Mady Is 7 Months Old (Post 2 of 2)

Where does the time go? I know I say it every month. It just amazes me that she's close to a year old already.

Mady has made huge strides from last month to this month. The changes are incredible. One of the biggest accomplishments is she is sleeping unswaddled now. We bit the bullet and just put her down unswaddled. The same night we decided to start sleep training. We figured it'd be better to battle both at once, rather than get her comfortable only to fight a second battle a few weeks later. Surprisingly, it was easier than we thought. Not easy by any means. She cried so hard she threw up the first night. We expected that. The second night was better. The third night? Mady slept through the night, unswaddled. She hasn't looked back. She doesn't sleep through the night every night, but she has done so about half of the nights since we've done the training. And when she does wake up, she wakes to eat and then goes back to sleep. I think we've had one rough night in the last 2 weeks. Not too shabby. (And, true to Mady form, because I'm finally talking about this, all sleep will go to hell tonight.)

Mady is eating pureed foods now. Well, I'm TRYING to give her pureed foods. She's not very excited about them. She loves her rice cereal. Always has. She likes sweet potatoes (I tried them a second time and there has been no allergy. The hives must have been a coincidence the first time.) and green beans. That's it. Fruit is not liked at all right now. All in all she's had sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, bananas, apples and peaches. Only green beans and sweet potatoes haven't been fought. We'll keep trying though. She has had real bananas as well. The first time they were a hit, but she hasn't wanted them since. Sigh. I also give Mady Gerber Puffs and Mum Mums (a rice cookie/cracker). Again, she liked them the first time we tried. Now, she sneaks them to Bailey. She takes 5 to 6 bottles per day, 5 oz. each.

As you may have seen in the video below, Mady started crawling full time yesterday. There was no grace period. She went from sitting to crawling in a matter of a day. I knew it was coming because he legs are SO strong. But, I didn't think it'd be this soon. She's terrorizing Bailey now. She follows Bailey everywhere. I think it's funny, but Bailey looks at me with pleading eyes. "Really?"

Mady is also pulling herself from a sitting to a standing position with support. I've found her standing in her crib once, and she pulls up on her toys to stand up against them. It scares me to death because she doesn't have the balance and I keep imagining a face plant soon. But so far, every time she's fallen, she rolls over and tries again. My little daredevil!

Before:
After:

She still kisses on demand and it's definitely on purpose now. Hugs are coming along well. I'd imagine she'll have the hang of that by next month. She still shakes her head no with abandon. Mostly when she's full/done eating. I thought it was coincidence that she'd shake her head while eating, but I don't think it is anymore. I think she really means "No" when she shakes her head. (This only applies to while we're eating. I don't know that she associates it to any other time.)

Her favorite song is now the ABCs. She laughs out loud when she sneezes. Still laughs when she passes gas. She's finally letting me read books to her. She LOVES the show "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse". Literally stops in her tracks when she hears Mickey's voice. And it's not that we sit and watch TV all day, but, having a little distraction while I try to pump helps. Mickey does his job well. She can sit in a shopping cart on her own now. She sits in a restaurant high chair by herself as well. She loves her ring stacker and her blocks. I STILL can't get a picture of her two teeth. She wears 6 month tops/onesies and can get away with 3 or 6 month pants.

The changes in Mady this month are astounding. I'm sure I'll think of even more once I hit "Publish Post". Mady is truly growing into a little girl now.