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| "Are you serious? Seven months already!?" |
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| "Oh, this is gonna be fun!" |
Millie Janalee is still wearing 6 month clothes for the most part. We've snuck a couple of 9 month outfits in there, but I think they run small. If it weren't for her length, she could probably wear 6 month clothes for a while longer. And she's wearing size 3 diapers now. Let me think of some fun milestones we have hit this past month. We survived the "Christmas hangover," and she's rolling all over the place these days. We never know where we will find her in her crib when we go to pick her up each morning. She covers all sides and corners. Haha! I guess I can officially call her a full time sitter now. Although, she doesn't get into the sitting position by herself. And she will occasionally fall over. Millie Janalee loves her toys...but not as much as a big crowd surrounding her or a big camera flash pointed toward her. It cracks me up how much she loves being the center of attention. God bless her kindergarten teacher! We laughed last week that she would go to school and say, "Hey everybody! I'm waving my arms. Why aren't you all looking at me and cheering?!" Haha!
Millie Janalee's latest obsession is waving. I'm not sure if she actually understands she is saying "Hello" or "Goodbye," but she LOVES to wave her arms at people. And at herself in the mirror. Like wave them furiously. Very fast. All over the place. Ha! Her favorite activity is probably playing with her twin. You know the one. That twin that is always standing behind the mirror! She just moves that little mouth as fast as it can go and waves her arms. Once her excitement is contained enough to make actual sounds, she starts up with "Dadadadadada! Ahhh! Dada!" Yep. "Dada" was her first word. This Mama worked so hard on "Mama." But, alas, her little tongue found the "D" first. The last week or so brought a fun new trick. Millie Janalee loves to shake her head back and forth like she's saying, "No." We joke that she's saying, "No! No more squash please!" There's no rhyme or reason to it. She just decides she wants to shake it...and so she does. She's making other sounds in combination with "Dada" also. Today, it sounded exactly like she said, "Hey Daddy!" Of course, Russ was on Cloud Nine! I just follow up with...."Ma-ma. Ma-ma." To which she usually replies, "Dada!" with a huge gummy grin!
We are into everything! Anything within reach. Actually, anything that she might be able to stretch and reach too. Cords, food, phones, remote control, toy, Farley, glasses, jewelry. You name it. She grabs it or tries very hard to reach it. We aren't crawling yet, but she tries. She will work those little legs until her little booty is in the air, and then she falls over to the side. She just lays there on her side acting like she meant to roll over the whole time. Ha! She sleeps on her tummy now...like I mentioned in a previous post. And we DID find the solution to the wet bed. Huggies Snug and Dry did the trick! No more waking up wet! So far.
She's still eating good. And I'm still making her baby food. There was a brief moment where I had to feed her "fake apples, fake bananas, and fake sweet potatoes" during our trip. It was only during the traveling days, and I nearly gagged at the look and smell of it! I guess I've turned into a snobby baby food mom. Sorry! I couldn't get to the store fast enough to get some apples, bananas, squash, and carrots to make at the condo. We are still trying new foods. So far, Millie Janalee has tried bananas, apples, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, green peas, squash, and this week we added plums. She's not the biggest fan of plums yet. Neither am I. I have asparagus to add next. I'm not sure how that will turn out. Ha! She eats a lot, in my opinion. After she wakes up, I feed her a bottle. She goes down for a nap around 10, and I feed her solids when she wakes up or around 12. That's when she eats 2 ounces of oatmeal mixed with a cube or two of fruit and a cube of veggies. She takes another bottle around 2 before her afternoon nap. Then, around 5 or so, she eats supper. That is usually 4 cubes of two different veggies and a cube of fruit. If she's still hungry, we add more. On vacation, she actually ate about 8.5 ounces of baby food for supper one night! I thought she would explode! Then, she takes a bedtime bottle around 8-8:30. We actually had a checkup at the doctor today, and she weighed in at 18 pounds 6 ounces. So, she's growing! Probably still around 55%. Perfect little lady!
Millie Janalee does not feel in full control unless she is standing. No. She doesn't stand on her own or pull up to a standing position. But she will stand while you hold her hands or hold her thighs steady. When she is in that standing position, she really shows out! Maybe she will be a performer some day. Standing, she's the most vocal and energetic little person! She babbles and yells and squeals and smiles and makes breathy sounds all while waving her arms all over the place! This week, she started a yelling sound with her fists balled up by her side. Her little arms are stiff too. It. Is. Hilarious! The first time she did it, we were all sitting around talking. Maybe she wanted more attention. If so, she got it! After that, all cameras and eyes were on her. Ha! So, we've added that little trick to our repertoire now.
