Life on the Road Less Traveled: The Seven Month Update

23 September 2014

The Seven Month Update

How is it possible that the month of August, and the summer, has already come and gone?! Thankfully my mom took lots of pictures of Rose during the month so I have some to post on the blog. Unfortunately, I don't have any videos from last month. And, because we were traveling (more on that in another post), her 7 month pictures were a week late.

During the month of August, Miss Rose spent quite a number of days splashing in the pool. I think she knows more of our neighbors than Colin and I do! When we would take her to the pool on the weekends, people we don't know would recognizer her.

Since she has spent so much time in the water, she is rather fearless when the water hits her face.

She continues to grow like a weed and thankfully has remained very healthy.

Here's a summary of Rose at 7 Months:

Rose continues to be so much fun. She can give a big grin and a wholehearted laugh - especially when tickled.
According to some of the baby books, this is the time to teach baby right from wrong. On many occasions, I have to tell Rose to be more gentle. She loves to pull mommy's hair, and sometimes it hurts! She also sometimes grabs Darwin's hair. I think he also thinks it's too rough, so his response is to get up and walk away. In addition to pulling hair, she also pinches and her pinches also hurt. I've been the recipient of many of of these and she seems to do it quite a bit when nursing.
Little Miss Rose does not want to miss anything. She is easily distracted (even when nursing) and needs to see what's going on. One of the funniest sights is seeing her try to look behind you when you block her view. She moves from side to side trying to look at what you are blocking. She had us all laughing so hard our stomachs hurt one night when I was trying to block the TV and she kept looking for it. When she realized we thought it was funny, she would try to see the TV and then look quickly back for the laughter to ensue.
Speaking of playing, Rose also knows how to play peek-a-boo. It is the cutest thing ever. She'll grab her dress or a towel and hold it over her face and then quickly drop it for you to say "peek-a-boo" or "te-te" (in Portuguese).
One of the songs that we use to calm and quiet Rose down when she's crying (especially if the crying happens when we are driving) is a Portuguese song, "As Palminhas da Catrina."
In the past, we have danced to the music while holding Rose in our arms, now she rocks to the music on her own while sitting.
Rose's favorite thing in the whole world is to bounce - in the jumperoo, in the exersaucer, or in your arms - it doesn't matter as long as she can bounce. Her second favorite thing is probably splashing water.
We continue to put Rose on her tummy despite her protests. From a seated position, she tries to climb up whatever she can (tables, people, dogs, etc.) to standing. When she does get from a seated position to all fours, she is fairly quick to give up and turn on her back. She is able to get from point A to point B without crawling though. It's slow and it involves a bit of butt crawling and shifting from sitting to all fours and back to sitting and alternating legs, but she gets there.
Rose still drinks about 24oz of breastmilk and eats about 1-2 "meals" per day. In addition to the carrots and avocados she tried last month, she has now also had cucumbers, green beans, sweet potatoes, grapes, bananas, eggs, beef, and salmon. She has done a great job holding many of the foods that are cut into sticks (like carrots, cucumbers, etc.) and loves cucumbers and green beans the best. She still prefers feeding herself to being fed by a spoon - but had no problem downing hamburger meat from a spoon!
Her two bottom teeth have fully emerged from the gums and she uses them to chew her food. We can see the imprint of the cucumber from her teeth and can feel them with our finger. They are still a little difficult to see because they are small, but they are there!
Rose's bowel movements are much more mature now and occur at least once every other day and sometimes multiple times a day. They are certainly stinky, formed little turds. I invested in some cloth diaper liners that provide a barrier between the poop and the diaper. They are flushable and keep the diapers clean (when I remember to use them!). We also have a cool diaper sprayer that we set up on the toilet. It's kind of like a bidet and sprays the poop right out of the diaper (on the high pressure setting). You just have to be careful to spray it in the toilet and not all over the bathroom!