A Hales Life: 7 Months

(and a day technically.)

Dear Kayla,

Today (yesterday) you turned 7 months old. I can't believe how fast the time is flying and how grown up you already feel to me. You have gone from being a little tiny, gassy baby who didn't move much besides her legs and head to a still comparatively small little human being who loves to crawl and climb on everything and sits like I would imagine any adult would sit. I can't say that I have loved every single second of the past 7 months, but the seconds I have loved far outweigh the ones I didn't....far outweigh. Sometimes I wish I could go back in time and redo some of those moments and change how I reacted to them, but I will always focus my memories on all the wonderful times we've had, because I don't get to be a new mom again. I now miss those times when you were tiny and more cuddly, but I absolutely love watching you grow and learn everyday.

Here are some things you love or have learned this month:

You love to eat any and all kinds of fruits, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, corn, pumpkin, but you sure do hate green vegetables. We tried to give you some finger foods like pears, broccoli, and avocado but you just really aren't sure yet. You really love the little melt in your mouth snacks we bought for you though, and those mum mums for your poor teething gums. You have learned to drink out of a sippy cup on your own! But you have a brand preference for sure.

You still aren't sleeping too great. We are officially down to 2 pretty good naps at pretty much the same times during the day, but you still like to have some mommy and me time at night. I'm starting to come around to this since soon I'll have to go back to work and I'm really going to miss getting to see you all the time.

You hate to sit still. Like, hate it. Attempting to take these monthly photos is becoming significantly harder.

But I can almost always get you to smile, which really brightens my day.

You also have a new found love of shaking things. I love to watch you from the bottom of the stairs sitting contentedly and shaking on of your little balls or tumblers and just smiling at me because you are so proud of yourself.

You love your toy box, sometimes it seems even more than the toys that are in it. And literally everything goes to your mouth. Part of me wishes those little teeth will come through for all of our sakes.

You love to use your toy box to help you stand up and then you proceed to pull of your toys out and throw them on the floor. I want to be upset at the mess you are making but you are just too cute to be mad at. So I put them back in and you pull them back out, it's like our own little game.

Speaking of standing, sometimes you let go all together and can stand on your own for 3-4 seconds before you slowly lower yourself down when you get a little scared because you don't know what you are doing. I'm encouraging this new growth. Although it's a struggle between being so proud of all your new milestones and really wanting the time to stop so I can enjoy you for a second.

You love to crawl as fast as you can towards your pillow pet, or the big furry blanket or into the dog bed and dive into it rubbing your face all over it to feel the texture. Really, you just love to crawl, especially toward the stairs now-a-days.

You transition so easily from crawling to sitting to standing to sitting to crawling to lying. It's so amazing to me how far you have come in just a month! Sometimes I think you might be a model because you have this new pose you like where you sit on one hip and prop yourself up on your elbow, with your legs crossed of course. You can practically pirouette on your butt. You are amazing. :)

When daddy and Aunt Megan get home from work, you always give them a big smile and begin flapping your arms like a bird and yelling in excitement.

And you (and I) sure love our new favorite cloth diapers, and this one is in Mommy's favorite color!

You love mirrors. It's like you are wondering who that cute baby is and then you want to touch her, so you reach out for your own hand.

Sometimes, I can just tell your mind is reeling trying to think of what you want to do and how you are going to do it.

You had a little fight with bath time for a few days there, but now you realized it's just as fun as the pool because you can wave your hands and slap the water to make it splash all over you and anyone in your vicinity.

You love to talk to me with your one syllable words like bah and pah and I think your first word may have been "up" (which was apparently a favorite words of your mommy's when she was little.) And you love to blow raspberries and make all sorts of noises with your little lips. You have so many funny and adorable faces.

You also started to discover that objects have permanence and it's no longer out of sight out of mind. I can tell because if something rolls under the couch or cabinet, you bend your little body in half and tilt your head to the side to look underneath. The little head cocked to the side trying to see behind my back where I hid that toy I was just rattling in your face to get you to look at the camera...it just kills me.

I love those blue grey eyes, just like mommy's.

You laugh and smile all the time. If the only "negative" thing about you is that you wake up once a night because you are a little hungry, or maybe just want some mommy time, I will take it. Because you are probably one of the happiest babies I know. Your smiles have changed from gummy smiles with mostly lips to these giant open mouthed smiles, where you show off not only your two little bottom teeth, but all the gums on top and bottom. You play by yourself and then all of the sudden will just look at me and smile. I can make you laugh by doing the silliest of things, like clapping your feet together when I'm changing your diaper, or tickling your chin, or tickling your forearm when you are holding my hand when I put you down for naptime or bedtime, or rubbing my nose on the bottoms of your feet. And daddy makes you giggle every night when he gets home from work. I can't even describe in words how much I love that laugh. Love is just bursting out of me for everything about you. One day you will understand, when you have a daughter (or son) of your own.