Your seventh month

Tags

nursery style, vintage

Evelina

This month you started doing a rather unfortunate thing with your tongue which was less than attractive – you stuck it behind your bottom lip!  The above photo was the nicest one I could find of you doing it without making you look really awful and thankfully for the readers, no food is on display!

Luckily, this was just one of your many phases (like your love of raspberries which comes back periodically!).

Evelina wished her daddy a happy father's day this morning with a friendly fish hook followed by a raspberry.—
Mama Kate (@raisingevelina) June 19, 2011

We finally got your nursery looking spiffy with the bunting up and (almost) everything in its place.  The final addition will be your foot and hand print which has now arrived.

We tried you in your door bouncer for the 2nd or 3rd time and you really seemed to get the hang of it (‘scuse the pun!).  You actually managed a couple of bounces (although this does not compare the manic jumping we get now, at Month 8!).

All in all, your seventh month saw a lot of changes – somewhere towards the end of it – and I am not really sure exactly when, I realised that you could sit unaided.  That is not to say that we didn’t need to still use plenty of cushions around you as you were still prone to a sudden faceplant when we least expected it which makes us realise what a lethal deathtrap (redundant, I know) the house is.  One poorly padded marble hearth and.. well, I don’t want to think about it.

But some things stay the same.  My love for you.  And your eyes of blue. And your quizzical brow.

Love, Mama.

Early mornings and an end of a feeding era

Tags

Breastfeeding

We had a fantastic time on holiday but I am quite glad to be home and able to get Evelina back into a bit of a routine.  Being on holiday with a baby was a joy but it also was an adjustment – Evelina doesn’t understand the concept of a holiday lie-in, sadly.  Funnily enough, though, I always thought that this aspect of having a baby would really grate; I was always such a fan of getting up late, especially on holiday when you get a free pass to do exactly what you want to do.  Yet, this holiday, I spent most mornings tootling about the house, enjoying the fresh Alpine air and the breathtaking views.  Admittedly, a couple of times, I did get back in bed until her second wake up at 9am (which still used to seem pretty early, back in the day!). But on the whole, I had a quiet hour or two to myself or with my mum to relax and I really didn’t begrudge the lack of lie in.

During the holiday, I stopped breastfeeding Evelina.  This was not something I had really planned but it just felt like the right time since I had already dropped to just feeding her twice a day.  Just before we came away, Evelina started dropping her late afternoon feed which was one of the two I was giving her and I think this affected the amount of milk I was producing for her morning feed.  I noticed her becoming unsettled and she didn’t seem as satisfied after that feed so I decided to give her a bottle instead for her first feed.  I had put this off because despite all my problems in the beginning, I found feeding her myself rewarding.  I also found it extremely convenient as it meant I didn’t have to mess around early in the morning, preparing bottles for her for her first feed.

Now that I am in the habit of giving her a bottle first thing, it doesn’t seem so torturous now that we are home. This morning, I was able to get up, make up a bottle for her while she played patiently.  There was no screaming for food like I had expected.  And I was up and about, enjoying the sunny morning instead of feeling the urge to climb back into bed the minute Evelina went back to sleep (she still insists on having a nap soon after her first wake up – sometimes she is only up for 20 minutes).

I managed to breastfeed for longer than I ever imagined in those early days when I hated it.  Evelina is growing up and her first tooth is about to make an appearance!.  I am glad that it happened so organically, without too much planning or deliberating.  I do feel a little sad about the end of this feeding era but I feel that the time is right.

Ciao Bella!

We are having a fab first holiday as a family. Evelina is particularly taken with her paddling pool!

Your sixth month

Evelina

I thought I was going to catch up with these reflective posts so that I could write about your seventh month on time but I didn’t quite manage it.. maybe by your eighth month, I will be on track!

You are getting about so much now that I can’t leave you playing on the floor for any amount of time and a few times, I have been making a cuppa or getting your bottles ready and I hear you complaining, only to find that you have managed to roll part-way under the sofa leaving up on your front and trapped as you have not really worked out forward motion (you can edge, you can pull but thank heavens, you cannot yet crawl) and the sofa is stopping you from rolling out of trouble.  It’s quite a sorry sight – your little face is quite appalled by the impediment.

We are still waiting for your teeth to make an appearance – in the meantime, you still want everything put your way in your mouth, including unsuspecting fingers.

This month was a busy month – we celebrated your Grandad’s 60th birthday by throwing him a surprise party. Your Grandpa, Nanny and Uncle Matt also had birthdays.

As a treat for Easter, Grandma and Grandpa treated you to having your hand and foot print made into a beautiful addition to your nursery.  You were good as gold as the lady pressed your hand followed by your foot into clay.

You met your Great Auntie Janet in May while she was visiting from the US.  She is your Grandma’s sister and you were very confused by the lady who looked just enough like Grandma without being Grandma, with a very different voice!  When your Great Auntie Chris joined us for a trip to Coughton Court, it just added to the confusion!

There are still a ton of ‘firsts’ – some so small, they pass us by as we marvel at our growing daughter.  I do manage to catch one or two, though:

First mirror smile! We are in the car and I smiled at Evelina in the baby mirror and SHE SMILED BACK! Usually she just looks perturbed.—
Mama Kate (@raisingevelina) May 21, 2011

Love, Mama.