She loves bending over, leaning her upper body over, and turning her head upside down. It's so cute. [I guess I think it's all cute. Maybe you all are bored by now. Ha!] She especially loves to lean over and pop back up when someone is imitating her...say, at a restaurant. Ha! She sits in a high chair now, which gives her so many options during meals. She gets everyone's attention with her cuteness and her quirks. For example, she loves to get real close to a glass of any drink. So we hold it up to her face. Then, we may or may not shake the glass full of ice unexpectedly just to see her jump and hold both sides of her head with her little hands. It's SO funny! If we had done that - which I'm not saying we did - there may have been a lady that met us in the bathroom and asked Millie Janalee if that glass of ice was torturing her. Ha!
She listens very well! She always had. But, now that she isn't always in her carrier, it's so funny to watch. She stares all waiters and waitresses down. It's almost like she's waiting on them to take her order. She stares at anyone who is talking the loudest. During our vacation, we had a guide on a tram ride to the top of the mountain, and Millie Janalee stared at him the whole time. I just know she's soaking up all this knowledge in her noggin for later use. Maybe she'll be a trivia expert like her Daddy.
We have really gotten into a solid routine lately too. She's always had somewhat of a routine, but now that she's older she has gotten into the groove of a near exact routine that can't often waiver. Unless she's in the midst of people and activity. Then, she is a TROOPER and works very hard to keep those little eyelids up. She doesn't like to miss a thing! We have three naps a day...two of those are 1-2 hours long. On a good day, her 10:00 nap is close to or just at 2 hours. On a bad day, it's 45 minutes. But, she does get all three in. Her last nap is the hardest to get in, because Daddy comes home about that time. And nothing is as exciting as when Daddy comes home! Her naps are usually (but not exactly) at 10, 2 or 3, and 5 or 6. I usually take cues from her to see when it's time, but she's pretty much like clockwork. Except that last nap. I kinda slip that in. It only takes her about 2 minutes once I start the nap routine for her to realize she is, in fact, sleepy.
We've never been big "rockers." Most of her bottles have been given in our living room in our armchair. So, she wasn't rocked all that much when she was little. But, now that she's older, I cherish those rocking moments. She almost always has to be "rocked" to sleep...or near sleep. I don't mind. It seriously takes less that 2 minutes for her to close her eyes. Lots of times we play Pandora's Disney Radio while we rock. If I don't have a rocking chair (like on vacation), I just pretend with a rocking motion. Works every time.
I think we have begun the separation anxiety phase this month too. It doesn't matter if it's just one other person in the room or ten. If she sees one person that she's been playing with or watching leave the room, she will start to whine. She likes everyone to be together and stay put. She keeps a close eye on me and Russ too. She knows when we enter. And when we leave. If I need to leave the room (even if the whole family is there), I wait until she's distracted. If she doesn't see you leave, she's just fine! She has also gotten used to me putting her to sleep and makes it difficult for others to attempt. I still made my mom do it one night on vacation, because I want Millie Janalee to be okay with others putting her to sleep. Especially since she will have babysitters here and there. But, I must admit, it makes my heart smile to know she likes her Mama to cradle her nearly 20 pound body and rock that heavy breathing baby to sleep. Yep. My heart smiles!
My heart has been smiling for the past seven months of my life. It smiles from the moment I hear that sweet baby sound on the monitor until the moment I fall asleep glancing at a sleeping babe on the same monitor. Who knew that such a little person could bring so much happiness?! Who knew that I could love this little girl so much and still have more love to give each day? My heart aches at how fast time is flying by, but it is smiling and sqealing at how much fun each stage is! Each stage has been my favorite so far. I'm not lying. It's true. I can't pick a favorite. I love being Millie Janalee's mama. I always knew I wanted to be a mama! I'm not the perfect mama. Not even close. But, I know this is what I was made for!
I was made to be Millie Janalee's mama. And a mother to anyone else God places in our family. It's the most fun, most joyful, most exciting, most gratifying, most wonderful, most overwhelming responsibility! From morning bottle to public blowout diapers. [Now that's a whole other post entirely!]
Happy Seven Months, baby girl!
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