Ms. Independent

Kailyn is now 7 months old and growing like crazy! Ok, where should I start? Oh, well last time I posted I think I mentioned that her head shape is no longer an issue. I don't think I updated about her weight yet though. After we saw the pediatrician at 6 months and he told us she we too skinny, we implemented some new feeding techniques and they paid off! When we went in for our one month later weight check, she was on the right track. She gained like a pound which isn't amazing but it is weight gain so he said to just keep doing what we're doing because she's heading in the right direction, Hallelujah! Here's what we did: instead of just nursing 4 to 5 times a day (with something like 2 ounces at a time), we continued nursing but also supplemented with a bottle of formula at every other feeding. Getting her to take a bottle was considerably harder than I had anticipated so sometimes we had to work with her and just give her bottle and not nurse for a while just so she could understand that the bottle isn't evil. She got to a point where she would take breastmilk from a bottle but not formula so we fixed that by switching formulas. That worked great. Sometimes she cries when I try to nurse her until I give her a bottle and I think it's because the milk doesn't come fast enough. I'm still trying to nurse her and my goal is to do it up to a year, but I don't think she will last that long. We're enjoying it for however long it does last though. As long as she's growing and developing, I don't really mind which method of eating she chooses.

Anyway, we also introduced solids which has been an interesting experience. So far, she doesn't like: rice cereal, oatmeal, squash, carrots, green beans, mashed potatoes, or peas. She does like: sweet potatoes, peaches, chocolate creamies, jello, and whipped cream. It's looking like she has a sweet tooth. While also having no teeth at all, ah ha, I'm so clever. So anyway, she's doing good with all the food business. Oh yeah, and her "I really hate this flavor" face is SOOO FUNNY. She'll taste it when you initially put it in her mouth and make the face. And then like 4 or 5 more times, she'll keep tasting it and pull the face again like, "I hate this so bad," and "I still really hate this", and "Seriously, this is awful, yuck". I love it.

What else has she been up to? Well, let me tell you.

-With the help of gravity while lying down, she can feed herself her own bottle! We just did that yesterday for the first time and have done it a couple times since then. The only problem is she gets bored and starts to want to roll around instead of eat. Which brings us to the next activity...

-She rolls around like crazy! She rolls both ways but does favor traveling towards her left. She also shimmies around in a circle if she needs to change directions. What a resourceful little sweetheart.

-She has also started getting into crawling position. It took her a couple weeks to strengthen those belly muscles for her to be able to stay in that position longer than a couple seconds, but now she just pops right up there like it's second nature. She's started rocking back and forth now like she's so getting ready to crawl. I don't think it will be too much longer before she starts crawling.

-As I mentioned earlier, we still have yet to see some teeth. She has definitely been teething for the last couple months though, as evidenced by her chewing on everything and being grumpy, runny-nosed, and drooly. I bet that's so fun.

-She loves to squeal and sing and make spitty, loud noises. Especially during testimony meeting at church. What a doll.

-She's starting to do a little pincer grasp. I'll let her play on the carpet and she'll find a little piece of white paper or lint or something (shame on me for not vacuuming enough) and just practice picking it up with her thumb and her forefinger for several minutes. Who needs toys when you have lint?

-She went swimming in a pool for the first time on the 5th, so she was one day past her 7 month birthday. And she had a neutrally nice time I think. She didn't cry but was a little hesitant at first. Once she got used to the temperature though, she seemed to enjoy it a little more. It was hard to tell because she was just sort of in an intense focused but sometimes growly smiley hitty mood. Sorry if that doesn't make sense to you, but it makes sense to me. Also, I kept her in a normal diaper, which I believe is against the rules but she didn't poo so I don't feel bad, and her diaper was hilariously engorged with water by the end. I'll post pictures, it was really funny. We also lathered her in delicious-smelling sunscreen spray and kept her huge pink fisherman-looking hat on and shaded her with our own shade, so she didn't even get sunburnt at all, which I'm so proud about.

-She always wakes up quietly and plays until she gets bored and starts squealing. Then when you go to get her, she is just the most cheerful thing you've ever seen. She wakes up 0-1 time a night and generally gets to sleep around 7 or so and sleeps til 6:30 ish. Except the past two days she has woken up at 8:30, I think because she got to sleep around 10 and 9. She's a really good sleeper though, which helps me keep my sanity so heaven bless her.

-She loves things that light up, mostly cell phones, cameras, computers, and ipods. Not as much the toys for her that light up, just the grown up toys. It's funny, and a little difficult, because when she's being smiley and cute and you try to take a picture, she automatically stops smiling and stares at the camera or cell phone camera once you pull it out because she thinks it's interesting and wants to play with it.

-She is still pretty bald too, but of the hair she has, I think it's going to be similar-colored to my own.

-We can't decide who she looks like more. She has my hair color, skin color, nose, hands, and generally petite size. And she has Garrett's under-eyes, ears, hair line, skin sensitivity, legs, and feet. She is such a pretty little princess however you put it.

-She can sit up all by herself too. She used to only be able to do it for a second before toppling over but now she is learning to balance better and stay up a little longer before toppling over. She's getting so independent, it's crazy.

So that's her in a nutshell. A large nutshell. She's such a fun girl to have around and I'm so lucky I get to spend as much time with her as I do. Garrett and I can't get enough of her and we're having a blast. I'll post pictures later when I'm on my own computer.