7 months, tomorrow

Tomorrow Little Miss will be 7 months old. Here is a summary of her state of being at 7 months.

She doesn't yet crawl but she is really trying. When she gets tired she rolls onto her back and gets where she wants that way.

She says :"Dada, Baba and aye-yai-yai." She also fake-coughs with an "h" sound.

She shakes her head "no" when she doesn't want more food.

She has two teeth - bottom, middle

She still is a HORRIBLE sleeper. She sleeps until about midnight and then one of us goes in the room and holds her in the recliner. At 9 months we are seriously considering Ferberizing. Not that it will necessariy work...

She cries when she is left somewhere - like in her exersaucer or on a play mat, even if you are just walking 10 feet away to get something. She does not like the sense that you are putting her someplace to go and do something else. I spend a lot of time trying to fool her into thinking I am near her when I am now.

She is not very good at being read to. She grabs the book and wants to eat it.

RIght now she loves her plastic pail with plastic block shapes in it, her stackable rings and this little plastic chain link thing. Those are her favorites these days. She also loves her purple talking stuffed dog, Violet.

She likes NEW things - stuff she's never seen before. We have kept some toys in their boxes to kind of ration out to her. A new toy is usually very exciting. She also likes things she should not have like my cell phone charger and greeting cards.

She sits up unsupported very well and only falls over if she gets overly excited or reaches too far for something. If she falls over she cries a lot.

She can sip out of a cup of waterif you help her.

She is not into the sippy cup - it requires much more suction than one would think! I've tried to modify it so it comes out more easily but even so, she isn't into it.

We do not let her "watch" television except if there is an important sports game on like the Steelers or Penguins. Occasionally, Kevin has a rerun of Family Guy or The Office on when she gets her last bottle. Of course, when we go to other people's houses, some people just have the tv on for...what? Background noise or something? (I really don't understand this, myself, because I find it challenging to have a conversation when there is a tv in my ear but I realize this is what many people do, so I dont' really think about it much.) But we are keeping the idea of TV as a novelty to her. It's not good for little ones to watch tv or even be exposed to it regularly, probably ever, but certainly not until age 2. This child is already very strong willed - the last thing I need is ADD/ADHD on top of that. I know a lot of people use tv as a babysitter, and I can totally understand that on some days when I am trying to get my work and school work done and watch her at the same time, but I'm trying to avoid that whole situation, tempting as it may be. It is one of few things I haven't caved on.

I make Cassidy's babyfood. So far we have done carrots, applesauce, sweet potatoes, butternut sqaush, spinach, avacado, garbonzo beans and potatoes. She has had exactly two jars of jarred baby food and I am NOT a fan. (Although I am ok with organic jarred food on occasions where it's impractical to carry homemade babyfood around.) She has liked everything except potatoes and avacado but she might just have been grouchy on those days. She has also had oatmeal and rice cereal.

Cassidy went to her first day at a real daycare 2 Fridays ago. Two days later she came down with the stomach virus from hell. Pooping everywhere and a little vomit. We are on day 10 and there is still at least 1 major blowout per day that involves an entire wardrobe change and wipedown or full bath, and several bad diaper changes. We have gone through an obscene number of diapers and an entire tube of diaper cream. Thank you Method brand for making an awesome diaper cream that has kept her bum rash-free. The doc says just keep her hydrated and make sure there is no fever. We have been giving her Pedialyte and pro biotics. Hopefully we will be over this soon. The other part of the story is that she managed to give this to me, Kevin, my mom, my dad and my cousin. I will spare you the details but it was NOT pretty.

That about wraps up her 7 month update. She is a delight about 60% of her waking hours and about 50% of her should-be-sleeping hours. This about sums it up:

There once was a girl who had a big curl,
RIght in the middle of her forehead.
When she was good, she was very, very good.
But when she was bad, she was horrid!