7months

Seven Months Old and Changing Fast!

I pulled out the measuring tape and Etta’s over 29 inches now, but still not 18 pounds.

Physical and Mental Milestones

Etta now rolls back to front and front to back purposefully and with ease. She has also learned that if she rolls enough times she can actually get herself across the room to an interesting object. Her curiosity is insatiable, she has object permanence, and she howls when something is taken from her. She gets frustrated when she can’t reach things she wants. Tears come easily and loud cries erupt instantly.

Etta is now capable of picking at small objects, like the button on my shirt, with just an index finger and thumb. Her fine motor skills have always been excellent, but now she’s really fine-tuned her precision. Such talented fingers must be destined to bring beautiful music out of an instrument!

But for now, this new skill is a challenge for me. If I put her on the carpet she digs between the fibers looking for "treasure" to put in her mouth. A cat hair, a twig, a blade of dried grass… all are irresistible to her. I’ve tried to train my husband and step-daughter to remove their shoes at the front door, but I can’t break them of the habit so they continue to track the great outdoors into our living room. When I put Etta on a blanket on the floor, she cleverly pulls at the blanket, bunching it up until she can reveal the carpet beneath. I guess I’m just going to have to vacuum every morning from now on. Just what I need, more housework!

When given a new object to explore, Etta no longer puts it immediately into her mouth. She’s content to manipulate it in her hands for awhile, looking at it to see what she can do to it. Eventually it will go to her mouth, but not until she’s looked it over and felt it over well first. This development is significant for me, as it allows me an extra bit of leeway in catching her with forbidden objects. Although we’re in heavy baby-proofing mode, we still have a lot to do, and there are always new dangers lurking about. While carrying Etta in my arms she’s likely to swipe a paper from the counter as we walk by. If I have a laundry basket on my other hip I may not notice right away that she has grabbed something. That paper in her hand could have a sharp paper clip attached…

Etta loves to chew on her toes. I’m packing up the last of the footed pants and outfits (size 9 - 12 months) which is probably good because she was chewing holes in the toes! She is now wearing pants with socks or Swedish moccasins. She removes the socks to access her toes, or chews on the leather sole of her moccasins. She has a few pairs of soft-soled crib shoes, but I rarely put them on her because tying and retying the laces at each diaper change is a hassle.

Etta is trying hard to sit up, with painful consequences. When I lie her on her back on the changing pad she often protests, lifting her head and shoulders up and curling towards her belly, as if she’s doing sit-ups at the gym. She strains for a minute or so, then her head crashes back, startling her more than hurting her, as I’ve put extra padding on the changing tables to cushion her head. Another source of changing table injury is when she lifts her legs up, bringing her feet to her mouth for a nibble. When she loses interest, invariably she kicks her legs down with a thud, and sometimes her heel will strike the edge of the changing table instead of the pad. This hurts, and she wails accordingly.

Etta is now able to "give," holding a toy out, offering it to be taken. It started with a silly game I invented a week ago. Etta has a raggedy stuffed beanbag kitty we call "Poly" (because it’s made of 100% polyester fiber, according to the tag). I put the pathetic "Poly" in my mouth and shook it back and forth like a dog with a chew toy, growling and snorting dramatically as Etta roared with laughter. I then dropped "Poly" from my teeth into Etta’s lap. She picked it up and tried to put "Poly" back in my mouth, grunting "UhUh" quite earnestly until I accepted. Now, whenever she sees "Poly" she gets excited and holds it out to me in hopes that I’ll start the game.

Etta loves to pat. When I get her out of her crib in the morning or after a nap, she snuggles close and pats me on the shoulder. She also likes to pat the kitties (although they now run away as soon as she lets out a high-pitched squeal of delight) and the sheepskins (which she thinks are kitties).

New Sounds, and a First Word?

Etta says "MaMa" when she is tired, wants to be picked up, or is in need of food. Although I refer to myself as "mommy" when I talk to her (as in, "Sit here while Mommy gets lunch ready"), I don’t think that she associates the word "mama" with me. Maybe she does, who knows?

