Eckert Adventures: 7 Months Old

Height/Weight: 21 lbs with a cast on Friday, 19 lbs, 8 oz at her 6 month check up (she was actually 6 1/2 months old) and 27 1/2 inches long.

Eating: At her 6 month checkup (she was actually 6 1/2 months old), our pediatrician told us to go ahead and take her to 3 meals of solids a day. We were kind of surprised that he thought we should do that since she’s still so young…but due to her size and our discussion of her eating habits, the doc said to try it and see how she liked it… No surprise here that she thinks its GREAT! So now she eats breakfast, lunch and dinner in addition to nursing whenever she pleases. She’s been nursing right before she naps and eating at “regular” meal times. And it all varies according to the princess’ will.

Sleeping: Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. The cast made sleep horrific. Each time she tried to roll over she woke herself up and we’d have to go in and help her get situated. That was in addition to the times that she would like to nurse… I am SO excited to report that she seems a little more capable of longer stretches of sleep now that she’s just in the splint and not the cast. Maybe on Monday we’ll find out she doesn’t have to wear the splint anymore and the kiddo will sleep. She’s an early riser. 5:20 recently has been her “sleeping in” time. See, I wasn’t kidding… She’s napping around the 2 hour mark still and how long she’d like to nap is still anyone’s guess. We were struggling with naps longer than 20 minutes while she was in the cast. Today things seem to be better, but again, it could be a total fluke of today. We shall see.

Playing: Still a busy, busy kiddo. She’s still our little “search and destroy” and I’m convinced can take out anything and everything in her immediate vicinity. She’s rolling all over the place and has realized that she can use it to get to things just a little further away. The cast did not deter her rolling in the least. The cast, however, has prevented all standing and walking. She still attempts to pull herself up on the arms of chairs while she is sitting in them, but we have to pick her up when she does it since she’s not allowed to put her weight down on the left leg. We’ve seen some attempts at forward momentum while she’s on her belly, but no real success yet. I have seen a few backwards slides while she is on hardwood floor or tile floor. Her favorite toys at the moment are anything that’s not actually a toy…mom’s sunglasses, zip lock bags filled with things from the refrigerator, water bottles, bracelets, mom’s cell phone case, dad’s cell phone, wooden spoons, drink koozies etc. When she actually decides she would like to play with toys, she really enjoys balls that shake and Sophie.

She loves to sit up to play and has mastered what we like to call “rocking out” where she bounces up and down on her bottom while rocking her top half back and forth. She likes to do it when food is particularly yummy (mango) or when a toy is super duper fun. She uses this bouncing method for movement and turning different directions, but I think it’s still a surprise to her when she does it. I’m pretty sure she’s not purposefully moving using that method.

The cast has made clothing quite interesting as well. She is in 9 month or 12 month onesies and 12 or 18 month pants. She hasn’t been able to wear sleepers in weeks, but now that the cast is gone she wore a 6-9 month sleeper last night. So who knows what size she wears?! Her head is still huge and often is the reason we have to stop wearing outfits…they’re just to difficult to get on and off! Clearly, she’s got the makings of a genius.
And now, pictures from our 7 month photo shoot!

Look at me in front of my azaleas at my house!

Ooo! These look fun!

Alright, I’m done. No more pictures, please.

If you don’t stop that I’m going to take that camera…

…and EAT IT!

Who me? I’m cute and innocent!

I just want to fly!

Here I am in my room on my changing table. That’s me in those pictures at the hospital on day 1 of my life and then at my one week birthday in the other frame.