Seven Months

Charlotte's not too sure how she feels about attaining the ripe old age of seven months. Here she's contemplating her age while playing with her favorite toy, the lid to mommy's water bottle. Not available in stores!

This month has brought a lot of fantastic new developments, not the least of which is Charlotte's new habit of sleeping through the night. I know! I can't believe it either. What was that you asked about naps? I didn't hear you. Let's move on.

Charlotte goes to sleep around 8 p.m. and wakes up around 8 a.m. every day. She'll sometimes decide she needs a late-night snack, but other than that she's sleeping through. And when she wakes up she's cheerful, smiling and ready for a new day.

Charlotte's not crawling, but she is scooting around backward more quickly and effectively. I wonder if she'll be one of those babies that doesn't ever really crawl. She's also rolling over to get places now, sometimes rolling front to back to front to back all the way across the room. Funny.

Her repertoire of sounds is broadening. In addition to her reduplicated babbling (ma ma ma ma, da da da da, etc.) Charlotte is mixin' it up with some variegated babbling (a ba da la, ma ma da ba, etc.) She's also discovered the joy of blowing raspberries, especially when she has a mouthful of baby food. (By the way, did you know that the term "raspberry" for a Bronx cheer originates in Cockney rhyming slang [raspberry tart:fart]? Now you do!)

Speaking of food, Miss C. Tig can't get enough of that stuff, as long as it is fruit or orange veggies. We're sneaking some greens in there by mixing her green beans with sweet potatoes or butternut squash or carrots. But she's always a little suspicious about that green-colored food. Sweet tooth? She must be my kid.

And the three-times-a-day baby food habit has ushered in an entirely new world of diapers. I won't get into details, but let's just say we're talking about solids in, solids out.

I think the best development this month is the way Charlotte seems to be interacting with her environment. She notices things: my digital clock on the bedside table, pencils and pens on the desk, things mama and daddy are eating, the sounds her wooden blocks make when she pounds them together, the way she can splash water out of her little tub when she kicks her legs... One other thing she notices is when I leave in the mornings for school. This has made the already-rough part of my day even more difficult. It's fine when I'm at school, studying or in class or teaching and busy, but getting out that door is tough.

But the reaction I get when I arrive home--wide open eyes and wide excited smiling mouth, squealing and arm-flapping--makes my day. Why can't Jeff react like that when I get home? Maybe if I brought Jim Leyland with me he would.

Anyway, happy seven-month birthday, little girl! Thanks for such a fun month.