Nearing 7 Months

This week as I was talking to myself one morning (which I do often) I was calculating what to say for the next time someone asks me how old Rachel is. With babies, this happens a lot. It dawned on me that I've not yet had the opportunity to use the phrase, "She's 6 1/2 months" yet....it flew by so fast that we're going straight to saying "7 months". Can you believe this week she'll be 7 months?

As you can tell from the previous post from Geri, Rachel had a great time in Newburgh, IN. Jason and I did miss her a lot while she was gone, but we're glad everyone down there had a great time with her and we were able to get a bit of a break. I thought she would have changed more physically in the week she was gone, but aside from being just a wee bit bigger, she was pretty much the same!

While with her Terry Grandparents they really worked with her on eating from a spoon. Geri told me the only thing they tried that Rachel didn't really care for was carrots. Once home we've tried bananas, green beans, and sweet potatoes. So far, she's liking everything! I can tell they fed her from a spoon a lot while she was gone, which is wonderful. Instead of having to "introduce" the spoon to her each time, now she understands the concept....although she gets really frustrated that the spoon doesn't feed automatically like the bottle does. I've been trying to replace just one meal a day with a container of food, and so far it works really well.

Since her 7 month milestone is coming up I realized she was outgrowing the summer clothes I have for her that are 6 months. Perhaps that's a good thing that she's keeping up with normal sizes of clothes...but this put me in a bit of delima: I was running out of cool clothes for her to wear! Not to worry, I picked up several 6 - 9 month clothes at a garage sale this past weekend so she's set again.

I realized that yesterday was the first day I've had Rachel for a full day in several weeks. She stayed with her Esche Grandparents for the long weekend then went with her Terry Grandparents for a full week. I'm really glad for all the visiting, but that realization just surprised me, that's all! Anyway, since I typically don't monitor her habits for a full day I was really surprised by how much she sleeps. Day Care workers are always telling me she sleeps a lot, but I didn't quite realize what they meant. The report I get every day just doesn't compare to the real thing. So yesterday when she slept and slept and slept I started to get concerned she wouldn't sleep at night. No worries! I put her down around 8 and she didn't wake up until 4. So I can safely say she's not only a good eater, she's a good sleeper too!

The only thing this girl really needs help with is her hair. Poor kid, in all of her pictures she looks practically bald! And bald is beautiful BUT....I would love for her to have more hair. I noticed yesterday that she has probably 20 little baby hairs that could stick up if they wanted to. Here's hoping her hair starts growing faster than her head!!

Yesterday I also noticed she is intrigued by trees. They'll catch her attention whether they move or not. Her exersaucer sometimes sits by the palm tree in our living room and she likes to touch the palm leaves. Just this morning I'd moved her exersaucer into her room and as she sat in it I thought she was staring off into space and realized she was looking at the tree out her window.

She's also very much starting to learn her environment through touch. She wants to touch EVERYTHING. to a point, it's really cute. Except when she wants to grab at something that will spill or cause her harm. Thankfully, we're able to keep most of that out of her way, but she needs to be watched more closely than before.

The play area I set up while she was gone has been magnificent! She looks so tiny in it!:

But I can sit her in there and let her play with her toys for a little while and know she can't get into anything or hurt (except if she falls forward on her face).  The alphabet mat you see in the picture is made of a foamy material and is softer than the carpet for when she does fall over. I also think that mat will be really great for when she starts crawling. And based on how she holds herself up when she's on her tummy, that might not be too far off. Although....she still hates being on her tummy, so she might be one of those kids that kind of skip crawling and go straight to walking. We'll see.

The other day we went to visit my Grandma Esche and while playing with Rachel I had her standing up and realized she was standing on her own. All she was doing was holding on to my fingers, but the rest was all her! She's getting stronger and bigger all the time.

I also tried this week to put her in her high chair to try to feed her. I think we'll be using our Bumbo seat for a few more months...

She can barely see over the tray, let along put her hands on it. So while it is adorable to see her in the chair, we'll hold off on using it for just a little while longer.

Finally, one last picture for my readers:

Ha! I love this onsie! It came from Jason's Aunt Connie. Thank you again Connie!