Baby Book entry: 7 1/2 months
changing table talk
Originally uploaded by freemanwilliamsAt 7 1/2 months, Penelope is developing quite a lovely personality (teething crankiness aside). She seems pretty patient (must get that from Mark!) and will sit and play by herself on a blanket in the living room for quite a while-- as long as we keep providing her some fresh toys every so often. :) She has started to show preference for different toys, often tossing some out of the way to get the one she really wants. Once I saw her "dance" to the music that came from one of her toys, and she often babbles a sound along with music, or quietly to herself. We've heard ba, ma, ta, and la so far. She smiles often. She still doesn't laugh a whole lot, unless she's tired, and then it's a giggle-fest, which is adorable.
She has been dealing (seemingly endlessly) off and on with teething for a while. Which gives her a clear, runny nose-- which she hates having wiped now (up until about a month ago she didn't mind at all). Occasionally she makes the cutest little "o" with her mouth, which makes her look like she's surprised. I cant tell if this is because she has a stuffy nose, or if it's just another facial experimentation she's doing.
She recognizes her mom and dad, now, and will smile at us and bounce up and down when we come to pick her up from daycare. She is also lifting her arms up when we come over to pick her up, and, if she's tired, she'll lay her head down on our shoulder. That's an "awww" moment for sure!
PJ prefers to sleep on her tummy with her arms over her head (like her mommy). She's not sleeping as long as she was initially when we first did sleep training with her (at about 5 months); she'll go from about 8pm to 3 or 4am and then wake up for a feeding. The good news is that she'll usually go back to sleep for another couple hours after that.
I took her to Baby Lapsit the other day at the library and she really like it, was watching nearly the whole time. "5 Little Monkeys" with the finger puppets was her favorite.
PJ does not really enjoy riding in her carseat in the car anymore, and it's bad news if dad and mom forget the pacifier! We bought her next carseat, a "convertible" one which she will still face backward in, but we'll keep using the bucket until she's 20 pounds and a certain number of inches (I can't remember right now). The good thing about the bucket is that if she's falls asleep in the car, it's easy to put her in her room and she'll continue napping. Today I did that after coming home from the gym and she slept for about 3 hours-- that's a record! It was great, I got tons of laundry done (of which there is a never-ending supply), and I even was able to wash all her toys! I try to do that at least once a month to try to help keep down the number of colds.
Penelope has taken to eating oatmeal and jarred food like a champ. We are on stage 2 and 3, with such delectables as: oatmeal with apples and cinnamon, vegetable beef dinner and turkey or chicken and rice dinners. Mmmm.
Well, the toys have run their course for the moment, it seems, so I'm going to see if my fussy baby wants another nap.