You've been with us for seven months, baby girl! Seven whole months. I just thought time flew by when your brother was little -- but nope! Your infancy is going by so much more quickly, and it genuinely hurts my heart. It makes me so proud at the same time, too, which is one of those mysteries of motherhood. You keep learning new tricks, perfecting old ones, and don't worry -- you're still the stubborn girl you've always been.
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Over the last month, you have walked (strolled and been carried on my chest) our neighborhood more times than I can count, been to the fair for the first (and second) time, been to the strawberry farm for the first time, taken several adventures with our Hike It Baby crew, spent a few days by the pool, had your first tastes of food (more on that later), worked on getting stronger and sitting up better, fallen asleep in my arms a couple of times (swoon!), and (most recently) been to the top of Table Rock. So many adventures, so little time! A theme of your childhood will always be to go, go, go, but another one will be rest, rest, rest. I hope you're okay with that, little one. As far as schedule goes, you are still taking four full bottles a day and two long naps each day (with an occasional cat nap in the late afternoon). An interesting thing happened a couple of weeks ago that made me feel like the worst mom ever, too...I completely forgot about your six month well check. I'm over it currently, but I beat myself up pretty good for a few days -- hopefully perfectionism won't eat at you like it does at me. The good news, though, is that Parkside was very gracious when I called two hours after your appointment to embarrassingly let them know that I'd forgotten, and I learned a good lesson, too: it happens. Hopefully I won't make a habit out of giving my mushy mom brain room to go haywire often. Lord, have mercy on me.
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So, I mentioned food. Yep, it's going that good. By the time your brother was this age, he was eating solids twice a day and loving every minute of it. You, on the other hand, aren't interested in food AT ALL. More specifically, you don't like it AT ALL. I was expecting that you wouldn't be as enthusiastic as Braxton was (because, honestly, no one is), but I wasn't expecting for you to spit it out every time it touches your mouth or gag it back up/out any time it reaches your tongue or cry when I persist. Again, I should have seen it coming based on how long it took you to take your bottle well, but I was holding onto hope. Oh well, maybe next month. Orrrrrr maybe not.
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You still don't have any teeth yet, even though your gums have been swollen for months. They're just taking their sweet time! Everything that you grab with your hands goes straight to your mouth, which means that you are teething in full force. Lots of drool, too, so we're just waiting for one (or two) to pop through and show itself. We're, also, waiting for you to really start laughing. You give us giggles every once in a while, mainly when I get your tickle spots, but you haven't given us a big cackle laugh yet. It's killing us, girlfriend! You just love to keep us on our toes, I'm convinced. Always reminding us that no two children are just alike!
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Today is a day that we celebrate you and all of your milestones, but it's special for another reason, too...it's Father's Day! So while I am thanking God for you and the seven months we've called you our baby girl, I'm also thanking Him for your daddy. We'd be so lost without him, and I personally love watching him love you and your big brother -- he does it so well. He melts every time you smile at him, and it takes a good man to be vulnerable enough to visibly turn into a puddle with just a look from their daddy. You and Braxton are so blessed -- and so am I because of it!
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This time next week, you'll be experiencing the beach for the first time. Oh, I can hardly wait! You're loaded down with precious beach clothes, the cutest swimsuits, your cool shades, several floppy hats, and sunscreen...now, here's to hoping you don't hate the sand as much as your brother did at first. Haha! But seriously, I can't wait to put your toes in the saltwater for the first time. You're a water baby, much more so than Braxton was at your age, so I've got high hopes. And speaking of Braxton, I know he is going to be so proud to show you a new part of the world. He'll be doing a lot of showing off for you, too, so I know you'll be thoroughly entertained.
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Keep growing big and strong, little one. You have made us smile big, pray big, cry big, laugh big, and crash big since you joined our family, and it's thrilling (while equally exhausting, LOL) to think that we're just getting started. We can't remember life before you, and there's no way we'd ever want to go back to it. You are so, so loved by us, baby girl!
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