm referring to is when she puts her arms out to the side, holds her breath, her face turns bright red, while she's concentrating on something.  Grace used to do it all the time and still whips it out every now and then.  It's hysterical and cracks us up every time!
That about does it for now!  We'll see you again in 4 weeks!!

Loves snuggling with Mommy's old "me"!