7 months!

I CANNOT believe my little girl is 7 months old! This is going to sound weird, but it just feels like it's so close to a year!  Its the other side of 6 months....which is on its way to one year.  I know for some thats like "duh Ashleigh, 7 months is closer to 12 than 6 is..." but it's like a milestone or something haha.

My dear sweet Madison,

You fill our lives with joy each day.  I look forward to coming home every day, and I miss you terribly when I drive away from you. I wish we could spend every day together.  Your smile is contagious and you are quite the independent little girl!  You are sitting up very well now, and I can leave you playing and go into the next room for a minute, and 99% of the time you are still sitting when I come back :)

You are almost growing out of 3-6 and 6 month clothes.  You wore a 6-9 month outfit the other day and it wasn't that big on you!  Guess I better start washing the 6-9 month clothes!!
You are still in size 3 diapers and I hope it stays that way for a little while because we have a lot of them!

You are eating some solids, though you still have the tongue thrusting reflex and so you aren't able to swallow as much as you would like.  You LOVE rice teething biscuits, and you like bananas and green beans. Grandma is actually the best at feeding you, and she had to teach me how to do it! You and I made a horrible mess together and almost none stayed in your mouth.  You also loooove these broccoli cheetos that they make for babies.  You can't get enough!  I feel kinda weird giving you processed stuff already but you are not liking the real stuff yet and I want you to learn how to chew and swallow!  You like gnawing on green beans, broccoli stems, bananas, etc., but you can't quite figure out how to chew and swallow it yet.  Which is perfectly fine!  I just feel like the baby cheetos and rice biscuits are teaching you how to chew and swallow and then you will generalize it to real food.

You waved for the first time the other day!  ......to a cashier in the store!  haha!  I've been trying to get you to wave at me and then you do it to a stranger.  silly girl!  Appropriate, though!  You did wave at me and Daddy last night though :)
Speaking of daddy....oh BOY do you love him! you smile so big when you see him, and you love to touch his face and hair.  He loves you so much too :)  He told me last night that his favorite view of you is of your little back, sitting up so strong :)

As I mentioned before, you are so independent!  You come by it honest. You just love to play with your toys, either in your jumperoo, exersaucer, or on the floor with toys spread everywhere.  And if there are toys in sight but not on your blanket with you?  You won't rest until you have them.  You will reach and look and fuss and definitely communicate that you WANT THOSE!

You are getting closer to crawling!  You will reach forward while sitting, and one leg will go behind you and one leg will be under.  I think your little hips aren't strong enough to support your body weight yet, otherwise you would be on all fours by now!   Which is fine, you don't need to crawl right now :)  I think you will be happier when you can, though.  You get a wee bit frustrated when you want something but can't get it.

You are still exclusively nursing (with the exception of your solid food "snacks") and still love it!  I love that I get to snuggle with you multiple times a day.  You are very much a momma's girl, and will reach and stretch for me if someone else is holding you!!

I am waiting for these teeth to come through!  Some days they don't bother you a bit, and others you are hurting a lot :( I want them to come through so you aren't hurting anymore, but it will be sad when you don't have that sweet gummy smile anymore!  You will just have a toothy smile, and that will be okay too :)

You still wake up 2-3 times every night....which I'll be honest....is not very fun for mommy.  I do wish you would sleep at least for 5-6 hours in a row. But I refuse to let you "cry it out" so this is how it will be until you figure out that you should just eat enough during the day!!  You sleep in the pack n play next to our bed, so its not that bad to get up and get you. And I do love snuggling your little warm body at night :)  During the day you are so active, wiggling and looking everywhere.  It is nice to have some calm snuggle time with you.

I just keep thinking that you are growing up so fast, and soon you will be a toddler and won't let me snuggle and hold you anymore! Or not as much. I am trying to cherish all of these memorable moments so I don't feel like I have taken anything for granted.  I am so thankful that I have a sweet, happy, healthy baby who is meeting all of her milestones.  I can't imagine the alternative.

You have blessed our lives in more ways than you know.  You will never understand until you have your own children.  I certainly never did.  You are amazing and beautiful, and so very loved by many people.

I love you to the moon and back,
Mommy