Sitting Up, Talking, and being beautiful!

On Friday, February 6, Elliot started saying "Dada." Then on that Sunday, she began to say "Daddy." "Dada" is her favorite word now, but she still says "Daddy" sometimes. And she says it so sweetly - even whispered it into Russ' ear, as if to say "Buy me a pony, Dada..."

February 10, she decided she was going to start sitting up on her own, all the time. I can lay her down on a pillow, and find her sitting up & playing. She'll play forever sitting up now (but hasn't gotten into that position unless on a pillow).

She also is loving "standing." When I pick her up from her crib, she'll try to stand. And sometimes when she's in our laps she will try to stand. I let her sit on her knees & hang on to the side of the crib, too. I think she'll start pulling up on stuff soon. And I'd place a bet now that she'll be at least pulling up, if not walking, before she decides to crawl. Being on her belly is just not her cup of tea. She'll probably learn to stand up from her belly before she decides to crawl!!!

It still takes me a day to "unspoil" her after visits with the Grandparents. :)

I think she's also learning the word "no." The meaning of it, anyway. She started this zerbert-spitting thing while eating (just ask Neetie - she had a once-solid shirt that's now polka-dotted with peas...) & I managed to teach her "No" with that behavior & she stopped right away! She started at the next meal, and listened again. Coincidence? Maybe not. :)

I better cut this shorter so I can feed her dinner...

February 5 - Nothing better than a good chew toy. February 7 - Just being cute I title these group of photos "Reasons My First Words Were Dada & Daddy" February 8 - enjoying some lap time... February 5 - A squirrel so hungry, he ate my car. Poor thing. I put bread out for him after this. February 9 - Nice, cold....teething ring. And yet another "Tree Hugger" shirt. February 10 - She decided toes were good to chew, as well as play with. Whenever her toes are exposed (no socks) and she's on her back, she'll try to eat them. February 10 - she sat up so well in her crib. This was the first day that "real" sitting began with any length of time. Feburary 11 - Enjoying a nice "Baby Mum Mum" Feburary 11 - Sitting up! YAY! February 11 - Going strong sitting up & playing. February 13 - Getting her Valentine Gift a little early before our trip to Paducah : A talking Smurf to go with her Singing Smurf. YAY! February 17 - Now she plays in the playpen. She's eye-level with me while I work, her toys can't go far when she throws them (unless she purposefully throws them out of the playpen), and she can sit up in there forever (the big horse is there in case she gets tired of sitting & decides to lay back for a bit). February 17 - this pack of 9 deer (and a buck somewhere) has been acting strange. It was interesting seeing them stampede through the backyard when we had the storm with funnel clouds last week - they ran through moments before the storm hit.

7 Months old & still growing

I can't believe she's 7 months old already! Very active & gets very bored quickly. I can tell she'd like to move more on her own, but she doesn't get the idea yet. And she still doesn't enjoy being on her belly more than a few minutes.

She's still eating her 3 meals a day with 4 bottles, but won't finish her bottles anymore, so she's eating a little less. Green beans used to be her favorite, but she has refused to eat them for a while - until I started adding milk to them to make them creamy. I do the same with peas since she was refusing them. Now she eats her greens again. I think she gets bored with the same foods, so I'm trying to make different things. YoBaby Yogurt is a new favorite (I tried it, it's good!)

Strolling around is still her absolute favorite thing to do, so winter puts a damper on that. We get out every slightly-warm day we have. Can't wait til Spring!

January 23 - loves sleeping in her crib January 27 - just hangin' around February 2 - Ride a little horsey, don't fall down! February 2 - Tummy time buddy. February 2 - Laughing at the snow February 2 - SNOWED! About 1". Didn't stay long, but it was pretty. They keep calling for more, but it never happens. February 3, 2009: Seven-Months Old: The scales say 21 pounds, 3.2 oz. But the box & big diaper weigh 1 pound 13.1 oz alone. So, I guess she weighs ... about 19.3 pounds. That's 13 oz gained in the past month. And she grew a good inch (up to about 28"). Oh yeah, the feet! This is the photo we ended up submitting for Regis & Kelly's Beautiful Baby Search. Her smile is so pretty, dimples & all! And who could resist those feet? February 4 - she knows how to take the tray off. She rarely sits in this anymore, but I bring it out when she's bored with everything else. She's not quite sitting along without support yet. ICE STORMS: Kenmary Road, 2009: (Got this photo from someone else of Neetie & Harry's street) Debbie Drive, 2009: (Got this photo from someone else of Mom & Dad's street!) These are photos of the ice storm Russ & I were in, in Lexington February 2003. Cars were crushed right next to ours. We didn't really get snow with it. Campus never lost power while it took 2 weeks for the rest of the city to recover. I wish we'd had a better camera at the time (digital technology has come a long way in 6 years).