7 Month Letter

Dear Mungee,

You are seven months old!  It's hard to believe that so much time has passed since we brought you home on the afternoon of Thursday, August 20th.

Over the last month you have taken a liking to "Baby Attack".  You are belly down on my chest and you like to reach out and grab for my hair and face.  In a high pitched voice, I scream "Ahhh, baby attack!!!"  This really gets you going and makes you laugh.

You LOVE to eat straps.  As soon as you go in the carseat, highchair or stroller, the straps are in your hands and headed toward your mouth.  You also search for my bra straps underneath my clothes.  I love how you rake your tiny fingers in exploration across textured surfaces.  You also do this to me while you're nursing.  I think it provides you with comfort and security.

You are babbling quite a bit and can say:

Eh nah nah

Yee yee 

Eh Da da da

I am still working on getting you to say Mama.  

You are wearing 9 month sized clothes, yet you can still fit into some of your 3-6 mo. and several of your 6 mo. outfits.

You can pull up to standing while holding onto our fingers, yet you still have not mastered the art of getting onto your knees as a precursor to crawling.  You can, however, pivot yourself in a full circle while on your belly.  I have put you down in your crib many times and come to retrieve you, only to find you facing the opposite direction.

You took your first ride in the jogging stroller on March 8 with Daddy.  He said it may have been too bumpy and you were full and spit up.  He'll try again another time - he's sick right now, so he has not been able to spend much time with you.

Speaking of being sick, Daddy caught his cold from you.  Mama also caught a cold from you, but she recovers quickly.  You came down with a very nasty double ear infection this month, as well as a terrible cold.  You started out by taking Amoxicillin pink candy to counteract your illness, but you had an allergic reaction, so you started taking new medicine candy to make you better.  We are still waiting for you to make a full recovery.  On top of being sick, I think you are teething, so you have been VERY uncomfortable, fussy and irritable.  It has been hard on Mama, since Daddy is sick and cannot help out as much as he would like.

Your hair is growing in slowly but surely.  It seems to be medium brown.  You have the most adorable "swirl" on the back of your head.

You started attending My Gym, a "gymnastics" class for babies.  You have swung on a trapeze, done  a headstand and somersaults, and even taken a ride down a zipline in a dolphin swing!

You have taken several steps back in your sleeping habits.  You used to sleep through the night, but you've started waking up one to two times a night.  This may have to do with the fact that you are sick.  You may have been feeling bad before your symptoms made their outward appearance.  At this time, the only thing that gets you settled enough to go back to sleep is nursing.  Dr. W suggested that you may need to eat more solids during the day since you're a big, growing girl.  

When you are feeling better we're going to try very hard to get you on a nap schedule.  You do not settle down well at all for naps.  There are times when I try to put you in the crib for naps and you scream and cry hysterically.  I can't begin to describe it so other people understand just how you react to being left alone or even simply put down sometimes.   You tend to only nap while being held by me, or if you're in the car or stroller.  You also tend to fall asleep at restaurants, which is odd, since they're usually so loud.

This has been a rough month for you, since you're at the age where you're experiencing a lot of separation anxiety, on top of being sick and likely teething.  Daddy and I hope that you feel much better soon so you can grow and shine like the happy baby we know you are.

With all our love,

Mama and Daddy