7 Months

Dear Emma,

I distinctly remember early last fall, and thinking that September seemed to last forever. You were 1 month old and while I felt like some of the newborn-induced haze was starting to lift, the month just stretched on and on and on. I thought the 2 month mark would never arrive. But now we are here. 7 months old. And now I feel like 6 months was just yesterday.

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Every day you seem to learn something new, and I can almost see the wheels turning in your head just by looking at you. Just a few days ago, you learned to clap! It looks like all of our clapping each time we finish singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider” finally paid off. You clap at the end of songs, or pretty much anytime you’re happy. You’ve also developed a love of what Dad has nicknamed “slapping,” which is a pretty simple game where you just smack the heck out of whatever you happen to be holding. If we hold out our hands in front of you, palms up, you’ll give double high-fives, which is also pretty cool.

Sitting up is SO last month — you’re solid as a rock when you sit, unless it’s on something lumpy like our bed. This has opened a whole new world on the weekends when we’re out running errands because you can sit in the cart now! This is infinitely better in your humble opinion, because you can see everything going on around you instead of being stuck in your car seat and stroller. And speaking of strollers, we finally put you in the stroller normally for the first time, instead of just snapping your car seat into it. You held on to both sides as if you were scared, but you also gave us several grins so I think it’s just a matter of getting use to the new perspective.

Green beans vs. yogurt

Your personality is never more apparent so far than during mealtime. You have strong and definite opinions about food: yes to your bottles of formula, yes to all fruits thus far, yes to oatmeal and yogurt, yes to anything orange (sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, and peaches)…but a big fat NO to anything green. It’s neat to see that you can already identify and remember that if the spoon has something green, you don’t like it. But you should really reconsider, baby girl — peas or green beans are not so bad, I promise.

You got a fantastic surprise present from your Gima this month — a beautiful smocked dress that she sewed just for you! She was worried that it might already be too small, but it was a perfect fit and you looked absolutely adorable in it. The only problem is that I’m so scared of messing it up that I’m worried to let you wear it for too long.

You and Dad in your awesome footie PJs

This past Saturday morning, you woke up with what we will politely call “tummy trouble.” This is the first time we’ve all dealt with this particular malady and wow, it’s really no fun for you OR for me. Despite late-night diapers changes in an attempt to at least contain the mess, you’ve woken up three of the past five mornings in need of a bath. A messy diaper got you sent home from daycare at lunchtime on Monday. You got to hang out with Dad all afternoon, and since their rules are that you can’t go back for at least 24 hours, I stayed home with you yesterday too.

The rather interesting position I found you sleeping in when we left book club last month.

As it turns out, keeping you home all day was a good decision. Around 5:00, my 7-months-minus-one-day streak of having a baby yet NOT having ever been covered in baby vomit came to an end. It was a good run — one that disappeared in a puddle of all the formula that you had literally just finished eating. Your stomach wasn’t having it, and apparently decided that the formula would look better on you, me, the couch, and the floor. Ew. Gross.

I put you in crawling position and you just froze. Don’t worry — there’s no rush!

We kept you home again today, and the good news in all this is that your generally sunny disposition hasn’t suffered too much. You’ve been a little more clingy, and a little more fussy, and a little less interested in eating, but overall? Life goes on, and so do you. The bug seems to have passed, and tomorrow you’ll rejoin your little buddies at daycare, but the whole experience has taught me a lot — and I’m not just referring to the logistics of dealing with more poop and vomit than I’d care to repeat (no matter how much of a “parenting rite” that may be).

See, I was actually kind of nervous about the idea of staying home with you all day. I haven’t been with you alone for that long since my last day of maternity leave, and you were an entirely different baby back then — fussier, yes, but also easier in some ways. You napped more, and all I really needed to do was keep you clean and fed. These days, you require interaction. It’s not just about changing diapers and making bottles anymore. There are books to read and songs to sing, and so many things for you to learn. It’s intimidating! And what if I’m doing it wrong?

But we had a really nice day. I could tell you didn’t feel 100%, but we still made the best of it. After you threw up, we snuggled on the couch for the rest of the evening. And I remembered this: I don’t have to be the best mom ever. I just have to be YOUR mom.

And that’s something I just might be able to handle.

Love,
Mama