Leah 7 Months Old

 Leah JoAnn, you are growing up so fast! Right now you weigh 17 pounds and are 28 inches long. You are still wearing some 6 month clothes, but you are mostly in 9 month and 12 month clothes. You are still in size 3 diapers.

Our big milestone this month is that you figured out how to crawl! Here is a clip of your crawling action at about 6 1/2 weeks back when you were new at it and not racing around the house like you are now.

You initially had some difficulty crawling on non-carpet surfaces, so you developed your own method.

About 3 seconds 3 days after you had crawling down, you started pulling yourself up onto things. The Saturday before Halloween, I came into your room in the morning to get you out of your crib. You were STANDING UP and HANGING OVER THE EDGE looking down at the carpet! I ran to get you before you tumbled right out of the crib. Laid you back down again and you repeated your little trick right away for a video.

Your daddy played with you while I lowered your crib... THAT morning!

Once you had your crib figured out, there was no stopping you!  You started transferring yourself between toys, climbing up on mommy... you even have to stand while playing with your toys (even if it is a sit down toy)!

One morning you were standing at your dinosaur ball popper, when I noticed that you started grabbing your the bead roller coaster on another one of your toys. I didn't think you would be able to do it and skeptically took this video with one hand behind your back (off camera).

A problem that we are having right now with the standing up in the crib (even though it is all the way lowered) is that you stand up in the middle of the night, but then you can't sit back down. It has caused (is STILL causing) some very sleepless nights. We're working on getting back into a sitting position once you have stood up during the day. I hope that you will figure it out soon!

Your daddy introduced raspberries to you a while back, but Grandpa H. introduced this fat tongue thing you've been doing.  You just sit there with your tongue sticking out. It looks so silly!

Now that you are mobile, we've had to put baby gates up. Here you are "pushing" your favorite toy. I use quotation marks because you push it until you are at an angle where you look like you're about to fall on your face and then your feet catch up... most of the time. Becoming mobile has unfortunately resulted in more bumps and falls and cries. :'(

You LOVE chasing Darwin around the house. He is always near us, but keeps his distance. I haven't figured out if he thinks it's a game or he's terrified and unwilling to turn his back on you. It wasn't long after you started crawling that I caught you chasing Darwin up the steps in the basement. You seem to always be one step ahead of me!

You also get into everything help mommy with her chores.

You have developed a love for all things buttons. I wonder where you got that from??? Here you are pushing the button that stops and starts the flow of daddy's salt water aquarium. When you have a goal in mind, you can crawl SUPER fast!

You STILL have yet to have any teeth pop out of those gums! You can see where they will eventually come in, but they still aren't out. I love your little toothless grin though!

A little after you started crawling, you started getting annoyed with pureed food. You used to be such a good eater, but then you started spitting it out or clamping your jaw shut when I brought food to your mouth. I tried some more variety, but that didn't help much, so I went ahead and bought some "Puffs." Puffs are these quick dissolving cereal-like food. You love them! Unfortunately, you can't (or won't) put them in your mouth and I have to feed them to you. In my next batch of baby food, I made sure to leave chunks and you have been happier. I am hoping that your lack-of-teeth situation resolves itself soon because you don't really have the tools for solid food yet! 

You were a tiger for Halloween. We went to library time the morning of Halloween and you crawled around the room making your "dinosaur noises" at toy time. Everyone thought that it was so cute and asked me if I had taught you how to growl like a tiger! I wish I would have gotten it on video! We got to have a little photo shoot before the trick-or-treaters arrived. I'm not sure how much you liked your pumpkin look-a-like/imposter.  You kept on pulling the pacifier out.

After library time, we went to Miss Caitlin's house and you took the LONGEST nap in your tiger costume... in her (clean) doggy bed. I'm pretty tempted to get one of my own if this means you will take longer naps!

Your Grandma S. sent a cute little Halloween outfit that we took pictures in as well. You were more interested in eating leaves than you were in smiling at the camera!

Your Aunt Morgan came for a visit, so we decided to hike up Maryland Heights. I carried you all the way up the mountain... and THIS was the best picture I could get of us together. Being carried up a mountain is rather tiresome I guess.

I captured these two silly faces today while you were playing. I LOVE all of your cute little expressions! ...especially your skeptical one. It reminds me of your daddy! You seem to be understanding more and more each day. Sometimes when you're crying, I think I here you say "Mama" but I'm not sure if you have made the connection that I am "Mama." I've been coaching you plenty, so maybe you'll catch on soon. ;-)

I'm excited to see what things you will be doing by my next month. I love you very much my little Leah. You are amazing!