SEVEN !!

Is time flying for everyone, or just me?

Charlotte is 7 months old now. No ped visit to mark this, so I have no idea how tall or heavy she has become. I am certain, however, that she hit some kind of growth spurt immediately after her 6-month appointment because all those 9-month clothes I'd said were too big now fit. And she's too long for most 6-month clothes. And it seemed to happen overnight, after seemingly months of no growing at all (which means she was just growing steadily, as opposed to in spurts).

Big events... She waves, purposefully and with direction, before someone leaves or when she wants to grab their attention. And when she's done with being somewhere, she starts waving bye-bye. We went to two parties this weekend, and when she started getting tired at both, she began waving to me as if to say, "Isn't it about time we said goodbye to these people?"

She signs "eat" when she's hungry. At first, I thought she was just sticking her fingers in her mouth to gnaw on them, but the gnawing didn't happen. And the fingers didn't really go IN the mouth, just up to it. This is amazing. We watch her signing video together every day, and she especially loves the animals. Every morning, when we walk out of her room, she waves enthusiastically toward the office where one of the cats is usually sleeping on the desk chair. It's too dark to see if the cat is even there, so we have to flip on the light to check, but she starts waving as soon as we're out of her room. I'd be willing to bet her next sign will be "cat."

Sitting, rolling over, pivoting, getting up on knees and elbows... all old-hat by now. She's not crawling yet, but has begun trying to pull herself up on things- crib rail, my leg, coffee table, etc. She doesn't know how to put herself in a sitting position, but stays there pretty much forever now. She can lean and reach all over to get a toy, then return herself upright. She can also stand, unassisted (once propped up), while holding onto the couch or a chair or my knee, for about a minute before she gets wobbly.

She has to be on the move, all the time, until she's exhausted. In my lap, she's constantly up and down, standing and sitting, spinning this way and that, or trying to slide down onto the floor. Even when she's nursing, she can't stay still. She's come up with some creative positions. Apparently, the "cradle hold" is for babies and she thinks she's outgrown it (except for when she's tired, then she's all snuggly and calm).

I think she says "hi." It comes out more like "ha," but the timing is appropriate and it's usually accompanied by a wave, so I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt. There you go- her first spoken word. Hi!

She still has no real interest in "solid" foods. We've tried rice cereal, acorn squash, sweet potatoes, and peas. With each, she makes a face, then eats a couple of spoons full before something else grabs her attention. She did have a complete "meal" of rice cereal one evening when she was too congested to nurse.

She's awake... more later, and maybe some photos too.