7 Months ~Amelia~

Growth:
Weight: 17 lbs (Doctor’s measurement at a sick visit… that’s up over 1 lb since her 6 month checkup)

No official head circumference or height this month.  I would guess she has probably grown another ½” or so.  I am pretty sure she hit a growth spurt (as can be seen by her weight).  There were 3 days at daycare she drank her normal two-7 oz bottles, an additional two ounces, and they had to give you water to hold you over (this was before we started solids at lunch there).

Clothing is still about the same… almost all 6 month clothing has been retired and Amelia is mainly wearing 6-9, 9, and 6-12 month items and occasionally 12 month. She is still in size 3 diapers and if she ever wore shoes she would be wearing a size 2.

Mobility/Coordination:  This little girl amazes us!  She pulls herself up from a sitting position at barely over 6 months old.  It’s not a fluke because she has proceeded to do it on number occasions as long as the object she is pulling up on isn’t too tall and she can get a grip on it.  She will even roll across the room to get to an object she can pull up on.  Needless to say her crib has been lowered to the lowest position already and we’ve had to do some additional baby proofing… or re-baby proofing since we have gotten lax on it now that Grant has gotten older.  I should also mention that just because she can pull herself up doesn’t mean she is very steady on those wobbly legs!  I see a lot of bumped heads in our future and she even had her 1st one at daycare today!

    
Amelia can go from sitting to kneeling on all fours position.  We are even getting a little rocking back and forth.  She can also go from laying to sitting.  It’s been a busy month!

The raking motions are beginning to fade and we are seeing more of the pincher grasp with puffs and feeding.     

Language/Communication:  This is probably our only area of slight concern.  Amelia will say “hey/hi” as clear as day along with a cute wave but we have yet to hear any other real consonant sounds (ba, ma, da, etc.).  We are still hearing vowel sounds occasionally but she prefers squealing.  I think it has much to do with the fact that she has had an ear infection in at least one ear for 6 weeks and both ears for 4 of those weeks.  More on that in the “illness” section.  She laughs often and loves when you talk to her.

Personality/Amelia-isms:  Amelia still likes to get our attention by squealing and waving and now reaching out to be picked up.  In spite of the ear infections, she has been really happy on most days.  If Matt or anyone else is holding her and she sees or hears me, she will fuss because she wants me.  Overall, this little girl will express how she feels rarely by crying but using other forms of communication.  This is much different than Grant who was always a bit more quiet and reserved.

Sleep:  Amelia is down to 2-3 naps a day.  The early morning usually consists of a short cat nap and then two longer naps (1-3 hours) in the late morning and early afternoon.  Night time is still the same with a solid 10-11 hours. 

Feeding:  Amelia nurses/drinks 4-5 times per day and drinks 7-9 oz from a bottle.  Nursing is still holding up pretty well and she seems satisfied after.  Pumping is going downhill fast it though L  I now only get about 8-9 oz max in a day but she drinks about 14-16.  Obviously, the math doesn’t work out but my freezer stash should still hold out for another 1-2 months without supplementing.  I will start supplementing some before it would get dangerously low though.  We’ll take it one day at a time.  I’ve been trying not to put too much pressure on myself or be too bummed out but I am very sad since I know she is our last.  (Yes, it is official… she is the last lil’ Fish.  Matt had the big V last weekend)  I was really hoping to exclusively breastfeed her until at least a year but it’s looking like that just isn’t in the cards and as much as it saddens me I am slowly coming to terms with it. 

  
Amelia is eating solids twice a day and acts like a pro when it is something she wants to eat or is in the mood.  She rarely gags because she is accustom to the texture and manipulating and chewing the food already.   I would say we follow a modified baby led weaning system as one friend put it.  She has never had purees, loves texture and lumps in her food and does pretty well getting some pieces to her mouth.  The biggest deviation we have made from true “baby led weaning” is we do spoon feed her small pieces that we know she can handle.  I will be the first to admit we haven’t exactly followed the rules when it comes to solids.  Usually, we only introduce one food at a time but that isn’t always the case.  I’ve waited on things like berries but haven’t exactly followed the age recommendations for solids.  Overall, it has been sooo much easier than it was with Grant! 

New foods this month: coconut milk lentils with risotto ~ chicken and rice ~ peas ~ sweet potato ~ butternut squash ~ black beans and others I am sure I didn’t remember

Teeth:  Well, Amelia officially has two teeth.  Both of her lower central incisors made an appearance on the same day!

Illnesses:  Where to begin this month?  To date, Amelia has yet to run any fever other than the one day last month before she even had an ear infection or bronchitis.  Well, last month’s post ended with us having just been prescribed azithromycin for bronchitis and a double ear infection.  The antibiotic cleared her bronchitis with in a couple of days.  With little hope for how the ears were going to look (she had been digging and tugging still), we went back to the doctor for a check of the ears at 2 weeks and she still had an ear infection in both ears.  Don’t forget she popped TWO teeth during all of this as well which can probably account for some of our illness woes.

The photo session wouldn't be complete this month without a picture of her digging in her ears

Overall, she was still mostly happy, eating well, no runny nose, and no fever so we opted not to start another antibiotic (The AAP has changed their stance on treatment of ear infections based on the evidence of growing antibiotic resistance.  Although I will say our pediatrician was not exactly supportive of our decision.).  Over the next two weeks, we used natural remedies such as good ol’ peroxide, breastmilk (yes breastmilk aka liquid gold!), and garlic oil in the ears.  We continued with some of the various essential oils and massaged the ears daily.  She still seemed to be focusing and tugging on her ears and would have a fussy day here and there but overall she was ok except for the fact that a cough reappeared towards the end of week 2.

We went back to the doctor for her scheduled two week recheck and low and behold one ear (the right) cleared on its own but the left was still pretty badly infected and the bronchitis was back.  Needless to say, we opted to try an antibiotic again (cefprozil this time) and go back this Monday for another re-check.  If the ears aren’t clear this time, we are very likely headed to the ENT because it will be fairly evident that she has a resistant ear infection that we refuse to continue to throw pointless antibiotics at.  I am not sold on the prospect of tubes but our biggest concern at this point is her hearing so we’d at least like to get that screened.  

Firsts:  We had her ears pierced this month along with cousin Vada. Amelia only cried for a little bit and handled it like a champ.

Amelia and Vada after ear piercing

Likes:  waving ~ pulling up ~ rolling ~ yogurt bites ~ mum-mums ~ peek a boo ~ Mom, Dad, and Grant ~ drinking from a cup ~ blowing raspberries ~

  
Dislikes:  Wearing mittens (because she can’t suck her thumb) ~ wearing a hat (she pulls most of them off) ~ plain yogurt ~ applesauce ~