month seven

What a month! Chicken, it has been very eventful whether you realize it or not. (I'm going with not.) And, for the record, I wrote most of this on the right day--I was just out-of-town. Daddy took your Month 7 pics.

First, you were a little sick this month. You had a cold and were quite snotty. You had to miss your auntie's baby shower but you recovered without a doctor's visit. You were not a fan of the bulb syringe. Mama ordered a new-fangled alternative where we'll have to suck the snot out. Don't worry, though, it's not supposed to actually go into Mama's mouth. Gag. Hopefully we won't need to try it out for a long time but folks tell me it's great.

You also had some follow-up tests for your UTI. You did great during them. Well, you actually weren't really thrilled with the ultrasound portion but I think that was because you thought I was putting you down for a nap. Towards the end of the x-ray portion you really were ready for a nap so you were a tiny bit grumpy but, honestly, you did so well. And even better, the tests came back fine.

You remain very chatty. You've also started playing with volume a bit more. There has been some shrill screaming. I've tried to tell you no but I don't think you heard me. You still say "mamamama" but now you've added "dadadada." You said something that sounded a lot like "nothin'" the other day and I was suddenly thrown. I know you didn't mean "nothing" but I was thinking that one day you will actually use words. On purpose. That's going to be crazy and awesome.


Tummy time is going better. You push up and can stay that way for longer. You even sleep on your stomach now. Still no signs of crawling but that's ok. Mama is REALLY enjoying that you are great at sitting up but not yet mobile. This is a fleeting time of perfection if you ask me.


In other fun news, you have now really taken to eating solids. I'm so glad. It turns out you're just not a big fan of cereal. I've been mixing rice cereal into your veggies and oatmeal into your fruit. You're now eating breakfast at daycare and dinner at home. Yea for solids! You seem to like everything we've given you but some a little more than others. You've had sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, bananas, peaches, green beans, and squash. Up next is cantaloupe and broccoli. Yeehaw!

So our biggest challenge this month has been Daddy in New York for work. He's been gone 2 weeks of the last month. Holy moly. That first week was hard but we did way better the second time he left. The first week he was gone, Mama decided to do some sleep training. Oh my. It didn't start out that well but we both did great. You are now sleeping through the night about 95% of the time. Praise tiny baby Jesus. Seriously. Praise him. This is the best thing ever.


As if all this wasn't exciting enough, I have two stories for you. First, one day after I picked you up from daycare, we were driving home and there was a roach IN. THE. CAR. Holy smokes, Chicken. If Mama is phobic about anything, it's that. This was my worst nightmare come true. I pulled over and tried to see if I could find it to kill it but I couldn't. Then I had to get back in the car--knowing it was just hiding somewhere--and actually drive home. I never did find it and I'm at least pretending it left. But let me tell you, I was pretty freaked out when driving for the next few days. What if it would have flown around in the car? How would I have not killed us all?


And just in case Mama wasn't putting us in enough danger already, there was an incident with a deer. The first day Daddy left, the three of us girls went for a walk. There’s a big field next to a fenced horse pasture that we often let Maggie run in. I’m the hesitant one, however, when it comes to letting her off the leash. Daddy usually doesn't think twice. But since Maggie was missing Daddy already, I thought I’d let her have a little fun. Sometimes lately there have been deer in the field and I don’t let her off then since she thinks she could catch them. We didn't see any deer, though, so I let her go. Maggie and I both notice a deer at about the same time, hiding behind some shrubs. Turns out it’s a mama with 2 fawns. Maggie runs after them. The mama and babies run off but when the babies get past the mama, the mama stops and starts chasing Maggie! She caught up to Maggie a few times but luckily didn’t hurt her. Maggie was running back towards you and me, leading the angry deer closer to us! Maggie ends up running into the horse pasture, through the barbed-wire fence, cutting herself in several places. I was quickly trying to figure out what I’d do with an attacking deer and mashed you and me up against the gate of the horse enclosure (you were in the Bjorn). When I did, Maggie's leash (the metal clip part) hit the metal fence and that, along with my crazy screaming, stopped the deer and she ran off. Goodness, Chicken. Who else has stuff like this happen to them? We were all very lucky to be fine. Maggie's cuts healed and Mama isn't freaked out about it anymore.

And, finally, the day before you turned 7 months old you became a cousin. You haven't been able to meet her yet but that should be fun. I can't wait to see y'all grow up together. I hope you two will be great friends.

I'm not sure how we'll top this month but I know we will. There's at least one "first" up our sleeves for next month. And who knows? Maybe you'll be crawling. Eeek! You're growing up so fast (almost 19 pounds!). It's so fun to watch. Until next time...