Stats

Brees Elizabeth is 7 months old!

It was a very busy month for our sweet little lamb as she quickly discovered how to
MOVE!  She reached so many milestones this month and I am so excited to share them
with you!  I feel like I just wrote her 6 month post, I can't believe another month has
so quickly passed by.  It was a fun one, though, and we just keep falling more deeply in
love with our little darling every day.

Here are her stats:

Feeding:  We added solid foods to Brees's diet this month!  You can read more in
depth about our adventures with eating here.  She is still breast feeding every 3-4 1/2
hours but now also eats three meals of solid foods a day.  It was a slow start but she is
now thoroughly enjoying a wide variety of fruits and veggies.  At this point, on top of
breast feeding, she typically eats oatmeal for breakfast, fruit and rice cereal for lunch,
and veggies with brown rice for dinner.  Bananas and sweet potatoes seem to be her
favorites so far.  I am making some of my own baby food and also using Gerber and
Earth's Best Organic.  So far, no problems with food allergies!

Sleeping:  Sleep?  What sleep?  There was NO sleep this month!  Not for Mama and
Daddy, anyway.  I read somewhere that the 7 month mark can bring
about a "wakeful" phase.  HA!  I also credit teething with our very eventful nights, poor
baby.  Basically, Brees wakes up at 6:30 am, takes 3 two hour naps a day and
sleeps peacefully.  Around 6 pm, she has a bath and I rock her to sleep, singing a Bob
Marley tune or two as she sucks her thumb.  I get her up again around 10, right before I
go to bed, and nurse her one more time.  Then, all hell breaks lose!  She becomes a
different child, crying and whining, inconsolable.  So, I basically just started putting her in
bed with us, nursing her back to sleep, holding her close.  Which of course makes her
perfectly happy.  But in her own bed, forget about it!  I have received countless pieces
of advice on this topic and have seriously tried everything except letting her cry it out.  I
just can't do that, it kills my heart.  I would rather mess up our sleep routine for a little
while than listen to my baby cry, I am a weakling.  And so that is what we have been
doing, nursing every three hours throughout the night and co-sleeping most nights.  The
last week has been a little better, she has been waking every 4 hours or so but has
drifted back to sleep right after I nurse her and not crying when I put her in her bed (which
is right next to ours).  So, we shall see what this month brings.  For now, Shawn and I
are surviving on black tea and delirium!

Health: A+ in this department!  Breast milk is gold!!  Having a mother who works in
one of the sickest areas of the hospital and therefore has the immune system of a
lab rat doesn't hurt either!  

Milestones:  Brees accomplished so much this month!  She now sits up with no support,
so strong and big.  She also crawls on all fours and will travel as far as it takes to get a toy
or object she really wants.  And she moves FAST!  We can not leave her out of our sight
for even a minute!  She can get into a sitting position from her stomach and rake with
her fingers to pick up small objects.  She indiscriminately says "dada", "mama", and
"baba", which is ridiculously cute.  She is constantly babbling and cooing and giggling,
which means she fits right in with this family of chatterboxes!  She pulls herself up on
her knees and holds onto the furniture, standing is not far behind I am sure!

Personality:  With the exception of her night time fussiness, Brees is the easiest and
most mellow baby.  Her cues are easy to read and very clear which makes soothing
her fussiness very simple.  She loves bath time and being in the water.   She has become
quite attached to her pink lamb blankie and holds her close while sucking her thumb, it's
quite a precious sight.  She enjoys her Exersaucer and Johnny Jump Up and chewing
on Sophie the Giraffe.  Best of all, she loves watching her big sister's every move, following
her around like a little duckling.  Their relationship is one of the most beautiful things I
have ever witnessed.  They are truly so enamored with each other and I am so excited
to watch their friendship grow.

This month we:

• Took our first bath in the kitchen sink, like every good country girl should
• Attended big sister's dance recital and never took our eyes off the big stage and bright lights
• Played with lots of cousins and friends while the adults enjoyed the lazy days of summer
• Enjoyed sitting in our big girl high chair with the rest of the family at meal times
• Developed a serious interest and love for music, brightening up every time Daddy brought out the guitar

It has been another wonderful month, Brees Elizabeth, 
where you have shown us just how much love our hearts 
can hold.  You are such a blessing to our little tribe and we 
are so proud of you!