Seven Months Strong

I almost hate that Audra is 7 months old. Not in the "I can't believe how time flew" way but in the "I don't want her to be done with being 6 months old yet" way. Yes I admit I want her to stay 6 months for a few months longer. I'm not ready for her to be 7 months old. I not ready to tell strangers she is 7 months old, I want to keep saying she is 6 months old. Weird right? I prayed to hit the 6 month milestone for weeks and months. I prayed that I would survive until then but now it's come and gone and here we are at 7 months. I don't like the number 7. It's an odd number, I don't like odd numbers. But somewhere inside me is trying to convince my heart that the 7th month will be even better than the 6th month. I just find it hard to believe. Prove me wrong Audra?

At 7 months Audra is just cruising along. Loving life. Loving her activity jumper. Loving this Summer weather with all her might. If we stand by the sliding door for a moment and then walk away...she fusses because she realizes we are not going outside. This child is serious about being outside. Cannot get enough of it. I used to bring us a blanket and half a dozen toys so she wouldn't get bored easily but now sometimes we just walk out without anything but maybe a sun hat and just sit in the grass. The grass (that is not dead from lack of rain) is her toy. Clover flowers are her jam. She is a pro at picking them and putting them in her mouth. No first-time-mom syndrome here. If she wants the flower in her mouth and doesn't gum it off the stem and the flower is not dried or covered in bird poop then she gets the flower. It keeps her occupied and happy. Who am I to complain or take it away? Hashtag crunchy momma wannabe.

But when my child is not chewing on leaves and flowers she is loving the Move and Crawl Ball from V-tech. We borrowed it from my mother-in-law and she loves it. She also loves tupperware in the same manner. She's easy to please like that. When she isn't rolling all over the floor trying to get a toy or the cat she is begging for me to sit down with her so she can pull herself up on me. Shirt, knees, hair, anything that is grab-able she grabs. She will just stand and sit for as long as I sit there with her. She is also rocking back and forth on hands and knees these days too when she is in the mood. And if she is near anything with a tag, she will find it, she will talk to it and she will suck on it...forever.

"Hey, you've got a different number on your tummy today"

This is a glimpse of my future. At.ti.tude. 

Weeeeee! This chair moves!              Holy zebras...this chair moves.     

Tags. Nom. Nom. Nom. 

In other news we are 7 months into breastfeeding and I'm still proud of myself for making it this far but sometimes it's still so frustrating. When it doesn't hurt Audra moves non-stop. Scratch that, it still hurts sometimes AND she moves non stop. Some babies may prop up a leg or an arm on mom but Audra tries to grab her feet when she eats. And then she tries to grab my hand and pull it down in between her legs and then hold it there while she again, grabs her feet. If I lay my hand anywhere on her body she pushes it off. It's a circus. A breastfeeding circus. And she, of course, is the ringleader. 

I guess I can finally say that Audra has been sleeping through the night for about 3 months now. I still hope I'm not jinxing myself but lately she gets up at least once every other night from either bad dreams or hunger. I try my hardest not to nurse her at night anymore. I've only done it twice so far. It's time to fill her tummy super full before bed so she is not waking up at night. And also so she is not waking up at the crack of dawn starving. I would love to sleep in past 6am these days! But either way I'm getting a full nights rest and that is nothing to complain about at all. 

And just for fun...I love looking at how she's changed and yet stayed the same

Happy Tuesday Friends. Smile, just because you can