What 7 mos. Looks Like

R is 7 months old! Not that it happened today, actually it was October 29th, but I was feeling nostalgic and decided to write about what she can do now.

I love that she is 7 months old because she is so much more fun to be around now! Crying has decreased dramatically, and smiles and laughter have flourished. She is so curious, looking and smiling at everything. She especially loves the pets. Her favorite toy is her ladybug book. She didn't pay her much attention before, but she likes Sophie now. She will grab a toy and whip it up and down with ferocity. She has started burrowing her face into whatever body part of yours is closest and gnawing with her gums. I can't wait to see her first tooth... She says words now, though she doesn't realize it. We've heard her say "hi," "okay," and "yeah." She rolls over! She can go from her front to her back, but she still needs help getting from her back to her front. She sits up with support; I'm looking forward to when she can do it all by herself. She sleeps through the night (usually.. unless she's teething). She eats pureed food, and sucks frozen strawberries or bananas out of a mesh feeder. Just as of today she has figured out how to drink water out of a sippy cup. What else, what else, what else? I don't know! I am just so in awe of and in love with my little R-baby.

On a separate but related note, R has been in our lives for the past 223 days. 223 days of laundering cloth diapers, pumping breast milk, and washing bottles. Exactly how much time have I spent attached to a breast pump? If I average a pumping time of 15 minutes 6 times a day, then I would have pumped 334 and a half HOURS total. I say "would have" because that average grossly under-represents the truth. In the beginning, I pumped for 45 minutes EVERY 3 hours-- including during the night-- desperately trying to keep the NICU stocked with milk for my baby. And though now I don't pump quite so often anymore, I do sometimes pump for as long as 40 minutes, depending on how long R naps for and how drawn into the interwebs I get. But still, 334.5 is a lot of hours, and there are many more to go until I reach my goal of feeding R breast milk for a year. I can (and will!) do it!!