Kate: 7 months

I’ve decided to change things up a bit with Kate’s monthly posts. To date, I’ve been titling her posts with the month number that she just turned, but reflecting back on the previous month’s events. So when Kate turned 6 months old, for example, I posted a blog titled “Kate: 6 Months” showed her in her 6 month onesie, but wrote about things that happened over the previous four weeks–when she was only 5 months old.

I can see how that could be confusing.

So now I’ve decided to switch it up and make her monthly posts’ titles, pictures, and content all about the same month, with all three reflecting back on the previous month.

You with me?

Here we go: Kate turned 8 months old on September 9th, and here’s a look back at all the things she learned and did when she was 7 months old, along with a repost of her 7 month photo:

 

The biggest news in our world? KATE SAID HER FIRST WORD! And you’ll never guess what it was…or maybe you will: “Mama.”

Oh, I was so proud!

For a while now she’s been making “M” sounds and going, “Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmmmm…” and then she moved on to babbling, “Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma.” But on Saturday, August 14th she actually said it: “Mama.”

She had just woken up from her morning nap and we were sitting in the rocking chair in her nursery. She finished her bottle, was sitting on my lap, and I said, “Mama?” trying to see if she’d say it back (I’ve been doing this with her since birth. Shocker, right?) and to my surprise she responded, “Mama.”

I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT! I was stunned and amazed and thrilled, and quickly looked around to see if anyone else heard it! Of course, there were no witnesses, but I didn’t care, I just kept at it:

Me: Mama?
Kate: Mama.

Me: Mama?
Kate: Mama.

She repeated “Mama” back to me THREE SEPARATE TIMES, clear as day, and perfectly enunciated.

I’ve never been more proud.

In the days that followed she continued to do more of her “Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma” babbling, but occasionally she’d stop and say just “Mama” clear as day. We don’t think she understands yet that “Mama” actually means me, but she certainly understands that it gets my attention which she likes. It’s been hard capturing it on video because as soon as I turn on the camera the little stinker clams up and tries to go after it, but you can sort of hear her saying it in this video.

Another big first this month is that Kate figured out how to go from laying down to sitting up all on her own! She’s been sitting up without support since she was five months old, but she needed us to put her in that position first. Well not anymore! I wish I could say we saw the first time she moved into a sitting up position on her own, but we didn’t. It happened one afternoon when she was laying on her quilt on the living room floor, playing with her toys. G was sitting next to her, but he had his head turned to talk to me in the kitchen. All of a sudden he turned back to Kate and exclaimed, “She’s sitting up!”

I didn’t understand what the big deal was because she’d been sitting on her own for several weeks.

“No,” Greg said. “She did it on her own! I didn’t touch her!”

We cheered and celebrated Kate’s big accomplishment, and although she wasn’t interested in giving us a repeat performance that night, soon she was getting herself into a seated position all the time–gotta love mobility!

In related mobility news, Kate continues to army crawl to get to where she wants to go, and currently has no interest in lifting her belly off the ground to do a “regular” crawl. She is also increasing interested in what’s going on around her, and if you pick her up to carry her anywhere she insists on being carried facing out and will squirm and twist in your arms until she’s in that position. Such a curious little girl.

We have given up on swimming lessons because we think the indoor pool, with all its other classes going on at the same time, tons of kids squealing, instructors shouting, etc. was just too over-stimulating for Kate. She did great for her first class, but quickly went downhill in the following weeks and it wasn’t long before she’d cry inconsolably until we took her out of the pool. G and I decided to stop going because we didn’t want Kate to learn a negative association with water. She continues to play in the wading pool and go in the lake with G when we’re at his parents’ house, and she still LOVES those things, so we’ll stick with that for now.

Kate started on finger foods this month, and she loves feeding herself! We started her on Puffs (infant cereal that’s like Cheerios, but dissolves quicker in her mouth), bananas, and avocado bites. She’s got really good fine motor skills and seemed to master that pincher grip pretty quickly. She is also getting really good at drinking out of her sippy cup, although we still help her a bit so it doesn’t spill all over her. Kate has limited sucking ability, so we needed to remove the valve from her sippy–which means its no longer spill-proof–so if Kate tips her cup upside down water spills everywhere. She does pretty good with the actual drinking part, but she needs help setting her cup back down without spilling all over her highchair tray.

One last bit of new is that Kate gave me her first kiss! It was actually more of an open-mouthed slobber on my face, but the intention was there and I loved it!

Other 7 Month Stats
Bedtime: 6:30pm
Wake Up Time: Between 6:00 and 6:30am
Naps: 2x/day for a total of 3-4 hours/day
Bottles: She is offered 7.5 oz bottles 4x/day (when she wakes up in the morning, wakes up from her first nap, wakes from her second nap, and before bedtime)
Meals/Solids: Eats breakfast at 7am, lunch between 12-1pm, dinner at 5:30pm
New Foods: Carrots, Peaches, Squash, Oatmeal, Yogurt (gave her a diaper rash so we ended it), Wheat Germ (used to coat slippery finger foods), Tofu, Graham Crackers (used to coat slippery finger foods).
Developmental Milestones & “Firsts”: Said her first word (“Mama”), can go from laying down to a sitting position on her own, gave Mom her first kiss.
Favorite Toys: Move & Crawl Ball, B. Squeeze Blocks

Additional Kate 7 Months Posts: 
Embrace the Camera