7 months old

My big girl is 7 months old!  She is growing so so fast.  Why is it when I am pregnant that 9 months seems like an eternity and once my children are born 9 months seems like a day!  She is still so very precious.  She makes me smile with her big, puffy cheeks and the sweetest little mouth I have ever seen.  She looks more and more like Lilly everyday.  I guess thats a good thing.  We didn't get to see what Lilly would look like when she grew up, but now I can just look at Emory and imagine :).

Her newest and most exciting developmental milestone is standing.  I can now hold her in my lap and she will stand on my legs for a few minutes at a time.  I know alot of babies are able to do this much sooner, but my chunky monkey is just now able to hold herself up.  It's alot of fun.  I know we are just around the corner from crawling and walking.  Oh, where does the time go...

She is also eating solid food like a champ.  She is up to about 2oz/day.  I have been making all of her baby food, which has been super fun.  I feel very satisfied with myself and it is so fulfilling to be able to do that for her.  I wonder why it never occured to me in the past?  So far she has eaten:  apples, pears, avacados (yes, its a fruit), peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, and squash (butternut).  She is also still nursing every 3-4 hours.

Sleeping continues to be somewhat of a challenge.  She still catnaps during the day.  She usually naps between 20-30 minutes at a time 3-4 times a day.  She is really ready for bed around 7 p.m., but she is still using this as her last nap of the day.  She will not stay asleep if I put her in bed.  So, we are usually getting to bed between 8:30-9:30.  She is still waking up at 2 a.m. and 6 a.m.  After her 6 a.m. feeding she will usually sleep until 9 or so.  I guess that is a bonus if she is still going to get up during the night.  Sleeping really isn't an issue since our schedules are really flexible.  However, I would like it at some point if she and Liberty would sleep in their own room.  This would work out a lot better if I didn't have to get up in the middle of the night.  Oh yeah, and if Liberty didn't still sleep in our room as well :).

Scott and I were talking the other day about the unique characteristics of our girls.  Liberty was a snuggler, Lilly was...well there were lots of unique this about her, and Emory is our laugher.  She will laugh at just about anything.  It's so easy to make her smile.  Liberty continues to be her favorite comedian.  In the video below Liberty is saying the word "shoe blossom" (whatever that means) and Emory is just cracking up.  The quality isn't the greatest because it was dark, but it is really funny!

She is getting better and better at picking things up with her little fingers.  She's not quite good enough for finger foods yet, but she will be soon.  In this pic she is amusing herself with a tiny zipper on my jacket.  She played with it for at least 20 minutes.

I had to put away most of her 3-6 months clothes.  Some of her onesies still fit, but all of her pants are too short.

She loves being in her stroller.  I can wait until the weather is better and we can get outside more.  Nonetheless, she is pretty excited to sit in her stoller no matter where we are.

Her swing continues to be a hit.  Now she will try to sit up straight while she is swinging. I had to tighten the straps to make sure she doesn't accidentally launch herself out.  Seriously, how long can she continue to love this swing?  Hopefully until she is crawling.  It makes my life easier!

Emory Ayn, you are such a joy.  We are so in love with you!