7 Months.

Little J is 7 months old today! 

She is growing like a weed and learning new things every day.  She cut her first (bottom front) tooth this week, and has started rocking on all fours getting ready to crawl. She doesn't generally get herself into that position, but if I place her that way she will stay up for quite a while, rocking, whining, and trying to figure out her next move. She is very sturdy sitting now and can often get herself from a sitting position to her stomach in a controlled manner. She has a constant smile on her face and FINALLY we have gotten a few little giggles out of her!  Still no legit belly laughs, but a few giggles here and there. We'll take what we can get! She is only nursing 2x a day now and taking a bottle for her other feeds as she is just too distracted. I have to be in a perfectly quiet room with nothing going on, and that's just impossible to do every time she wants to eat, especially with a 2 year old who thinks it's time to play "jump on mama" every time I try to nurse :) For the last week now (knock on wood), I have not gone in to feed or soothe her and she's made it through the night on her own. The first few nights she woke about 3 times but cried for less than 5 minutes each time.  Last night she didn't wake/cry at all! Hoping this continues! She is wearing anything from 6-12 month clothes, size 2 shoes and size 3 diapers. She is taking 2 naps a day (9:30-11:00 and 2:00-4:30). She is eating solids 2-3 times a day and I honestly haven't even kept track of what she's tried (2nd child syndrome), but it's been a lot of things...black beans, egg yolk, yogurt, banana, carrot, parsnip, green beans, peas, bread, puffs, strawberry, blueberry, plus anything Laila has slipped her that I don't necessarily know about :) She is already more fond of eating finger foods than being spoon fed. Often I think she's eating a ton and then I take her out of her high chair and the seat is filled with food. Clearly she needs to keep working on her aim. She still takes a paci but generally only when she's sleeping and sometimes in the car. She has about 5 of them in her crib which she will find on her own throughout her nap/bedtime and put back in her mouth. It's fun to watch that process on the video monitor. She has her pink Little Giraffe lovey too that is a comfort for sleep. She loves the water and either takes baths with Laila or in the kitchen sink. She is learning she can splash and make a mess and will stay in the water until I make her get out.

She is still a mama's girl and definitely notices and cries if I leave the room, and always gets a huge grin when she sees me. Nothing can make a mama's heart melt faster. She is definitely getting a personality and sense of humor. Today at Costco she was completely instigating Laila and knew exactly what she was doing...they were in the cart next to each other and Laila was playing with my phone. Juliet kept reaching over and trying to grab it, and while Laila was very patient with her, I would "scold" Juju and tell her no and pull her hand off of Laila or the phone. She would just look at me with a huge grin and immediately reach back over for the phone...she knew it was a game of sorts and it was so funny to watch, I was literally laughing out loud and wishing I could've videotaped the interaction, but Laila had my phone! I am thankful that Laila is very patient and gentle with her (for now!)

I basically instagram everything now so here's the best of J's 7 month instagrams - 

plus a few other randoms thrown in there...

Here is a link to Laila's 7 month post. It's so funny how everything is so similar between them!