We took a bag of clothes to the consignment store and came away with two hats, a pair of pants, and a new toy for Etta. The toy is carousel with pieces that go together to make the passengers: a cat, cow, pig, and dog. It’s hard plastic, easy to wash, and kept Etta entranced for over an hour. I would assemble it in front of her, spin the carousel, and she’d reach forward and pluck a piece off of it, usually tipping it over. I’d exclaim, "Uh-oh, it fell over!"

By the end of the day Etta was saying "Uh-oh," although not in conjunction with any particular event. So now she says two specific things, "MaMa" and "Uh-oh," in addition to her rambling babbling. She also does a lot of gurgling, bubble blowing, and humming lately.

Etta waves her right arm and hand many times during the day. I’ve been saying "hello" or "bye-bye" whenever she waves, and now if I say "hello" or "bye-bye" when we arrive or leave somewhere, sometimes she starts to wave. I wouldn’t say the association is 100% yet, but there is clearly a connection forming.

New Foods

For dinner one evening Etta had hard boiled egg yolk for the first time. I mixed it in with her rice cereal (prepared with breast milk) and she gulped it down without a fuss.

Etta tried Pastina (tiny star-shaped Italian pasta) for the first time this month. I’d put a spoonful in her mouth, but then she’d stick out her tongue and spit it out. She’d pick up a fistful of the pasta with her hand, and hold it out in front of her face where she could see it as she squished it between her fingers. She also smeared it on the tray, flung it on the wall, and stashed some behind her ears. Cleaning her and the kitchen after that meal took a long time. If this is what finger food are all about, I think I’ll stick with jarred food awhile longer!

Etta has had Cheerios a few times now and thoroughly enjoys them. I give her one at a time so that she doesn’t choke on a mouthful. This is her first hard solid food and she figured out immediately that the Cheerio should be mashed in the mouth until it softens, instead of swallowed whole. Her dexterity is perfect; she uses the "pincer grasp" of thumb and index finger to pick up the Cheerio and put it in her mouth.

Etta is getting difficult to spoon feed. She doesn’t like any fruit or sweet vegetables and now declines cereal, too. She swats the spoon away with her arms and clamps her mouth shut in protest. Unless it’s Peas or Spinach & Potatoes. Or, a new jarred food she tried for the first time tonight and is destined to become a favorite: Lentil Rice Dinner. The contrast is amazing: if it’s a food she likes, I can hardly shovel it in fast enough, she opens her mouth like a baby bird and leans forward eagerly. She’s doing really well with finger-feeding herself Cheerios, so I decided to try her on cubes of ripe avocado and banana. She’d pick up a piece, examine it awhile, put it in her mouth, and spit it out in disgust. She’d smash the remaining pieces on the tray or between her fingers, but not attempt to eat any more of it. She definitely has her preferences.

Sleeping Beauty

Etta’s in a nice sleeping routine. Today she rose at 8:00am, napped 11:00-1:00pm, napped again 4:00-5:00pm, and went to sleep at 8:00pm. She wakes only once in the night, around 3:00am. Let’s hope this new pattern lasts!

Since Etta is sleeping six hours at a stretch at night, followed by a four to five hour stretch, my body doesn’t seem to be making as much milk. My breasts seem empty during the day. I need to start pumping to get my milk supply up. I worry that Etta is not getting enough milk. Sometimes she seems to be suckling at a dry breast, working her jaws so hard and long.

Thursday, June 15, 2000 Slept through the night!

Etta officially slept through the night for the first time ever. She went to sleep around 9:00pm last evening and didn’t wake until 6:00am this morning. I spent the whole night in bed with my husband, instead of bed-hopping as I’ve done for the last 7 ½ months.

Another development which may be contributing to her longer sleeping pattern: she has decided that she prefers to sleep on her tummy. Since birth I’ve been dutifully placing her on her back, or propped on her side with foam triangles. Now she throws aside the props and flips over on her tummy, tilting her head to the side.