7 Months

Where did my little baby go?! She's not yet a toddler but she is most definitely not an infant anymore! She is growing so fast and sometimes when we look at her we see just a glimpse of what she will look like/be like when she's older.

• She scoots all over the house. At one point this week, I got her to scoot from the living room to her bedroom using my necklace as a lure. She also rocks on all fours and is so close to crawling.
• She can sit pretty well, with a little support.
• She loves to chew on anything and everything, especially straps from her high chair, car seat, my purse, etc. 
• Being the true girl that she is, she has a deep fascination with shoes.
• We introduced solid foods this month. She figured out the whole swallowing thing right away and has loved everything we've offered her so far.
• She also learned to drink from a sippy cup this week. It's a huge milestone, considering she hasn't touched a bottle in four months! And it's an even bigger relief. I had been planning on transitioning straight from nursing to a sippy cup, but the time came a little sooner than I anticipated. We were told at her 6 month check up that she wasn't gaining enough weight and that we should supplement with formula, along with the solid foods we were already giving her, to get her the extra calories she needed. It was much easier said than done. We introduced the sippy with some milk I had pumped and she wanted nothing to do with it. Then we thought she needed to become more familiar with it first so we gave it to her empty but she just gnawed on it, like it was a chew toy. After getting nowhere for about a week, we took a brake. Then we started up again, only this time I meant business. I offered the sippy before nursing so she would be hungry enough to want it and she started gradually taking it. I continued to offer it at every feeding and by the third day she was drinking from it like a pro! I am so grateful!!! Now I know how much she is getting and I can monitor her feedings much better. And she is growing! 
• She is such a talker. We've heard her say 'Mama' and 'Dada' multiple times and even though we know it's just babbling for now, it gets us pretty excited. And the other day she said "Blah, blah, blah" and of course it was right after I had been talking in her face for several minutes straight. Little stinker!
• When most babies get over-tired, you expect them to get pretty cranky, right? Well, not Olivia. Instead, she gets to that hysterical point where you normally have to be at to watch certain slap-stick movies, and she thinks everything is funny. She particularly gets a kick out of herself! 
• She has the most cheesy grins and loves to laugh.
• She is so playful and growing to be such a little tease.