7 months!

Ella has reached the seven month mark. She is becoming more and more of a little person with a big personality and opinion on things. A perfect example was our attempt to capture our monthly picture on her chair.

First she was bored and apparently not at all amused at the voices/faces I was making at her. (In her defense, I'm pretty sure she's teething and the day after we took these she woke up with a terrible cold. Poor little girl wasn't feeling well.) 

"Are we finished yet?"

"I'm outta here."

Up and over the chair. Almost.

Seriously, how do I have a baby who can move like that!? It seems like just barely when we had a little helpless bundle I could set down anywhere. She's not quite crawling but she's close. She rolls clear across the room and pushes herself up onto her hands and knees and scoots backwards. Things are going to get a lot more interesting around here. Anyone have any baby proofing advice?

In other news, she still loves clothes and one of her favorite things is to sit in the laundry basket with the clean clothes while I fold them. I felt like a genius when I figured out to put her in there. Keeps us both happy while I'm able to get something done.

Again. This time with her favorite little doll. The pigtails are perfect for a little nibble.

She can sit up by herself now (actually she's been able to since she was about six months old). But she doesn't do it very often. She's too busy trying to move around or straighten out to try to stand up. One word that could describe Ella is BUSY!

Catching up on the news. She likes to stay informed.

Here she is enjoying a teddy bear that I used to play with at my great grandma's house. I'm happy she loves him as much as I used to.

During the month, Danny took a little guys trip to Vegas to watch some BYU basketball. While he was gone Ella and I had a sweet potato party. She's always trying to grab the spoon when I'm feeding her so I decided to strip her down and let her go for it.

She loved it! Well worth the mess.

She's my little buddy while I get ready for the day. She sits in her bumbo and watches me get ready while I hand her pretty much anything I can find that is somewhat baby proof to keep her entertained. I think in this picture she is enjoying some Colgate wisps, a necklace, a hair clip, a big yellow spoon and of course my cell phone.

We had to resurrect her baby tub. She was getting way too squirmy in the tub, constantly rolling to her tummy and purposely drinking the bathwater. Even if we held her on her back she'd twist her head to the side for a sip. (Yet she still won't take a bottle or formula. Bathwater? Yes. Milk? Not so much.) So we had to put a stop to all that excitement and put her back into something where we maintained some control.

Fortunately, it didn't ruin her fun. She still loves playing and splashing in the water.

A few other things I want to remember about this little munchkin at 7 months:

• I may have mentioned this before but she is a busy body! She cannot sit still. She's constantly standing and looking around.
• She's still figuring out the whole eating solids thing. She's not a fan of the purees. But she likes little pieces of food. I've given her bits of bread and of course her puffies. I'm sort of at a loss with her in this area. She really only likes to nurse. I think I have a picky eater on my hands.
• She has a gorgeous big smile and she flashes it at everyone. When I'm shopping with her she always wins the other shoppers and cashiers over. I've had requests to always use a particular line so the cashier could see her regularly and offers from many to "take her home." She grins and eats up the attention.
• She's still not a great sleeper. Okay but not great. She goes to bed between 7 and 8 and is  usually up once a night to eat before she's up for the day again between 7 and 8. She takes two naps a day that are usually about an hour each. She seems happy and rested most of the time so I'm done worrying about it and am just letting her do what is natural to her even though I would like her to have longer naps in the day.
• She has the best laugh! It's loud and comes from her belly. It's the sound of pure joy.
• She LOVES when Danny gets home from work. No matter what we're doing she gets excited and kicks her arms and legs and gets a huge grin. He usually plays a little game of peek a boo with her before picking her up which just increases the anticipation. It's great. Then they play together while I make dinner.

She's at a really fun age and I'm loving get to know her little personality better. She really does bring so much happiness to Danny and me. When life is rough and I'm having a bad day I can usually count on her belly laugh to cheer me up. Even first thing in the morning after a long night which is really saying something.