We are at 7 months!!! Seven wonderful, sweet, happy months with this precious baby. Every day just gets more and more fun. She makes us laugh, surprises the heck out of us with everything she can do, and basically just makes us feel like our hearts are going to burst with love!
When we were taking these pictures, she had the hiccups. Of course, we were trying to make her smile so I started imitating her hiccups. She was laughing like crazy! You can pretty much guarantee I'll be fake hiccuping all the time until she doesn't think it's funny anymore! ;)
For the most part, she really is such a happy baby and doesn't cry much at all! I'm so thankful for that!
One Month Update
Two Month Update
Three Month Update
Four Month Update
Five Month Update
Six Month Update
Here's what's been going on with Emery the last month.
- We won't go back to the doctor to be weighed and measured until shortly before Christmas for her 9 month appointment. We "unofficially" weighed her by holding her while we weighed ourselves and we think
she's about 18.5 pounds. I know she's grown a little in length, too, because it shows in some of her clothes.
- There are just a couple of 3 month things that she can still wear {mostly shirts}, but most of her clothes are now 6 month and 6-9 month. There are a few 6 month pajamas that she can still wear, but she's wearing a mix of 6 month and 9 month now. I'm guessing she'll be in only 9 month pajamas in a week or two. She's still wearing size 2 diapers and they still seem pretty comfy.
- Her schedule is pretty much the same as it was last month, but we've started putting her to bed a little earlier. She was waking up in the middle of the night every now and then and I read on one of the baby websites that going to sleep earlier can prevent that. So we feed her her last bottle around 6:45-7:15 and try and have her in bed by 7:45. It's seemed to work, although she's waking up around 6:15 most mornings now. She'll still sleep until 7:00-7:30 every now and then...it's totally unpredictable! She almost always sleeps on her side or her tummy.
- Naps are still hit or miss, but getting better. She went through another short phase of 45 minute naps, but I think it was because we were off routine for a few days. On normal days, she usually takes naps that are an hour and 15 minutes to an hour and 45 minutes. So much better than those days of only 45 minute naps! I almost always rock her and sing her to sleep for her naps because it is just the most precious time to me. I know so many books and websites would say not to, but I don't care. There is absolutely nothing sweeter than rocking her to sleep and I know for certain that I'll never wish I had rocked her less!
- She has become the best little eater. Feeding her used to be *so* messy, but it's gotten so much easier {and fun!}. Sometimes she doesn't even get anything on her bib! {
These are the *best* bibs in the world!} She is loving {I mean, LOVING} all the new foods she gets to try. When she sees me get her little bowl and spoon ready, she gets so excited and her little arms and legs go crazy! <3 She's had butternut squash, peas, prunes, apples, banana, broccoli, oatmeal, zucchini, amaranth, and blueberries this month and she's loved it all! I think her favorite might be butternut squash. I also gave her sweet potatoes again which she seems to like now. I feed her about 2 ounces of baby food twice a day with some cereal. She still taking 4 bottles a day, each one between 5-7 ounces, and she almost always wants to hold one of her pacifiers while she drinks her bottle. :)
- Still NO tooth!! I'm starting to worry that she's never going to get one. {I know, I'm being ridiculous.} She's still showing all the signs. Some days it seems like her gums are driving her crazy and other days they don't seem to be bothering her at all. She does love Sophie!
- She is sitting up! It just seemed like one day, all of the sudden, she could do it! I still stay right next to her or surround her with pillows, but she rarely loses her balance or topples over. She recently figured out that she can sit up in the bathtub!
- She's even better at rolling and can pretty much go wherever she wants by rolling. Playing on the floor has pretty much become her favorite thing to do. She still likes the
exersaucer, but she definitely prefers to be on the floor with her toys. She can use her arms to pivot completely around and she also will pull the blanket to get a toy that's out of her reach. She's even spotted my foot on the blanket and tried to pull the blanket to bring it closer!
- The art of distraction has become a must! Now that she's so good at rolling, it's all she wants to do when she's on the floor, changing table, etc... We have to give her something to hold while we change her diapers, put lotion on her at night or after her bath, and get her dressed. Otherwise, it's almost impossible. She really likes playing with her hairbrush which makes me laugh! She's started to get a little restless during prayer time before bed. We give her a book to hold {or slap repeatedly, another one of her favorite things} while we pray and that makes her pretty happy.
