7 months: a letter

My little lovey girl, you are just the light of my life.  You make me smile every second of the day and even in the times when I’m feeling low or getting up groggily in the middle of the night, just seeing your sweet face makes me grin from ear to ear.  I kiss your sweet cheeks a million times a day and have to hold myself back from hugging you too tight.  It is such a joy to watch you growing and changing.  I get a little sad seeing how quickly you grow but every stage is such fun that I can’t be sad for too long.

You are my smart and curious little dumpling.  You are interested in everything and love to learn new things.  My heart leaps out of my chest when I see your little eyes light up as I read to you, sing or play a new game.

You are my little treasure, I thank God every second of every day that He gave you to us.

Growth:
-Precious girl, you are growing and growing.  Your little legs are getting so strong you can stand on your own we just have to help you balance.  I think your exersaucer and jump-a-roo have helped you build up those little leg muscles.  You will be walking before we can blink!

-At your last doctors appointment you weighed 17 pounds 1 ounce (that is the 69th percentile) and you were 27 inches long (the 75th percentile) you are probably a little bigger than that by now.

-You are still wearing size 3 disposable diapers during the night or when we travel but we both like the BumGenius diapers better.  They are softer against your skin and they are saving Mommy and Daddy money, yay!  We got one more cloth diaper from Grandma S for Christmas, that brings our total to fourteen which is working pretty well.  Daddy would like to add about six more to our stash.

-You are wearing six to nine month outfits except for your little pants.  Twelve months pants or even eighteen months pants seem to fit better.  I think you are just my long legged girl.  Don’t worry sweetheart, that will be a great thing when you get older.

-Baby girl!  You have a second tooth now!  Just you wait, you’ll have a whole mouth full one of these days.

Eating:
-We are still nursing away pretty baby.  You nurse about six times a day and I still feel like it is such a blessing to be able to feed you.  It seems like each month you get faster and faster with your eating.  We are down to about fifteen minutes total and your tummy is full.

-Every evening you get to try some home made baby food while sitting in your little high chair like a big girl.  You look so little in that big chair, sometimes you slump down and I have to lift you back up again you little cutie.  So far you have tasted Sweet Potatoes, Bananas, Rice Cereal and a tiny little mouth gumming of Daddy’s apple.

-You are not a big fan of eating food yet.  Sometimes you will tolerate things, bananas seem to be your favorite, but sometimes you gag and make faces like I’m torturing you.  Poor little thing.  We don’t ever force it, I want you to enjoy meal time and I know you are still getting all the nutrition you need from breast milk.

Sleeping:
-Little snuggle bunny, things are finally starting to improve in the sleep department.  Towards the end of this month you seem to finally be getting back on track.

-We try to get you all snuggled up and in your crib by about 7:00pm.  We are still swaddling you, but we leave one arm out and you love to suck on your fingers.  You seem to prefer your left hand, those fingers must be the sweetest my baby.  You can wiggle both arms out any time you want to, but we keep swaddling you to keep you warm on these chilly evenings and because it seems to be a reminder to you that it is night time.

-Daddy bounces you to sleep every night, he loves you so much little girl.  We keep wondering if we need to teach you to go to sleep on your own, but you are still so small and we wouldn’t trade our snuggly bouncing time for anything.

-You usually wake up after Daddy and I finish dinner and get in one last nursing for the night.  You usually fall asleep on your own when your tummy is full and I can just carry you back to your crib.  If for some reason you aren’t sound asleep Daddy will bounce you again.

-Doodle bug you sleep pretty great through the night usually waking for one dream feeding about 4:00am.  I just bring you to my bed and let you nurse and once you drift back to sleep I carry you back to your crib where you sleep on through until about 7:00 or 7:30 when we start our day.

-You are such a good girl for Momma during the day.  You fall asleep for your naps so easily in my arms, I lay you in your crib and you usually sleep for about 45 minutes to an hour.  We are still doing three naps a day around 9:00, noon and 3:00.

