Month Seven - May 21, 2009

Dear BabyF and BabyB,

You turned seven months today. Having passed the six-month mark makes me so much more aware of how close you are to being a year old already. I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again... time is passing by so very quickly. I often don't realize it on a day-to-day basis, but it really hits me when some strangers asks me your age and I reply "seven months".

There was no letter written at six months and I apologize for that. Six months seems to be such a milestone and I feel horribly for skipping that month because I was drowning in my own struggles. I'll try to do a brief recap here and I hope you'll forgive me for not providing more details.

Month six included your first fever/cold. You both got sick at the same time, thanks to your father bringing home some horrible cold/flu from work. The entire world had been talking about the swine flu (which claimed lives), but, thankfully, that isn't what you had. You both had fever, a cough, and were vomiting for about a day and a half. You had also started teething at this time and the combination of teething and fever gave you both the worst diaper rash to date. Corn starch is our friend. Temperament-wise, BabyB was especially clingy through all this, but you both maintained your good humour and smiled and played whenever anyone attempted to entertain you. So, thanks to your good-natured ways, we managed to get through your first cold/flu together.

Also in month six, you both started eating "solids". Quite honestly there's nothing solid about mush, but everyone seems to call it "solids" so we'll stick with that label. BabyF started three weeks earlier than BabyB because we're extra cautious with BabyB's kidney condition and we didn't want to overload it with minerals it may not be able to handle. BabyF was a pro at gobbling up cereal mush almost from the very get-go. BabyB took a little longer to figure things out, but once that happened BabyB mastered it.

At your six-month check-up, your pediatrician told us you were both the size of a nine-month old baby. So you're both growing very well and developing nicely. You both learned how to roll from your back onto your sides and you both do very well during tummy-time. The giggles have come out more often too and there are always smiles to be seen. You also seem to enjoy going out for long walks in your stroller (which we do every day that isn't too cold or windy or raining) and you both end up taking a nap while mommy gets some exercise... a win-win situation!

Now onto month seven!


This past month has been filled with so many joys and so many challenges. Let's see if I can do this in point form before one of you wails for my attention.

- you've had lots of different mush food: rice cereal, barley cereal, oatmeal cereal, butternut squash, carrot, zucchini, sweet potato, green beans (BabyB isn't too fond of this so I often mix it with the sweet potato), peas, apple, and pear. The next month will include meat and legumes. I've been making the fruits and vegetables myself and it's a lengthy process - wash, peel, steam/boil/bake, let cool, and mush (sometimes blender first and then food mill... other times just food mill).

- BabyB, you've learned to roll from your back to your front. BabyF, you still only make it onto your side
- BabyB, you've very recently taken to sleeping on your side some nights
- you both have started to sit up and can manage to stay upright unassisted for a few seconds at a time
- you both enjoy watching your Baby Einstein dvd's
- BabyB, you absolutely LOVE watching Sid the Science Kid on PBS
- BabyB, you love being tossed around and being very physical. BabyF, you prefer much less physical play
- BabyB, you like to be SuperGirl when I hold you up in the air with your body horizontal. You always put your arms straight out by your sides and behind you like you're ready to take off. This is what earned you the name SuperGirl
- BabyF, you love to have your belly and thighs tickled and you giggle almost uncontrollably
- you both look at each other and laugh sometimes - it's the most adorable thing in the world and melts my heart every time.
- BabyF, you have a habit of farting whenever you cough or sneeze. It's cute and quite funny for now, but I hope that goes away by the time you're a teenager... for your sake.
- BabyB, sometimes when people talk to you, you smile and tuck in your chin and turn away from them like you're shy
BabyF, if I allowed it you would spend hours just staring at your fingers and "counting".

There's so much going on and I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. It's just such a joy to see more and more of your personalities shining through. And we have so much fun playing together. I just wish there were more hours in the day so that I could spend more time with you... and so I can get more sleep to restore some energy to spend more time playing with you.


All my love,
Mamma
xoxoxoxo