Dear Coraline,
As of 1AM this morning, you turned seven months old. It’s hard to believe you are now past the half-year mark. You’re approximately 17 pounds, approaching 18, and are starting to fit into clothes sized nine months. You still wear size 3 diapers, which I expect you’ll be in for some time. You’re still as sweet as ever, smiling readily for everyone, and talking up a storm. One of your poppa and my favorite things to do is listen to you talk to yourself in the morning. You’ll chat to yourself, trying out sounds, even testing out how loud you can be. It’s awesome to listen to. When we picked you up after work the other night, your abuelo even swore you said something that sounded an awful lot like “hello.” We’ll give him the benefit of the doubt since both your poppa and I have heard you say something that sounds an awful lot like “mama,” too.
Your first big milestone this month: solid foods. We introduced you to carrots the day you turned six months old (day 181). And, boy, did you love them. You very quickly got the hang of eating from a spoon (although we’ve fed you cereal that way several times) and eagerly opened your mouth for your next bite. It was messy, messier than I expected, but our dog Troubadour was more than happy to help clean up your high chair when we were done.
After carrots, your poppa and I introduced you to plums (day 192), which you weren’t as crazy about. Seems the tartness was a bit much, although it was funny to hear you sigh loudly and then shudder a full two minutes after you’d had a bite. Next you tried bananas (day 208), which you definitely liked more than you liked plums. Next will be sweet potatoes, so get ready. (We have to wait several days before introducing you to new foods to make sure you’re not allergic to them.)
You’re still very social, not yet exhibiting any signs of stranger or separation anxiety, which is great. When your poppa took a day off work (day 186) to spend with you, the two of you ended up visiting your Gramma Fran and Grandpa Don, and your Auntie Kirsten at her job. At your cousin Stephen’s second birthday party (day 198) you made fast friends with his Grandma Jane and Grandma Debbie, to name a couple. That was also the day your hair started to develop a noticeable curl; your poppa has already apologized to you since it looks like you might have his hair. It’s already the exact same color as his. As if that day wasn’t exciting enough, that’s the day we noticed you were cutting a third tooth, your upper right incisor. Which might explain why you went the entire day without napping. The very next day, Sunday (day 199), I noticed you were cutting a second upper tooth, the left incisor. And then three days after that, you started cutting another tooth, the second left incisor. You now have those three teeth coming in up top and the two on the bottom, giving you a grand total of five teeth. Pretty impressive for a seven-month-old. Soon we’ll have to take you for your first dental checkup.
Here you are mimicking an expression your late great-grandma Tulita used to make.
You’ve had a very social month, enjoying a workout with poppa (day 202), visiting friends with us, giggling at and reaching for your cousin Stephen when saying goodnight (day 208), having lunch with me and a few friends, and essentially seeing everyone in your family. You held your bottle for an entire bedtime feeding (day 187) and FINALLY giggled just for me (day 209), which was wonderful since you usually giggle for everyone but me (you think your poppa is the end-all, be-all clown).
The most amazing milestone you’ve hit this month is that you finally sat on your own (day 204), right there on your poppa’s office floor. We were so proud of you and just awed to see you do that. You’re getting better at it, too, sitting up for longer periods of time and getting really close to righting yourself when you tip over. You’re also rocking on your knees like you’re getting ready to crawl. Which means your poppa and I have to hurry up and childproof.
I usually write your monthly letter early in the day, but today I had an ulterior motive for waiting to do it so late: We took you to see the Easter Bunny at West Town Mall today. It meant a lot to me to get your picture taken with the Easter Bunny since tomorrow is your first Easter. You handled it like a pro, much like when you met Santa in December. You were very obviously unimpressed to be seated in the lap of a six-foot-tall quasi-rodent and didn’t much feel like smiling. Or crying. Or really reacting with anything other than boredom. It was only when the photographer’s assistant worked to get you to smile that you did. And it was worth the wait.
I tell you every day, but I love you so much and am so lucky and proud to be your mommy. Here’s to a great month eight.
love,
Mommy
That’s my girl 🙂