7 1/2 Months

We're at 7 1/2 months now and while it still never occurs to me that Charlotte will be anything more than a little baby, I'm slowly getting used to the idea that she's here to stay.  I realized the other day that she hasn't even been with us for the same amount of time I was pregnant, which seems a little crazy.  That pregnancy felt like a long time, but her being a part of our family has definitely felt longer.

Something clicked in her head last week and she decided that she had had quite enough of being a baby and wanted to be a big girl.  In the span of 48 hrs. she suddenly weened herself off of breastfeeding, stopped using her swaddle to sleep, figured out the sippy cup, and learned how to go from sitting up to reaching forward for a toy and ending up on all fours (a big deal in the world of eventual crawling). Oh, and I think she grew a millimeter more of hair - which is a lot when you have none.

The swaddle thing was a relief.  I swear to god, I thought she was going to Kindergarten in that thing.  Until she had her sudden change of heart, she WOULD NOT fall asleep for a nap or bedtime unless she was swaddled like a little papoose.  Not even with one arm out.  We're taking some family beach vacations this summer and I was feeling a little panicky at the thought of swaddling my one year old on the beach in the homemade-because-they-don't-make-them-that-large swaddle just to get her to nap.

She also learned what grass was last week during our spat of warm weather and fell in love instantly.  If I bring her to the window in her nursery, she immediately breaks into a smile.  I'm so excited for warm summer days of parks and little pools and getting out of the living room.  However, I'm simultaneously trying to figure out what we'll be able to do next winter when she's walking and needs something more fun to do than play in our house all winter. 

This picture totally cracks me up because it's such an indicator of her personality.  Daddy, get out of my way!  There is stuff down there! She is so curious and active and aware .  EVERY person we meet uses that exact word to describe her.  Luckily she's perfectly content to sit with her toys on the floor and play by herself for long stretches, but if you dare hold her, or show her new things, she wants to dive in and investigate. Especially if that "thing" is the remote control or a cell phone.  She will display the strength and will power of an Olympian to get at the remote control.

As for the more mundane parts of baby world, she's a champ when it comes to food and less than impressive when it comes to sleep.  She has yet to try a food she doesn't like and is slowly moving on to picking up little pieces of food off her tray.  As for sleep, it's a crap shoot and must be dependent upon some kind of mathematical equation relating to the stars and the planets because we have yet to figure it out.  Some nights she's great and some nights the clouds are moving too loudly in the sky and she wakes up for no reason.

But like I said to Feather Nester the other night on the phone, it's pretty literally the only thing about her that's not wonderful, so I'm not going to complain about.  I mean, I will, but only very briefly and only to B. If you haven't met her yet, I hope you will one day soon.