Caroline 7 months

I realize that I have said this almost every month now, but I can't believe that Caroline is already SEVEN months old!  I love it and hate it at the same time!  She is now closer to a year old than she is a newborn but she is also as sweet and as fun as can be.  Another thing I say all the time, but this is such a fun age!

One of her most fun and scary developments this month, is that she has become somewhat mobile!  She began the month by planking, which I wrote about in another post, where she is balancing her body up on her hands and toes with out stretched arms.  She is so cute and proud.  Then she transitioned to experimenting with putting her knees down and rocking back and forth a little bit.  This usually moved her backwards.  Now she goes from being up in her plank position or on her knees and thrusts her body forward and pulls herself forward with out stretched arms.  She isn't all that quick (yet) but for over a week or so now, she can get to anywhere she wants to go with this method.  She gets particularly excited and motivated when the remote is on the floor or one of Ainsley's sparkly dress up dresses or some of Bailey's cars or anyone's shoes.  As a family we are so not ready for this phase but I can't help but be proud of her and love it at the same time!  She is also able to sit up steadily and unsupported, but honestly, doesn't stay sitting in one place long because she usually quickly transitions to her belly in hopes of reaching something new and fun.

Another big change this month is that we moved Caroline's crib into Ainsley's room and she has been sleeping there during naps and at night.  This was in the hopes of getting her to sleep longer stretches at night, which hasn't really happened, but it is nice to have our room sort of back (her changing table and clothes are still in there).  Because Caroline is still waking up a handful of times at night, we temporarily moved Ainsley up to the guest room bed on the third floor.  Thankfully Ainsley has been so sweet and grown up about this transition but I know that she missed her real bed and room.  The plan is that once Caroline isn't waking up at night, we will move Ainsley back to her bed and the girls will share a room until we move into the new house.

Other points of interest about Caroline at 7 months:

• She had her third plane ride and saw the beach and ocean for the first time.
• Eating finally "clicked" and now she opens her mouth and glups food down.  She eats 3 meals a day most days (~8am, ~11:30 am, ~6pm) and has come to expect it more.  Now she fusses gets impatient if I'm not feeding her fast enough or if I get distracted with one of the other kiddos.
• Caroline mostly falls asleep on her own in her bed but will still fall asleep in my arms if I let her... And I try to cherish this each time because I know in a blink of an eye she won't do this anymore.
• Has started making the cutest high pitched "ba ba ba" noises.
• She rubs her eyes and ears with a chubby fist when she is falling asleep or tired. 
• Loves bath time and kicks and slashes in the water a ton!!  When she is at the pool, she kicks her legs almost non-stop in the water.  It's adorable and hopefully means we have another water lover on our hands!
• At the end of this month and beginning of her 8 month, she got sick for the first time.  It started out as a cold that transitioned to fever, vomiting, and ear infection.  Poor baby!  It has been rough seeing her so uncomfortable and out of sorts.

Some of my favorite sweet moments with Caroline are at the end of the day when I am nursing her before bed.  She just feels extra snuggly and I cherish the warmth of her little body in my arms or the weight of her head on my shoulder.  Some days I just sit and rock her even though she is done nursing and already fast asleep.  This is usually during part of the crazy time of night when we are rushing to do everyone's bedtime routine but sometimes, I just sit there in the dark enjoying my quiet little baby even though I can hear George chasing after the two loud wild monkeys. Sometimes I feel guilty for taking longer than needed, but most of the time I don't... I just enjoy the sweetness of Caroline.