2 Little Love Birds: seven months

s e v e n m o n t h s o l d

| LOVES |

Rocking on her hands and knees.

Spinning in circles.

Toys.

Grabbing everything in sight.

Nursing.
Liam.

| HATES |

Teething.
Getting dressed (especially having things put over her head).

Baby carrier.

Shoes.
Hats.
Being alone.

Not much has changed since last month ...

| DEVELOPMENT // GROWTH |

Lyla continues to get more and more mobile as the days progress. She can sit up on her own for longer periods of time now without letting go of her core muscles and toppling over. haha She spends a lot of her time on her hands and knees and while she still hasn't mastered the hand/knee coordination/movement to actually crawl yet, she still manages to get where she wants to go and quickly. haha Lots of lunging and spinning in circles! She'll grab and chew on anything in sight which means we've had to make more of a conscious effort of teaching Liam the toys he can and can not play with around her. She got her first two teeth this month and was pretty miserable throughout the whole process but we've discovered chewing on frozen baby wash cloths has helped. She is still wearing 6-12 month clothes, size 3 diapers, and 0-3 month shoes. Her bald patch is officially grown back in, the hair is just much shorter in the back than it is on top of her head.

| SLEEP |

Not much has changed in the sleep department ... I'd like to chalk it all up to teething or lack of solid foods in her diet but who knows at this point. She'll only take one 2 - 3 hour nap during the day (usually at about noon) which means she struggles to make it to bed time. We don't ever go anywhere between the hours of 5-7 at night in fear that she will try to nap then and ruin her bed time or just scream the whole time we are out. We put her down at 7 PM and she wakes every 3 to 4 hours to nurse throughout the night (some nights every 2 during teething). She typically gets up for the day at 7 AM. She is still sleeping on her tummy with her knees tucked and her cute little bum in the air!!

| EAT |

As I mentioned last month, because of continued reflux issues we completely cut out solids from her diet. Spitting up has gotten a little better over the last couple weeks so we are hoping to reintroduce solids this next month. Maybe then she'll sleep for longer periods at night. ;) She nurses every 2 to 3 hours at this point.

Dear Lyla,

When you smile at us these days, you have two tiny teeth peeking back through your grin. It just might be the cutest thing I've ever seen but boy is it not fun in the nursing department. Let's just say you left your mark, OUCH! But I felt awful watching you be in pain so really, it was my way of hoping to take at least an ounce of your pain away from you and make you feel better. You're seven months old and I love this age so much! You are exploring every inch of the world around you, raking your fingers across different textures and grabbing onto everything you aren't supposed to. haha Your favorite game right now is to be bouncing away in the bouncer while your brother runs laps around the kitchen making silly noises and causing you both fits of giggles. It is entertaining even for us to watch! You are a stingy giggler (unless Liam looks your way!) but a raspberry on your tummy usually does the trick! You have what daddy and I like to call Disney princess eyes. Such a beautiful blue color and the prettiest almond shape. Everywhere we go people comment on what pretty lips you have too. I love that even though you aren't eating solid foods, you still have rolls for days and I'm soaking up every minute you keep your hand dimples too. When you were eating solid foods your eczema caused a rash around your mouth and it is thankfully finally starting to clear up. You'll be embarrassed to hear this some day but whenever I eat super healthy and have a lot of vegetables in my diet you get the worst gas. haha I keep hoping to take you on your first swing ride at the park but the weather hasn't permitted it so far, I think you're going to love it! You really are not a fan of walks around the neighborhood in your stroller or the baby carrier right now because you really want to see everything around you. Honestly, I don't blame you. We're hoping to get a wagon for that purpose soon. I've found myself having moments of sadness at the passing of time because it goes so quickly and you change so quickly with it so I'll hold you in my arms longer and spend more of my day soaking up everything that makes you seven months old. I love you more than you will probably ever know but I'll spend every one of my days showing you how much the best way I know how!
Love, Momma

| SEVEN MONTH PICTURES |

Liam helped me take this picture of her and now it is one of my very favorites ...

Loving on her baby sheep she got from Sita for Easter ...

Bunny ears on her first Easter!

From our rainbow babe's first St. Patrick's Day ...

This picture is really blurry but I still love it so much!

Her face haha, so determined!

We bought this bear suit for her for Christmas in a size bigger than she was at the time in hopes that it would fit her all winter long ... well, the jokes on us because it looks like it will actually fit her in the summer time. haha Still the cutest baby bear!