Rootbeer Floats: Seven Months Old

It is really hard for me to believe that my little miracle is already seven months old. She has got to be over 14lbs now.... Her little personality just keeps coming out. She is so sweet and easy going, but has a very stubborn side, too (just like her parents). We have been trying to get her to do more tummy time -- which she is not a big fan of.... The other day we put her on her tummy -- She cried a little, and then sucked her thumb and went to sleep. I don't think tummy time does much good when she doesn't even practice moving. She has begun to sort of roll over -- if she is at the right angle, and usually if she is mad. When we can convince her for a few minutes that her tummy is fun, she is getting better and better at holding her head up, and sometimes she will try a "flying" position.

She is loving the Exersaucer more and more She is getting better at her grabbing skills, and, of course, most of the things are going in her mouth. She also has to be in the mood to lie on her back. Recently, she has tried lifting her head while on her back -- guess she was trying to tell me something. With a little support, she really enjoys sitting up to look and play. She is also getting more and vocal -- be it happy or complaining. I Love It!

I love it when she smiles. It is a heart melter when the smile slowly builds while she is staring at you, and then it is just this big, beautiful smile. She has also learned to flail(sp?) her arms up and down and wildly kick when she is excited. I love watching her get so excited!.... I think she is also trusting that I will get her out of bed because she is not waking up and crying as much as she used to -- instead she is just making cute noises. She continues to love sucking her thumb. We still get her to take a binky sometimes. She has figured out how to sometimes hold it, and she even tries to do both sometimes. Plus, she also attempts her whole fist at times.

I have still been struggling with her not being able to nurse and me not being able to produce enough milk. I think she is just your average smart baby, and she knows the bottle is faster -- because she latched on earlier - but we were still thickening her milk then. However, I wonder if the positioning may hurt her some, too. So, I think I may be finally giving up on getting her to nurse (very sad day) -- you put her in position now and she just turns to get away. We have both shed tears in our efforts.... I just try and be grateful for the few times we got to experiment with it. We will see what happens when we get to have another baby -- We met with a lactation consultant and it might be more than Abigail's early arrival that prevented me from producing very much milk....and even though it sometimes is crazy and frustrating, I just can't give up pumping yet -- grateful technology helps me get her what milk I can. I am just so grateful that Abigail seems to be such a great eater - because preemies seem to be popular with eating issues.

I love that she loves to have me put her to sleep. I know I will probably regret it later, but it makes me feel better right now since we kind of missed out on the nursing bonding. At home she can sometimes just go in her bed without fully being asleep (fabulous) and go to sleep, but when we are not home, it is often a different story -- she must think she is going to miss something -- and fights sleep -- and generally screams at others' efforts until I take her. She is letting John put her to sleep more and more, though.

We sure do love our little girl. She loves to sing little action songs with her Daddy. Her favorite seems to be "Pat-aCake". Daddy is her favorite for playing, and she loves Mommy for cuddling... and she has us both tightly wrapped around her little finger.

Thanks for reading the long update...