7! (And the Unveiling of The Dress)

I think I say this every month, but I can't believe I am the mama of a 7 month old baby! 7 months!! I can't fathom the thought. I was JUST crying putting away her newborn clothes. Heck, I just stopped referring to her as a "newborn baby" like last month. I figure up until 6 months, you can still use that term. What? That's normal.

But I love 7 month Reilly. Even though I can't believe she's so big, and I am counting down in my head how much time I have left breast feeding her and my heart hurts a little, I am utterly obsessed with this age. She literally just keeps getting funner. And funnier. And sillier. And cuter. And how can getting older be that sad, when she's just so happy all the time?

So I decided 7 months, although practically an adult, is really an amazing age. Here are some fun facts about 7 month old babygirl:

1. SHE SITS UP. AND ROLLS OVER! Well, she sits up all the time, rolled over once. But her physical abilities have totally taken off in the last month. She can now maneuver her toys, lean forward or to the side to reach what she wants, and sit right back up. Her core muscles are getting so much stronger, which makes her more independent, and you can tell she's so proud of herself. This scenario happens daily:

Reilly: (leans wayyy forward reach-reach-reaching for a toy...finally grabs it, sits back up)
Me: (watching) YAYY BABY!! (claps) I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!
Reilly: (Looks up, startled, holding toy. Big wide eyes. Has no idea what I'm doing. Then HUGE smile. Kicks. Waves toy. Giggles.)
She's not quite sure what made her mama so happy, but she's darn proud of herself for doing it!

2. She still wants to chew/touch/grab/suck on anything and everything. Especially if it makes noise. Or if it's Mama's. Or if it's wrapping paper.

3. She signs "milk" and "eat" now! Those are the first 2 signs I started with her, and it's amazing to see her do them and tell me what she wants or needs. New ones we're working on are "bathroom" which I sign while changing her, and "please" which I sign in between bites of food, or before giving her something she clearly wants.

4. She is becoming people-picky. She will make the saddest little face around certain people, totally randomly. Sometimes it's just people who are strangers to her, but are being perfectly nice and kind. Just looking at them makes her upset, so I just hold her and reassure her that it's okay. Meanwhile, I'm fascinated that she has her own opinions of people! So funny.

5. She is SO vocal. She will lay in her crib in the morning making every sound that a mouth can make while being opened. Pretty much every vowel sound. And she sings "Da-da" and "Ay-ay" in every octave. I love hearing her talk and communicate, it's so fun having pretend conversations with her.

6. She "uses" a sippy cup and "eats" finger food. Translation: She sucks on and holds the sippy cup, unsure of what it supposed to happen to it and why milk doesn't come out when she sucks. She moves the teeny pieces of sweet potato around on her tray, then grabs them in her fist, tries to bring them to her mouth, but doesn't really know how to get it in. She she squeezed it in her hands and sucks on her fingers. But still in all, she's growing up!

"Um..Mama? Is this one mine?"

Yes, baby, that's yours. But no peeking till Christmas morning missy!

"Okay, I know I wasn't going to. I just want to touch it. And suck on it when you turn around."

I would like to draw your attention to her little arms. And her little rubber band wrists. I love them. And to HER CHRISTMAS DRESS. Which is to be debuted on Christmas only, but I thought I'd bring it out for her special photo shoot. Notice: the tulle. I LOVE TULLE. This dress is complete perfection. Note: There is also a cream colored cardigan. [Faint.]
Thank you Mima and Poppy, for her Christmas dress!

HAPPY 7 MONTHS PEANUT PRINCESS BABY BANANA CAKES.

Daddy and I love you so many bunches of oats. Now I will go get some water from the Tuck Everlasting stream and put it in your sippy cup so you will always be small enough for me to hold. Thank you.

Love & Christmas Plaid,

Dirt Road Mama

Six!

Hi Reilly! Is there something you'd like to tell us?!

Yes, we know you got a doggie. But can you look at Mama instead of Penny?

Look Daddy's here, too! What are we celebrating today, Baby?

Oh!! You are six months old today?! That's so exciting!!

If you're excited and you know it, blow bubbles at Daddy!

Reilly's face says, "Say what, Mama?!"

Yes, it's true Reilly Belle. You fell out of me 6 whole months ago.

"But Mama, I feel like I've known you my whole life! I can't believe I didn't know you 6 months ago!"

I know, peanut, Daddy and I feel the same way!

You are our best friend, babygirl.

Meeting each other was the best thing that ever happened to Mama and Daddy.
And then we had you, and life lit up like never before.

Dirt Road Mama, Baby, and Doggie. Just hangin out.
Nobody cares about this photo being taken except me.

Here is what we learned about our Reilly this month:

1. We can make her smile or laugh on a DIME. She is literally always smiling. Or laughing. And therefore, so are we.

2. Her eyes get bigger and brighter every day.

3. She gets more curious each day. She thinks she can do things that she can't, and she will just try! Like moving. Or jumping off of our laps. She thinks she is super baby, but it's so fun watching her learn.