- She really is starting to recognize and show excitement for things she likes. She knows her bottle {she'll dive for it if we're holding her and it's in our hands}, her favorite
Taggies caterpillar rattle, her
mobile, and of course her
Wubbanub pacifiers {we put both of them in her crib at night and she usually has one in her mouth and is snuggling with the other one}. All of those things get a big smile, legs kicking, and hands flying up and down! She's always loved books, but she's really developed a favorite these last few weeks. She absolutely adores
Buzz, Buzz Baby. I ordered her another set of
these flap books and she loves those, too. She usually kicks in excitement every time we turn the page. She does the same thing for her
books we read at
bedtime. :)
- Anything I have in my hands while I'm holding her is fair game in her eyes. Sometimes she just wants to hold it, sometimes she just wants to put a hand on it and "help" me hold it, and sometimes she just wants to put it in her mouth. When we go get the mail, she always puts a hand on the mail while we walk back to the house as if she's helping me. I just think it's the cutest thing ever to see her little hands holding something. She's the same way when she's in her
Bumbo seat on the counter. I have to make sure there is nothing in her reach because she *will* get it. She leans over as much as she possibly can trying to grab anything! And sometimes, I let her have whatever she's reaching for! :)
- Daddy getting home is one of our favorite parts of the day. If she's awake, she usually perks right up when she hears him and gives him a huge smile when she sees him. It melts both of our hearts every single time.
- Giggles are getting a little easier to get out of her. Daniel can always get her giggling by kissing her with his scratchy whiskers and tickling her, and she's also started laughing when she's holding something and we try and pull it away from her. I don't know why she thinks that's so funny, but she loves it! We do this a lot when I'm folding laundry. She also loves it when we blow raspberries! I can also usually get her to laugh when I talk to her in a Cookie Monster voice {no, there will not be a video of this}! :) She loves playing peek-a-boo, too. She doesn't always laugh, but we always get the smile where her mouth is open about as wide as it could be!
- She's making a lot of noises, but she does these sweet little happy squeals that I just love. I'll imitate her and she usually gives me the sweetest smile back. I'm pretty sure we have some pretty serious conversations with each other.
- It was almost like she rediscovered her hands for a week or so this month. She was staring at them constantly and turning them every which way right in front of her face.
- The ceiling fan used to be one of her favorite things to look at, and it still catches her eye from time to time, but she now *loves* the chandelier in her bedroom and leans all the way back when I'm holding her so she can get a peek at it.
- There's a canvas hanging above her changing table and she's figured out that she can kick it and reach for it. She even kicked it off the wall once...thank goodness for quick mommy reflexes. I'm looking at this as an opportunity to teach her what "no" means. :)
- Speaking of "no", she's started crying when we take things away from her. Oh, my heart. She is going to be trouble for us. Thankfully, she usually forgets about it in a couple of seconds or we distract her with something else.
- I love that she's so much more interactive now and that we can actually play *with* her. One of my favorite things to do with her is to hold toys in her exersaucer and asking her if she can get them. She does it every time! She's also really good at knocking the monkeys down when I put them at the top of the arch. I always clap and say "yay!" and she gets the sweetest smile like she's so proud of herself!
- And one of my favorite things from this month is what she's started doing when we get her in the morning or after her naps. She's almost always on her tummy propped up on her hands and as soon as she hears us, she drops face first and starts kicking and waving her arms like crazy. Then she pops back up, gives us a huge smile, then drops face first again. She looks like the cutest little turtle that's trying desperately to go somewhere! :)
Well, if you've made it this far, I'm sure you realize that I'm clearly terrible at summarizing! :) Every little thing is just so precious to me and I want to remember it all!
Day 284: She rolled all the way off the rug onto the hardwood for the first time today. No need to crawl when she can roll wherever she wants to go! I guess it's time to baby proof...and swiffer more often.
Day 285: Sweet girl all dressed up for church this morning.
Day 286: Getting a pedi while I watch Dancing With the Stars. <3 #truelove #sweetheart
Day 287: Seven months old today! Definitely the fastest and best months of my life! 
Day 288: Officially on our way to our first beach trip with a baby in a PACKED Jeep. I knew we'd need a lot of stuff, but oh my goodness. It looks like we are taking half the house! Fingers crossed for sleeping straight through and that she likes the beach!
Day 289: This baby loves the beach!
Day 290: I'm so thankful for this time I get to spend with the people I love the most!
Day 291: Her new favorite face to make!
Day 292: The beach wore this baby out, but she had so much fun and was so good! (And Sophie with a photo bomb...)
Day 293: Helping Mommy catch up on laundry after our beach trip!
Day 294: She has been getting that little knee up under her an awful lot these last few days. Noooo!
Day 295: Just playing in the laundry baskets while I put another load of laundry in the washer!
Day 296: Her new thing is leaning from side to side...especially in her Bumbo seat. It's almost like she's saying, "Don't I look so cute?"
Day 297: Date night at home... Publix sushi is actually really good!
