baby girl: 7 months

7 months.  On the downhill slope to one year.  The birthday party ideas are already floating through my head…

Milestones + Accomplishments

MacKenna is now rolling over in both directions.  Therefore, (1) she is officially mobile and (2) she is now a tummy sleeper.  I’m OK with the mobility because she can’t get far (she pretty much rolls to get to toys and can spin herself in a circle), but the tummy sleeping thing freaks me out.  Especially when our motion-sensing monitor alarm goes off when she moves too far off of it.  A few nights ago, it went off and I found her all the way at the foot of the bed turned sideways.

She is getting extremely close to being able to get up on all fours.  Just last night, she pushed off her legs and up on her arms at the same time.  I’d love to say she’ll be crawling any day now, but I said that for a month with rolling over before she finally did it.

We’re still working on sitting on her own.  She can do it, but will only last a few minutes before she topples over.  I also think she enjoys her back and tummy more because that’s how she can get to her toys.

Starting solids started off pretty slow but is much better now.  She does not like for us to feed her at all, so she is in charge of putting things in her mouth.  We’ve been doing a lot of eating with a mesh feeder, which isn’t quite baby-led weaning, but it got her actually eating food.  She does eat some stuff on her own though.  She has had banana, avocado (her favorite), oatmeal, asparagus, sweet potato, and broccoli.  Broccoli was fun in the diaper the next day…

She is starting to babble a little bit.  No definitive “dada” or “mama”, but she does do “babababa” and “yayayaya”.  Most of the time she only babbles when she has something in her mouth.  I have a feeling she will say “dada” first.

What We’re Working On

• Getting  her to sit on her own.
• Crawling
• Not freaking out over tummy sleeping and choking (yes, those are my biggest fears right now)

Mama’s Miles

With MacKenna practically sitting up on her own, I have transitioned her from the carseat attachment to the actual stroller.  (Yes, my stroller was fixed for Mother’s Day!)  While I miss being able to see her face the whole time, I think she is enjoying watching the cars go by while we run.  It’s also been a great nap time for her in the afternoons.

I’ve been enjoying not training for a specific race since the half marathon.  I don’t feel as much pressure on myself to run certain workouts or hit certain times and I even feel less guilty if I miss a run.  My main goal right now is just to get faster and if I see a race I want to do, I’ll do it without spending weeks training just for that specific race.

This past month I ran 91 miles (and got new shoes!), my fastest pace was a 6:47/mile during my 5K and my longest run was an 8 mile stroller run I did this past weekend.  I’m usually happy if I average about 25 miles per week.  I would love to run more, but I just simply don’t have the time (or energy) right now.

Random Tidbits

• Doctor’s visits:  None scheduled until July.  Let’s hope it stays like that!
• Current weight:  Matt is actually taking her in for a weight check later today since she lost about 6 ounces last month.  We’re hoping for a bump up in the scale.  I’m worried what they’re going to have us do if we don’t see that weight increase.
•  Current clothing size:  She’s still wearing most of her 0-3 but also 3-6 months clothes as well since they are all her summer stuff.  One of the best parts of my day is picking out what she’s going to wear.  I swear she has the cutest clothes!
• Breastfeeding:  Still going strong!  I still hate pumping though…
• New discoveries:  We’ve decided that MacKenna is definitely right handed.  She reaches for EVERYTHING with her right hand, even if her left hand is closer.  She also loves (to pull) hair and jewelry.  She’s definitely a girly girl.

The next thing I have to look forward to?  Being an unofficial stay at home mom for the next 2 months!  My last day with students is next Thursday (same as Matt) and we will get to spend June + July as a family, going to the zoo, the park, the pool, and on a few trips!  I can’t wait!

BLW Moms, how do I get over the fear of her choking?  And does the gagging get any better as she learns?