I am a day late but I’m excited to announce that Lula is 7 months old!You’ve come a long way girl!  I still think back to Lula at a few weeks old and my how things have changed.We have started her on solids- she has had both rice and oatmeal cereal and loves both.  She has also tried sweet potatoes and avocado and hated both.

Solids have certainly not changed her breast feeding habits- I still feed her about 9 times a day- this may sound excessive but she only feeds for about 10 minutes at each session and, most importantly, it works for us.

As I have stated before, she can now support herself when she is sitting up which is very exciting!  She has had a great time feeling textures like grass and the carpet.I still feel that ever since DST took place, there have frequently been issues related to Lula’s sleep, especially around bedtime.  I am starting to shorten her morning nap from 1.5 hours to 1 hour and 10 minutes, especially if we are running errands.

I have cut out the 1 PM short snooze and if for some reason she ends up falling asleep at that time due to a car ride, stroller walk or run, etc. she doesn’t take another nap for the day. Believe me, I’ve tried, but she is too alert at her nap time and if I wait and let her nap later, she is off schedule for the evening.

She usually naps from 3-4 PM but I am considering shortening that nap because her bedtimes have been all over the place lately.  I used to start her bedtime nursing at 6:40 and she was asleep by 7.  Now, I start her bedtime nursing closer to 7.  Sometimes she’s asleep at 7:10, sometimes 7:30, and sometimes like last Monday, I spent an hour trying to get her to fall asleep.  At this point, I would rather forgo longer naps during the day if it means I can get her to bed at a decent hour.

She has only been able to roll from her belly to her back one time.  If I put her in her crib while she is still awake and she decides to roll over, eventually she starts screaming when she can’t get back to her back!

a rare smile on her tummy

Then she does it again, and again, and so on and so forth.  Pa recommended she and I practice rolling from belly to back during the day so I am trying my best to incorporate some rolls when she tolerates it.

She is not quite ready to sit in the front of a shopping cart so I am still carrying her in the Baby Bjorn carrier when we are shopping.  I always place her in it facing outward and she LOVES it.  Last week at the grocery store, a few kids were ahead of us in an aisle and they were screaming- the shrill high-pitched kind every parent loves.  That got her attention and she made some sounds- seemingly to communicate with them.  It was adorable.

Since she faces out, this encourages people to come up and grab her hand, talk to her (sometimes she gets scared), and one cashier actually came around the cash register and kissed her on the face!

She loves to grab things and put them in her mouth- board books, my hair, and I suppose her hand is probably her favorite chew toy.I ordered these from amazon- thanks for all of the recommendations- and I can’t wait to try them out!  I hope to find a cheapo baby pool for our backyard as summer gets HOT around here but I am also looking forward to going to the local pool and letting her explore the water.

As many other mommy bloggers have alluded to in similar posts, I am having more and more fun as Lula gets older and more interactive.She loves to watch faces, observe people, and add in her own commentary when she feels like it.  Sometimes she will be playing on her own with me or Pa sitting nearby and after a while, she will reach out and grab our leg or face for a little bit of reassurance, just to make sure that we are still there.  It’s such a rudimentary action that will evolve and manifest in other ways for many years to come.

Love you Lula!