Month 7... The Best Month Yet

We have loved her from the start but as Ava's personality continues to blossom we can't help but love her more every day! This month has been a big one for Ava developmentally and it's been a blast to watch her grow and change daily. She is now sitting up unaided very well and is able to play in this position though she's usually happiest on her belly. She loves loves loves anything now that is NOT a toy--she is much more interested with the surrounding scenery and loves to get into things. Though she is still not crawling, she is very close and an excellent scoocher. The poor thing has rug burns on her elbows and knees to prove it! She loves reading books, her favorites are The Very Hungry Caterpillar (particularly the last page with the butterfly on it), Tickle Tickle, Giggle Baby & Goodnight Moon. She enjoys turning the pages and touching her favorite pictures.

Ava officially can't fall asleep without her stuffed animal duck now which is very sweet to watch. We found this out the first time I tried to put him in the wash and give her a different toy to cuddle with... big mistake. She only gets him when she's in her crib so when we hand it to her she immediately starts sucking her thumb and rubbing her eyes. We have the staff at Kohl's making calls to track down a second duck for back-up since she's now so attached!

Ava has started eating solids and is enjoying it immensely. She loves rice cereal and has also tried butternut squash and sweet potatoes so far. She likes sweet potatoes more but does well with both and is a good eater. She has figured out how to scream and bang her high chair when we aren't fast enough with the food preparations for her liking--how at 7 months they learn that I don't know! She is such a sweetheart though, giggles easily and smiles constantly.

Still no teeth though we have on a number of occasions been sure she'd pop out at least one by morning. She seems to be perpetually teething but no sign of a tooth yet. Even on her "worst days" though she is a joy and such a sweetheart. She is sooo laid back, is happy to sit in our laps for long periods of time seemingly un-entertained, just cuddling and watching what's happening around her. No complaints from us! She is great at keeping herself occupied but it's sort of fun now that she is able to reach for us or let us know when she wants to be held instead of put on the floor. It's neat to see her showing preference and wanting her mommy and daddy!

She has a full vocabulary now of consonants and vowels, the most frequent of which are "Ma" and "Ba". Though "Mama" is not exclusively used in my direction, it warms my heart to now wake up most mornings to "Mamamamamama" instead of screaming:).

For those keeping track, Ava's schedule right now looks similar to what I posted at 4 months but is in the process of changing. She is heading to bed a little earlier (by 7pm instead of 8pm) and I've inched her nighttime feeding down to 8:30pm with the hopes of dropping it altogether soon. When she wakes up at 7 or 7:30am now she has a little awake time in order to breastfeed and eat solids, and this time will lengthen once she drops the nighttime feeding and is more awake and hungry in the morning. Once that is successful, I'll be working towards feeding her every 4 hours during the day instead of 3, making 3 naps during the day instead of the current 4. She is definitely heading that way herself but shortening each of her 4 naps (except for the afternoon one) so I think it will be a somewhat easy transition for her!

Finally, Ava is still spitting up constantly and we're seeing a G.I. specialist in a couple of weeks. After starting solids and the spitting up not slowing down, our pediatrician thought it would be a good idea just to make sure there isn't an underlying issue. It isn't unusual for kids to spit up for the first year but because of the amount and frequency it can't hurt to get her checked out. We of course would not mind if there's something we can do to help slow it down or stop it all together!

Ava is SUCH a joy, we are marveling every day at the blessing it is to be her parents. She is such a sweet sweet girl and we can't wait every day to see what she will do and how she will grow!

*There are updated pictures in the albums Ava in September and Ava in October!