Seven Months!

Note the PJs...we almost missed our monthly picture-taking!

So, Julia turned seven months old last week, but due to the plague that infected our house (see previous post), I didn't have a chance to post about it. Let's get the obvious out of the way first: she's still not sleeping through the night. However, we have made progress in this arena in that she now knows how to get herself to sleep on her own. So, at bedtime, naptime, or in the middle of the night, we can rock her for a few minutes, put her down in her crib, and she's usually asleep within a few minutes (sometimes there is a bit of crying or talking). So, this is an improvement! Now, at least if we're up in the middle of the night, it's just for a few minutes instead of two hours. But still, we've got to do something to get her to sleep through, and I'm afraid that's going to involve ignoring her. I just wish I knew if she is truly hungry when she wakes up...she always chugs her bottle, but who knows if that's just because it's there. I don't want to deny her food if she needs it (my pediatrician claims she doesn't at this age), but I also want to stop this 3AM wake up! So, we'll see how it plays out.

On a non-sleep note, seven months is so much fun! Julia is the happiest baby I've ever met, always smiling, giggling, cooing, and talking. Apparently I am hilarious, because every time she looks at me she starts giggling and patting my face. But, Will is by far the funniest person on the planet, according to her. She just cackles at him! She's really started babbling a lot in the past month, too, with her favorite word being "ah-da". She's sitting up well now, and also likes laying on her back and kicking her legs and waving her arms. She seems to even enjoy tummy time more, and we found her asleep on her belly during naptime the other day! She loves her exersaucer, but is quickly outgrowing her swing and bouncy seat because she tries to kick or sit up every time she's in them.

On the eating front, she's still nursing, but I will likely give that up soon, although I'm very conflicted about it. She's also gotten better at eating her baby food and seems to like more and more types of food each week (and wants more and more quantity!). Overall, she's just a wonderful, happy, snuggly baby. We love each minute with her!