The 7th Month - Nobody's Toes are Safe

Noelle's 7th month has been exciting as we watch her grow physically, mentally, and emotionally. She has a fairly regular sleep schedule: Sleep from around 7:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., followed by a morning nap around 9:00, and an afternoon nap around 1:30.

She's begun making all sorts of new noises. "Da da," "Buh-buh," and other sounds that will eventually turn into words that mean something to her. When she's excited, she has an excited squeal that ... well ... how can I explain it?

Ever listen to Van Halen back when David Lee Roth was the lead singer? He had that scream/squeal sound that he made in some of his songs, an intake of air that sounded almost like he had a bad case of asthma. Let's just say that's pretty much the same sound Noelle makes. It's a little shocking when you first hear it - I thought she was choking! But it's her "happy squeal."


She now eats 3 solid meals a day and still takes her bottle. All the books I've read told me to expect her formula intake to drop off now that she's eating solid foods. This has NOT been the case with Noelle. She still takes in the same amount of formula and eats solids with gusto. Her favorite foods are, believe it or not, vegetables. She loves peas and sweet potatoes. She's also become a fan of some of the baby food mixtures, such as sweet potatoes and turkey. She also is trying to master feeding herself using the "pincher grasp." She eats the Gerber cereal puffs well enough, although she's still fine-tuning her coordination.

But the funniest part is her locomotion. Noelle crawled at 6 months and 1 week, and she sat by herself 3 days later - a little backwards from most children. But this is a baby with places to go. She began pulling herself up at 6 months and 3 weeks, and she's now making brave attempts to stand on her own - which usually end with her landing on her bum 2 seconds later.

Noelle still loves her jolly jumper and her walker best of all, though. She uses her walker to cruise through our kitchen and dining room areas, and she's become frighteningly adept at manuevering around. And because she follows you whever you go, open-toed shoes are an invitation for injury in our household. She'll run right over your toes!


And so I give you "Noelle's Mad Walker Skills."

Here are a few more pictures from the past month.

Our baby has fine tastes. She already likes lobster!

Noelle at a birthday party. One of the children in her playgroup had her birthday party at a horse stable and petting zoo.

She doesn't appear to be too into the goat. Can't say I blame her.





Hanging out at another friend's first birthday party. I'm telling you, this kid isn't even a year old yet, and she already has a bigger social life than her parents.

And here we have Noelle's favorite game - playing in the clean laundry. Daddy dumps the load of clean laundry on top of her, and she squeals with excitement as she tries to dig her way out.

We can't wait to see what her 8th month is going to bring!