The Latest

Audrey's 7 month birthday was two weeks ago and I've been meaning to write this post since then. As usual, the date made me pause and think about how far we've come since she was born. I'm long overdue for giving an update about what our busy girl is into these days!

She had her six month check-up on Dec. 29th, so we waited a few days to make sure she didn't have any reactions to her immunizations and then tried her first solid food (other than rice cereal or oatmeal) on New Year's Day. We began with sweet potatoes, which she was slow to like. Now they are one of her favorites, along with bananas, apples, pears, and prunes - she loves prunes! She tolerates squash and carrots, but is not at all a fan of peas or green beans. We have to trick her into eating them by putting them on the spoon and then dipping the tip of it into a fruit. I told David I'm afraid that I'm just going to make her hate fruit, too, but whatever gets those veggies in her! She makes lots of noises when she eats and likes to bite the spoon. She hates having her face washed off when she is finished, but we suspect this may be because it signals the end of the meal for her! :)

She cut her first bottom tooth on Friday, January 8th and her second bottom tooth on Sunday the 10th (it was a rough couple of nights with her waking up a few times from the pain.) Since then, things have been relatively calm in that department and she seems to be less fussy.

She hasn't really displayed a lot of stranger or separation anxiety yet. However, she is very slow to warm up to or smile at unfamiliar people, and usually gives them quite the serious "I'm not too sure about you" face. Once she decides you're okay, though, she'll break into a grin that will melt your heart. Seeing her sweet dimple makes me want to eat her up, which I usually do. She tolerates my constant kisses and snuggling like a champ, just like her Daddy. She isn't much of a cuddle bug, and doesn't really like to be rocked unless it's when she first wakes up. She does love to be held if you're up and walking, so she can have a better view of what's going on. She is such an observant girl!

She has mastered sitting on her own and likes to stand if we're holding on to her. She'll grab our hands and pull to stand, but she isn't pulling up on her own just yet. She also isn't making much effort to crawl (though she does manage to get all over her crib at night - how do they do that?!) I honestly don't mind. In fact, I may take her out at the knees if she starts. The longer she stays immobile, the easier it is to keep up with her! After accomplishing rolling from stomach to back at four months, she is finally getting the hang of rolling from back to stomach, though she still gets stuck sometimes.

As for playtime, she loves her Leap Frog Table and her jumpster. She is still getting to know all of her Christmas toys and does a great job playing by herself for up to 20 minutes if I'm nearby. She's a great squealer, which has made dining out a little more difficult these days. Her "talking" is getting more advanced by the day with lots of syllable combinations. She says "Da-da" and "Ma", but has no idea yet who it refers to. My favorite is when she does "Bs" and "Ps" because of the soft little puffs of air that come out. Sometimes she'll practice right in my face with her hands yanking either side of my hair. Every once in a while, she'll clamp her mouth down on my chin. That is the most precious. Never did I think being spit or chewed on could be so adorable.

For the last couple of weeks, I have been trying out a new schedule. I wanted to drop her from 3-4 short naps to 2-3 longer ones. I've been getting her up at 8am and nursing her then feeding her oatmeal. I usually work out while she plays and then we play together until nap time. She naps from 10am - 11:30am. She eats around 11:45 or 12 (usually one small jar each of a fruit and a veggie then nurses) then it's errands or a play date until she goes down for another nap from 2pm - 3:30pm. She wakes up and eats again (nurses) and plays. She goes down for a short catnap from 6pm - 6:30pm, wakes up and nurses, then eats "dinner" (oatmeal and fruit) around 7pm. We do bath time, story time, and prayers before I nurse her again around 8:15 and put her down around 8:30. Though she stopped waking up to eat at night around 5 1/2 months, we usually have to go move her once about every other night because she crams herself against the top of the crib, can't back up, and gets frustrated. We're pretty good at doing that in our sleep now and since my bladder still hasn't recovered from pregnancy (will it ever?!), it works out for me anyway.

Let's see...what else? She loves my painted toenails and grabbing for cell phones and thinks a good game of peek-a-boo is the funniest thing on earth. She sucks her thumb when she is sleepy, is very happy about her feet, and has the hearing of a hawk. (We tried hard to condition her to sleep with noise around, but that stopped working months ago and she's awakened much more easily now. I don't particularly like loud noises when I'm sleeping either, so I don't blame her. We just crank up her sound machine and try to keep it somewhat quiet during nap time.)

One of the cutest things she started doing lately can really only be described as peering. I think she's learned "object permanence", so she'll stick her little neck up and out to look around for something. She has the cutest expression when she does it and David and I just love it. I can already tell what a genius she is and paired with her gorgeous baby blue eyes, she is going to have the guys lining up. But it won't matter, because we are NEVER going to let her date. Ever. In fact, I need to wrap up this post so I can go look through those brochures I ordered on all-girl boarding schools.

So, that is the latest and greatest. She continues to amaze us beyond belief and we continue to thank God for blessing us with such a precious gift.