Seven Months

It was hard for me to even type that heading. Weighing in at 16.4 pounds and smiling big with her two bottom teeth, my baby girl is growing up fast.  Too fast.  Staley has just moved to the top slots on her infant carseat, is wearing size 3 diapers, and is out-growing her 3-6 month wardrobe.  She can ride in shopping carts at the store and sit in restaurant high chairs.  Staley now eats solids twice each day, nurses 4-5 times, takes 2 naps, and sleeps for around 10 hours at night.  She is happy and alert and so interested in the world around her.

Likes:  Staley finds so much joy in life that it is hard to list all her 'likes' anymore.  She lights up when she sees Zach and I (and will sometimes cry when I leave the room).  When she is outside, she enjoys going for walks and runs, swinging on the porch swing, watching the trees, feeling the wind, playing in her pool, and listening to dogs barking in the neighborhood.  Her favorite inside activities are rolling around in her room, reading books, watching and petting the cats, and sitting up to play with toys.  The best toys are not really toys:  cell phones, empty water bottles, crumpled paper, and her bowls and spoons keep her attention.  Her favorite toy-toys are her stacking cups, stacking bowls, and her shape sorter shapes.  Funny games like animal noises, peek-a-boo, tickling, and zerberts bring out the laughter.  And eating real food is great fun...as long as she is eating sweet potatoes, apples, pears, rice cereal, or store-bought carrots.

Dislikes:  Staley fusses when she is really tired or really hungry.  She does not like the texture of her homemade baby food carrots, green beans, or broccoli.  Getting dressed is less fun these days, and occasionally loud noises (bathroom hand dryers, loud cheering) can be scary. 

Skills:  It is so fun to watch Staley's world expand as she learns and understands more and more.  She sits up so well, and can now get from sitting up to lying down by slowly falling backward or leaning forward.  She rolls across a room quickly now, and can pivot a little bit when on her stomach.  She LOVES to stand while holding onto furniture or someone's hands, and she is quite serious about 'water skiing' with Papa.  (Don't worry--no water is actually involved.)  Staley enjoys examining toys, moving them from hand to hand and turning them around to look at them.  She bangs toys together at midline and will deliberately drop toys from her high chair or carseat.  She enjoys rolling a ball back and forth, knocking over towers, turning pages of her books, and lifting flaps in her books.  She is starting to bring a blanket over her own eyes for peek-a-boo and is starting to wave, although these skills are not consistent.  Staley is not saying any words yet, but continues to explore all the various noises she can make from low growling noises to high pitched squeals.  Her understanding of language seems to be emerging daily and she definitely identifies mommy, daddy, splash, and kitty.  She is also understanding some of her daily routines.  She leans in with mouth wide for her favorite foods, keeps her mouth tightly closed for her not-so-favorite foods, opens up for teeth brushing, and fusses when I say 'the end' for her pre-nap book (which is the very end of her going-down-for-nap routine).  I may be biased (okay, definitely biased), but I think she is one smart cookie...and one stinkin' cute baby!

Staley at 7 months

Life is just so good!

Pool Time

It has cooled off enough outside that Staley has been spending some quality time in her pool on the front porch.

The water feels so nice! 

(Probably because it was hand-delivered warm from the kitchen sink.)

Stacking cups are fun no matter where you are.

Just catching up on a little light reading.

 

Oh, Fun!

At almost 7 months old, Staley's refined sense of humor requires quality jokes and hilarious games to elicit the huge smiles, giggles, and belly-laughs that we love so much.  Staley is a happy, fun baby and there are lots of things that make her smile, but some of the current games and activities that tickle Staley's funny bone include:

1.  Peek-a-boo
2.  Animal sounds-made by animals or by humans (preferably Daddy)
3.  Swooping and horsey rides, which are other games that Daddy is very good at
4.  Belly zerberts
5.  "This Little Piggy" (mainly when we get to the 'wee, wee, wee' part)
6.  Tickling, although I think Staley enjoys the anticipation as much as the tickles
7.   Laughing.  This is a fun game where you laugh at Staley and then she laughs back.
8.  The 'Brrrr...it's cold" game.  This game is super-fun.  When I have a cold drink in a glass, Staley will reach out, touch the glass, and look at me expectantly.  I will pull the glass away saying "Brrr...it's cold."  As I'm sure is evident by my description, this game is hilarious and can be played over and over and over again with lots of giggling and laughing.  I'm surprised it hasn't already been marketed.

So if you are having a bad day or just need something to make you smile, feel free to pick an item from the list and enjoy.  Hours of fun for the whole family are nestled away in these 8 little gems.  And if you don't believe me, just ask Staley! 

Drop It Like It's Hot

There are fun games that babies play.  Peek-a-boo is fun.  Banging toys together is fun.  Rolling a ball back and forth is fun.  Dropping things onto the floor from the high chair or carseat and then complaining about not having anything to play with...not so fun.

Coolness!

I am sitting here in my fabulous, climate-controlled, 3 zoned, geothermal central air conditioned home.  The blessed silence with no window units whirring in the background is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

Basement.  Done.
Heating and air conditioning.  Done.
Plumbing.  Done.
Electrical work.  Just about done.
Drywall.  Done soon.
Deck and yard.  Let's not talk about that yet.

Instead let's talk about my central air conditioned home.

House Up-date

Our house project is moving right along.  Maybe not as quickly as I would like, but moving in the right direction nonetheless.  The basement itself has been finished for about a month.  The plumbers should be done fixing their mistakes by the end of the week, the heating and air conditioning guys have less than a day of work left to do, Zach and his dad have just about finished all the electrical work, and the men are coming tomorrow to hang drywall in our new stairwell and laundry room.  If everything goes according to plan (which hasn't really happened yet with this project), I may have a fully functioning laundry room by next week.  We still have a long list of things yet to accomplish before our house no longer looks like a construction zone, and we won't even begin to talk about the yard, but we are slowly but surely moving towards the finish line.

Our new stairwell into our new basement.

The laundry room is behind the stairwell.

Framed up and ready for drywall.

The World is Starting to Make Sense

Staley is at such a fun age.  She is learning and discovering and understanding her world more and more each day.  It seems that Staley is starting to connect a few words with their meanings.  When we say "splash, splash" during bath time, she will smile big and kick her legs.  When we say "where's the kitty", she looks around for Jake and Elwood.  Zach picks her up on the days that I work and when he says "let's go home and see Mommy", she gets a big smile on her face.  And when we ask, "what does the kitty say?" or "what does the cow say?", she gets very excited because animal sounds are one of her favorite games.

Staley is also starting to play anticipatory games.  She will get excited when I slowly move my hand towards her for tickling.  She loves peek-a-boo, and will watch the top of the blanket for my eyes to appear (and then giggle when they do).  She has a few favorite books and seems to get excited before we even start reading them, presumably by recognizing the cover.  ('Moo, Baa, La La La' is top of the list right now.)  She is also getting a little more hesitant around new people, occasionally crying but generally just regarding them seriously or burying her head into my shoulder.  And, although part of me loves the fact that she knows me and loves me and wants to be around me, Staley is starting to get upset when I leave the room.  Which makes me feel good, but also makes taking a shower or using the bathroom a little tougher.

With Staley's ever-growing understanding of the world, I wanted to use the summer to expose her to fun new experiences like the swimming pool and the zoo and the playground.  Unfortunately, the weeks of living out of suitcases followed by the weeks of incessent heat have grounded some of our plans.  But Staley did get to enjoy a short outing to the Fondulac Farm Park on Saturday, where she rode around in her stroller, relaxing and giggling at the farm animals she saw.

Not ladylike, but comfortable