-Now that you are on the move so much, when you wake up from a nap and I come in to get you, you are almost always rolled over on your tummy peeking your sweet head up to see me.  Our eyes meet and we both give the biggest grins, I say “did you sleep so good baby girl?” then I swoop you up and smooch your cheeks.

Play:
-Oh my goodness do we have fun together, you got so many new and fascinating things for Christmas we have just been having a good old time exploring each one.

-You smile so sweetly especially for your Momma and I love to get your little giggles going either by tickling your tummy, nibbling on your neck or around your ribs or doing a crazy dance for you.  Those giggles are like sunshine to me, they make my heart throb.

-I think reading is your favorite thing and I’m so glad, you’re going to be a little smarty like your Daddy.  We got ‘Guess How Much I Love You’, ‘Belly Button Book’, and several first word and picture books for Christmas.

-Daddy found some amazing little DK My First Flashcards, he bought you four different sets and you absolutely love them.  The set we look at the most is called first words.  Each card has a picture with fur or something to touch and feel as well as the word on the card.  On the back of the card Daddy reads the English and Spanish to you, you’re going to be smarter than Mommy before too long.  The cards also have French, German and Chinese on the back but we’re just focusing on English and Spanish.

-You still play away in your exersaucer, we use it the most in the mornings when I am taking my shower.  You spin the little wheels and chew on the starfish and just grin at me through the shower door.  We keep the jump-a-roo in the living room and you jump and dance to your hearts content.  These are both still on the lowest setting and we use a little receiving blanket to pad behind your back so you don’t dingle around in the big seats.  I know we will have to raise them up before too much longer my precious girl.

-One of the things we like most is spreading out a big blanket in the living room where we can play with your blocks or your activity triangle or read and read and read.  I stack your blocks up and quick as a wink you topple them right over with a grin.

-You roll all over and can crawl backwards pretty good now a days.  I have to really watch you or you are off your blanket and headed across the room my little mover.  You can get up on your hands and knees and do the boogity, but you aren’t officially crawling forwards yet.  Don’t worry, I’m not anxious for you to be that mobile just yet.

Events:
-We headed out on the road again to visit Grandma and Grandpa S for Christmas.  You did great in the car, we usually only have to stop once for nursing and a diaper change (it’s a four hour trip).  We spent several days with them and had such a fun time.  We ate so much yummy food, opened presents and you even sat in the high chair while we played some board games.  What a sweetie!

-You had your very first Christmas at home with Momma and Daddy and it was a cozy snuggly wonderful morning.  We just love you so much baby girl, you fill our hearts with joy!

-You got your very first mohawk!  After your bath one evening I was drying your hair with a little towel.  I swooped to the left then back to the right and as I lifted the towel you had an awesomely perfect mohawk.  You just giggled and grinned when we looked in the mirror.  You are so precious!

-Uncle Neil, Aunt Julie and your little baby cousin H came down and we celebrated Christmas with Momma’s side of the family.  Oh we had such a fun time, you and all of your little cousins just love each other so much.  We ate and played and took pictures and stayed out until 2:00 in the morning several days.  You were sleeping in Grandma and Grandpa’s crib little one, you can’t stay up that late until you’re thirty!

-I want to remember some of the little nicknames we have for you too – Doodle Bug, Tootsie, Little One, Dolly Girl, Honey Bunny, Little Lady, Momma’s Girl…. can you tell we think you are pretty special.

-We had a Happy New Year and celebrated the arrival of 2013.  You woke up right before midnight so you even got to be my new years kiss sweetheart.

I can’t even express how wonderful you are to me baby.  You are so beautiful, you have the softest smoothest skin I’ve ever seen and I could just pet you forever.  Your hair is just growing and growing and is still golden blonde.  Even your perfect eyelashes are golden.

You are such a blessing and I thank God that He gave you to us little one.

I’ll love you forever,
Mommy