7 months

Dear sweet Ava Sophia,


You turned 7 months on April 29th. What an eventful month it has been! 

This month you were sick or teething 90% of the time. Poor baby girl. You handled it as well as could be expected, and just wanted to be snuggled as much as possible. This, of course, includes in the middle of the night. So, your Daddy and I gave in many more times than we should have and let you sleep with us. I loved having you so close to me all night long, but as soon as you were feeling better, you were back in your own crib. Thankfully, you transitioned back to your crib nicely. 


During one of your doctor's visits, we were surprised to find that you weighed 16.5 pounds (versus the 18.5 pounds you weighed at your 6 month appointment). The doctor said that while you probably lost a little weight because you were sick, he thinks the scale they weighed you on is weighing too heavy. So...I guess we will see about that at your 9 month appointment (the next time you have a well-baby checkup). 

You have become much more mobile and are so close to crawling, I can taste it. You can get into the crawling position by leaning over when you are sitting down. You get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth. You are slowly figuring out how to move your arms forward OR your legs forward, but you can't move them both at the same time. There are a lot of face plants, but you are getting much better! You can turn yourself around in a complete circle, as evidenced by the crazy positions I find you in when you wake up from your naps. 

We are continuing to work on pureed foods. We’ve also introduced you to some finger foods, like bananas, bread, and the almighty PUFFS. You literally go GAGA over puffs. You are slowly learning to feed yourself finger foods, but most of the time the food ends up anywhere but your mouth. I have found puffs on your shoulders, down your shirt, and once even wedged in between your toes. Keep practicing, little girl. Getting that food into your mouth is a skill you will appreciate for your whole life.

You have learned to give kisses. We pucker up and say "kiss kiss" and you lunge forward with your mouth wide open. Those slobbery, open-mouth kisses are cute for now, as long as you promise they are just for Mommy and Daddy until you are at least...25 (maybe older). :) You also wave "bye bye" but you don't know what it means yet. 


You started the month completely toothless. Now you have two tiny, white teeth in the front bottom of your mouth. Those little teeth were sharp and mean as they pushed their way through your baby gums, but now that they are out they are as cute as can be. 

You are wearing size 3 diapers and 9 month or 9-12 month clothes. I like to buy clothes a little big for you so you get more use out of them because you are growing much too fast for your momma's liking.

Here are some skills you have perfected this month:

• Putting your pacifier in your own mouth. 
• Sitting - you are 100% stable and able to sit on your own without falling. 
• You say many consonants now: Da da, ba ba, ma ma, la la. You babble all the time, and loudly too. 
• Falling asleep on your own. Thanks to sleep training I put you down fully awake for naps and at bedtime and you can soothe yourself to sleep every time. 
• Standing while holding onto something without any help. You have even learned how to pull yourself up if (and only if) you are sitting on my lap. 
• Toys hold your interest much better and for longer now. 

You are on a 4-hour feeding schedule now. You eat at 9am, 1pm, 5pm and 9pm. Sometimes you have a small "snack" between 5-7am.  I feed you a jar of baby food twice a day (usually around 10am and then again around 8pm). You always go to bed at 9pm and wake up at 9am. You take two naps, one at 11(1-1.5 hours) and one at 3pm (2-2.5 hours). It is so nice having you on a schedule. 


Ava, you continue to charm every person you come in contact with. The second someone smiles at you, you flash them the biggest baby grin anyone has ever seen and they go nuts over you. You are a very social baby and you love people. Your Daddy and I are so proud to have such a sweet, lovable baby. You are absolute joy. 

We have an fun month planned ahead! You will be taking an airplane ride to Colorado to see your Uncle Jayson graduate high school. It will be your first time away from Daddy, which will be so sad. We will miss him. But as soon as we come back, we will be moving to a new home. How exciting!

Love you so much, sweet Ava Sophia! 

Love, 

Momma