Kate: 7 months old

The babe hit 7 months and all of the sudden it feels like she is almost a year old. Her rapid development leaves me in awe. How do babies do it? If I were left to my own devices I would just lay on the floor all day. Not these tiny humans, though. Their curiosity, determination, and attitude of pure joy towards life is inspiring. Come to think of it, if I got 2+ naps a day I'd be a little more productive with my awake time. Just saying.

Kate began rocking back and forth on her hands and knees. This is a step that Vincent completely skipped. He didn't do the crawling thing. Seeing her up like that is bizarre. In my mind, she is too little to be mobile. Thankfully, she isn't crawling. She accidentally slides backwards as a result of getting on her hands and knees, but hasn't figured out that she can transport herself across the room via her little appendages.

She finally started bearing weight on her legs!! Previously, we could hardly keep this girl up. The combination of her chunky little body plus the fact that her legs would buckle after 10 seconds made it impossible to hold her up. Paul seemed to have tricked her by standing her up at the ottoman with toys in reach. She began with little bits of weight and will now stand in our laps without any distraction. Woo hoo!!

She is the happiest little girl. When she hears her bedroom door open she immediately stops crying and begins excitedly talking. The only way I can describe it is a happy sounding exhale. "Heehh, Heeehh!"

Speaking of speaking, Kate added "Ba-ba" to her repertoire! I know when she's done taking a nap because the cute baby noises turn into full blown babbling intermixed with shouts and squeals. She rarely cries, except to clue us in to her need for nap. 

She's also a cuddly little bug. While she enjoys a bit of independence, she never pushes away when you squeeze her tight. Frequently, she buries her head into my chest and just leaves it there for a few moments before resurfacing for air. This has been beneficial, as Vince often smashes her into the ground. We're fortunate that she loves all the lovin' he has to offer her. 

As far as feedings go, she still nurses 5x a day (this includes the dream feed) and she is increasing her solid feedings to about three 4 oz purees a day. We also do bananas but haven't done much else as she is still sporting a toothless grin. I remember being in such a rush to move to solids with Vince. This time around we're just happy that she's a good nurser and haven't put much emphasis on the transition. 

Kate continues to sleep partially swaddled for 12 hours at night. We pin her left arm down but allow her right arm to roam free. When she is a bit out of sorts that right arm flaps up and down like a bird trying to take flight. It's on the verge of being dangerous for any parents trying to find her pacifier. And man, that girl loves her pacifiers. She has roughly six in the crib with her. She switches between them all and has a hay day until she passes out in sweet pacifier heaven.

Like Vincent, Kate has rosy cheeks. They are pretty sensitive to the dry winter weather and require buckets of lotion to keep at a dull pink instead of a raging red. Her poor chapped cheeks make me so sad. Most people perceive them as a cute feature, but I've quickly learned that while cute, it's not fun to deal with.

Kathryn Olivia is a blessing in my life. She constantly makes me smile and frequently reminds me that most things don't matter. My kids are healthy and happy, and so am I.