7 months old

I canNOT believe another month has flown on by! January is a busy month for our family, so busy, that I almost forgot to jot down a bit about our Hazel Gracie this month (I realized you'll actually be 8 months tonight and I hadn't posted yet...!) Oh, being the third child...it has it's ups and downs! BUT, Hazey, just so you know, I make it a goal to do a photo and a few notes the whole first year for each of my babies...no matter how busy things get! :)

I do wish time would slow down a bit, though. Or maybe even freeze, just for a while. I love each and every stage of babyhood, but right now is just SO MUCH FUN! Here you are, seven months old - so roly-poly chub-a-liciously squishy and chunky, yet at the same time just so darn cute and darling! I love it! You have entered the age of "into EVERYTHING!" and it can't get any better than watching you discover the world (and every corner of our apartment ;)

At Seven Months...

-Your two bottom middle teeth erupted the past couple of weeks! You are our earliest teether (both your brother and sister got their first teeth around 10+ months). It makes for a very cute grin! In fact, when I was taking your pics for this month, all I was hoping for was a big wide grin to show off those cute pair of teeth - luckily, you complied, because...

-You are SO HAPPY! Such an easy going, happy baby.

-I love the way you love me. You put your little hands on my face, grab me, pull our faces together, and drench me with kisses. It's the sweetest thing ever! 

-We had a few long nights when those teeth were trying to poke through, but mostly you would just wake up or whimper a little in your sleep. I'd take you out to the living room and we'd play with your toys, or nurse and snuggle, sometimes until 4am - those nights I even gave you some tylenol - but even in spite of your teething troubles, you are constantly smiling and happy. 

-The things that seem to help you the most when your teeth are bothering you are chewing on your baby food spoons (the old school gerber kind with the silicone (?) dipped tips)- which you do when you're sitting in your high chair, and this natural rubber binky I got for you at Whole Foods. It made the cut for pictures (above) because you carry it around with you to chew on. Of course we can't forget Sophie, le giraffe :) Whatever would we do without Sophie?

-The thing that makes you the most sad in the world, and probably the only thing that makes you sad - is when your brother and sister are playing legos or blocks in their room and they don't want you to knock them down, they shut the door to keep you from imminent destruction. You crawl as fast as you can to get through the doorway, and they say "Momma - hurry, come get Hazel so she doesn't knock down our city (or whatever it is they've built)." You get a sad face and kick your little legs when I bring you out of their room and the door closes behind you. :( Sometimes, you crawl back to the door and start knocking on the door, waiting to see if they'll open it up for you. Other times, you pull yourself up to stand, balancing by holding onto the door, just waiting. Most of the time, though, I rescue you and we start playing something else together. I guess part of the plight of the third child is that there are times you might be left out...at least until you're big enough to not knock things down or try to put things in your mouth that don't belong there. So sorry about that, little one.

-That said, you LOVE your brother and sister! And they love you! They will do anything to make you smile and laugh (luckily, it doesn't take much!) 

-One of your favorite things - still - is bath time! Now you get to take baths with your brother and sister, and when you do, you are in HEAVEN! You also like to take showers. You slip and slide and crawl around my feet, and always figure out how to stop the drain thingy so that it starts filling the tub up so you can "swim". I still let you have your own bath sometimes, to slow down the pace and the amount of water that leaves the tub, but wow, you are certainly a water baby! I can hardly wait to get you in the pool again - just a few more weeks! (hellooooo Austin weather! It's the first week of February and we've been in the 80s twice this week already!)

-I love that before your morning nap, I read you a story or two, cuddle and sing you your naptime songs, usually uninterrupted. Well, of course we get interrupted sometimes, but generally your brother and sister are off in their own little play world at that time, so we get a few minutes together, just us. I love it!

-I also love, though it has its challenges as well, that all my babies are at home with me all the time. We do Nature School once a week (I am the teacher! You are the assistant teacher!) but we all go together. Otherwise, we have no preschool, and no other outside obligations. I love that our life is simple right now. I don't have to wake you or work around school schedules to drop off or pick up kids. I don't have to wake anyone up to go to school in the morning. Maybe I'm lazy? I love love love that our life is simple. There will be time for dance classes and soccer practices later. For now, it is our time :)

-You now pull yourself up on EVERYTHING you can, and can inch your way along the couch or windowsill. It's really cute when you get all quiet and I find you standing there staring out the window into our little backyard, or looking up at the trees. Adorable!

-Okay, so I almost forgot to mention, but you've learned how to squeal! Luckily, it is a squeal of delight! But nonetheless, sometimes it's loud! 

-You are loving your food. I love making it for you, all organic and homemade. I love nursing you, too. The last week I started giving you some more finger foods - tiny pieces of bread, cut up avocado, mango, pear, etc. You LOVE LOVE it! I can tell it makes you feel like a big girl! I think next month I may give you a bowl of homemade yogurt and a spoon and see what happens (this is when I'm glad we're renting an apartment right now - eating is messy but fun!)

-You love to be outside (who doesn't?) - you enjoy when we go on long walks to the playground, and you love watching the kids, and going on the baby swings. You also like sitting in the sand with bare feet (I love that we can do that in the middle of a Texas winter!) - I'm so excited to take you to the beach later this year!

-You bring such light and joy to our family. That sounds cheesy, but I mean it. Each child brings joy, but there is a special magic about babies, for sure. Sometimes, I wish I could have a million!

-I love you to pieces! WAY past the moon, and back!