4. She is talking up a storm! Making so many sounds, singing, babbling. She has said "Da". Not "Da-da", just Da. But she did say it twice, two separate occasions!

5. She has 2 teefies!! Which are teeth, in Mama language. They are her 2 bottom teeth, and I love them like they are my own. Actually, I don't even really love my own teeth - I just love hers.

6. She can take off her bibs. Well, she just took her bib off right now for the first time. So I felt like I should mention it.

7. She sleeps like her Mama. At least 13 hours a night. LOVE IT. Is there a word stronger than love? If there is, that's what I feel for her sleep. And therefore, my sleep. Yay sleep.

8. She is thisclose to rolling over.

9. She is thisclose to sitting up.

10. Take your time, baby, Mama's in no rush for you to grow up.

11. If you want, you never have to roll over or sit up. I'll just carry you everywhere your whole life. Okay, deal.

12. I like saying thisclose.

13. She's such a good little eater! She eats carrots, apples, bananas, pears, prunes, peaches, green beans, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash like a little champ. Next up: PEAS!

14. She is so great in new situations. She doesn't cry around new people, she will just get quiet for a little bit. We can take her to football games, happy hour, or restaurants and she goes with the flow.

One more time, because I'm obsessed with her...

Happy 6, babygirl. You are an angel.

Love & 6,

Dirt Road Mama

Five!

Five months old! I have a little boopa baby who is 5 months old!

And if I may, I'll tell you what it feels like. You know that feeling that you get when you are so happy, your heart can barely contain it? For me, it really feels like someone kicked me in my stomach, like a short roller coaster tummy flip, and it just makes you laugh right out loud. Or maybe cry, your body doesn't really know what to do it's so happy. It's the feeling that you get when you're really excited for something, like Christmas morning when you were a kid, or the night before a big vacation. Or, if you've ever had a long distance relationship, the feeling that you are going to see the person you love that very day after weeks apart.

Well, I get that feeling every day. At some point every day, I laugh out loud for no reason just looking at her. And I get that roller coaster happiness in my heart. That's what it's like to have a 5 month old little banana.

Before I tell you the Things About Reilly this month...the photoshoot. OH, the photoshoot. I realized one thing this month while taking her picture...

We. Need. Daddy.

Mama just cannot do these things at one time:
1. Make baby smile.
2. Put little "I am this many months old today!" sing next to baby.
3. Keep baby from putting said sign/everything else in her mouth.
4. Take picture.

I thought at first, that I could achieve these things by using my camera timer.

And by quickly placing the sign there before she could realize there was something new available for chewing.

I was wrong.

Mama's not fast enough for such things.

Oh! Got one! :) And now, a list.

1. This month, on precisely the day of the anniversary that she fell out of me, Reilly started singing. Singing sweet little baby musical notes.

2. Reilly is an observer of everything in this world. But not just an observer, a participator. She smiles when she thinks things are funny. She laughs when we are silly. She blows bubbles to tell us that she wants to play. She anticipates games when Daddy and I want to play. She watches our mouths as we speak and imitates the movements it makes. She gets excited when she is in her high chair, because she knows food is coming. She grabs for familiar things and follows people as they move around her.

3. She looked out the window the other day, just staring in a trance. Hubby asked, what do you think she is thinking? I said, I don't think she is thinking about something, as we would when we look out the window. I think she is learning for the first time. She has never seen leaves this red. Or seen then flutter in the wind like this. Or watched them fall and float around. Everything is new - so she is not so much thinking or remembering, she is watching and learning.

Or else, that's what I presume her little brain is doing. She could very well be thinking about what she had for breakfast.

4. She found her feet! And she loves them. She plays with them in her crib and sucks on her toes like they are fingers. She is very proud of this foot discovery.


5. She grabs and holds and sucks things with much more proficiency than last month. She is less frustrated with certain toys because she can handle them better. Her favorites right now: soft soft blanket, little orange elephant, Ellie the elephant, and her activity ball. And of course, her bouncer. And her little frozen apple sucker! She loves that now.

6. She now eats apples, butternut squash, carrots, peaches, and bananas. And oat cereal. We tried green beans, and had a negative reaction, so we'll try again in a few months. Yay for eating!

7. SHE SLEEPS ALL NIGHT NOW! As in, 12 hours at least. And she wakes up without crying, and just lays in her crib and coos. God just plucked her out of heaven and into our house, if you ask me.

8. She is still obsessed with being changed. Wherever we are, it's like she is meditating during changing time. So at peace, so happy, so content. I feel like she is saying, "Thank you! I love being clean!"

9. She raspberries now! It's very fun. And funny. Cracks me up every time.

And just for good measure...some new bouncer pictures.

For those of you who don't know this, she is pretty much my sister reincarnated into a little baby. She looks JUST like her Aunt Mimi when she was a baby.

And look at those little froggie legs.

Mama, could you scan come photos for a split-screen?? We have to do that!


Love times Five,

Dirt Road Mama