Holland is 7 Months!

Well, actually, Holland has been seven months for about two weeks!  Life is coming at me fast these days, and I am trying to stay up to speed.  If I don’t write these things down, they will surely pass me by and I’ll forget the little milestones that are making life sweet.  So, we’re better late than never. 

Shortly after turning seven months old, Holland had a check-up where all went smoothly.  She’s holding steady in the 50th percentile for both weight and length, thank you Jesus.  (16 lbs, 11 oz and 26”)  And I am thankful to report that these days we rarely notice anything resembling eczema on her skin.  (the little red spot on her cheek is leftover from a little accidental booboo.)  Of course I am not trying to suggest that eczema is necessarily a really awful thing! It’s just that for us with Wade, it signified some greater issues. 

This girl is most happy in one of two places—the floor or her johnny jump-up, where she loves to propel herself off the ground so that she swings back and forth.  And she prefers that the company of her brother not be far away.  Her love for her exersaucer has waned, and now she loves to lay down near Wade surrounded by all sorts of toys {mostly of the truck variety} and just roll and roll and roll, mouthing any and everything she can get her little hands on.  When I mentioned to her pediatrician that she can  sit up, but that she never gets much practice and really isn’t great at it, I was relieved to hear that that’s common for babies who prefer to spend their time rolling around on the floor.  That would be my Holland for sure.  Post Edit: I originally wrote this post a week or so ago.  Now that I’m finally getting a chance to finish it, I can report that Holland is consistently sitting up without support!

 

Now, as for the playtime that my two little people like to enjoy together, one thing is becoming clear:  we have a little drama queen on our hands!  {I don’t know where she may have gotten this from, cough cough}  Granted, I’m quite sure Wade knows when he’s pushing her buttons by laying on top of her and the like, but even when his antics are fairly benign, Holland will start to fuss in a very whiney sort of way.  And people, she is only seven months old…what in the world is in store for me as she grows?!  Without a doubt, Holland adores her big brother, but I kid you not, she is already well on her way to tattling to me whenever he does something she doesn’t like.

  Holland was probably trying to decide if Wade was getting a little too close for comfort in that photo above!

enjoying some snuggle time with Uncle Taylor during a Lynchburg visit!

As I shared in an earlier post, Holland has started eating solid foods this month, and it has been so fun!  We wait five days between each new food that we add so as not to muddy the waters if she has a reaction to something, and I have to tell you, I am growing impatient because I love giving her new foods to try.  Her diet now includes avocados, bananas (though we have backed off of these due to some pretty ugly constipation), sweet potatoes, summer squash, prunes and pears, the last of which has quickly become a favorite!

She had a yucky, yucky cough and just wanted to cuddle on her daddy.

Of course it is not all unicorns and rainbows, if you read any of what I write on facebook that is pretty clear :)  We’re still not really sure how to handle this little lady when it comes to going to bed at night.  But let me first say this:  She is napping well, and I thank you Lord for it.  Truly.  Let me not harp on what is hard and forget the blessings.  I am trying so hard to keep in mind the bigger picture, that life will move on and these hard things will not always be so.  Of course that doesn’t change the fact that we have to figure out how to respond to our daughter when she refuses to go to sleep…to cry or not to cry, that really does seem to be the question for our household :) Oh, for the grace to know how to best love this little life! 

And in the interest of ending on a happy note, guess what?!  Holland is crawling!  About a week ago, she started scooting herself around.  It’s sort of a cross between an army crawl and a traditional hands-and-knees crawl.  She’s on her tummy, pulling with her arms, but her knees and legs are moving too, make sense?  All I have to say is Wade, you better watch out, your sister is on the move and she seems to like your trucks :)