Wonder Baby is 7 months old!  She’s been a bit crankier this month.  Before getting mobile she would hang out on her hands and knees and yell.  Often she wakes up yelling (not screaming or crying…yelling!).  I call her my little rage muffin.  She’s happiest outside on a blanket (loves the breeze in her hair), but I have to watch her because she keeps eating the grass!

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Playing:

After weeks of baby yoga (I swear learning to crawl is the same as the Sun Salute), Wonder Baby has a pretty decent army crawl going on.  She loves chasing her sister around and grabbing her toys.  Toddler Girl is far less impressed with the turn of events and the cat is a bit traumatized.  She’s not content however, and there’s still a lot of rocking back and forth on her knees.  I think proper crawling is coming soon.

I finally broke down and bought a used exersaucer.  It’s hideous and we trip over it constantly in our tiny house, but she loves it.  When she gets all antsy and tired of baby yoga she likes to be upright for a bit.

She’s sitting upright unassisted but really can’t be bothered most of the time; she’d rather be going places.  Between all that action and a growth spurt, she’s lost a bit of chub. Sad times

Eating: 

She’s got the hang of solids and is loving meal time.  I can tell that she’s dropping a bit in her nursing. I should probably start pumping while I have a bit extra.  I am finally getting low on my stash from my oversupply days.  She has a bit of eczema back in the creases of her ankles.  I’m trying to decide if one or both of us should cut dairy again, but it’s pretty minor.

Sleeping:

Two steps forward, one and a half steps back.  The kid doesn’t sleep well, but that’s a blog post in itself.

I see more of her personality all the time, which is so fun.  She’s definitely a spirited baby!

Toddler Girl is 31 months old.  She had her first haircut this month.  I was a bit emotional over it, but I was tired of the crying while I combed it out.  Ironically, she looks younger with it a bit shorter.

She’s a little sponge; it’s crazy hearing someone echo back the way you talk.  It’s come to my attention that I need to start saying “excuse me” as having someone hip check you out of the way while saying “move!” is a bit rude!

We had a stretch where she was getting clingy again at bedtime and just generally whiny and annoying.  Then the Olympics ended, we went back to no screen time and our happy little girl came back.  That was enough to keep our resolve strong for limiting tv watching in this house!

I read Happiest Toddler on the Block and then bought it and made Mr SH read it.  We’re finding it very helpful for understanding Toddler Girl better and most of his methods work really well for our family.

Playing:

A lot of colouring going on this month.  I had to chuck all the markers, as she can’t seem to remember to put lids back on.  Crayons it is!  She loves putting stickers on a paper and colouring all over it.  Still lots of fun outside.  She’s starting to sit well for story time again instead of running around the room.  We’ve been acting like we are incapable of reading unless she sits nicely.

Learning:

She still loves letters and can associate most of them with a name of someone or something she loves.  She has bath crayons and gets us to write everyone’s name on the bath tub wall whenever we have a shower or bath.  She’s getting pretty good at counting to ten, although poor 3 seems to get forgotten the most.  She can recite at least half the words in Little Pea, and some of her other favourite books too.

She’s also started to be interested in music and can almost sing “laughandplay!” (also known as “Mary had a little Lamb”).

The big thing we’re noticing with this age is the power of routines.  If she’s resistant to something (giving up her soother when not napping) we just make it part of a little routine.  Now she asks to put her soother in the bowl (which goes up on a shelf) whenever she gets up, instead of screaming when we take it away.  This can work against us if we aren’t careful, as she’s very particular (can be in tears on a tired day if I’m putting the whisk in the “wrong drawer” of the kitchen, no joke) but it’s an amazing tool.  I love routines myself, so it’s easy for me to keep in mind.

They play together better now. I can be in the next room and hear them laughing as TG tells WB stories.  It’s not all rainbows and puppies, we’re working on the concept of “sharing” on a daily basis, but it’s great watching their relationship grow.  Having two so close together is a lot of work, but I’m excited for them to have a sister to grow up with.