Seven Months!

Dear Maya,

My Giggle Machine, Our Sweet Hazelnut, Little Baby Butternut, Crazy Kamikaze Superstar

I tell everyone who asks (and several who do not) that I've won the baby lottery. I truly have. You are sweet and happy. You are a wonderful sleeper and eater. You are easygoing. This month you have become very social and also very independent. At your six month check up, you weighed 18 lbs and stretched to 26" long.



You continue to love daycare. You are interested in all of your baby friends and their toys. I hear about your action-packed days: how much you love music time and story time, how you go for stroller rides outside by the pond, how the people in the office bring you in for company and let you play at the computer, how you went to the playground and all the toddlers came up to you. Everyone wants to play with you, hug you, kiss you and make you giggle. You are a happy playful baby. You love all activities and you are learning so quickly. All of the teachers say you are joy to have.


Dressed up and ready for "Fairytale Day" at daycare

You are beginning to do things by yourself like reach for toys and food. You are determined. You are trying so hard to hold your bottle. It’s still a little too heavy for you when it’s full, but this doesn’t stop you from insisting that you can hold it. You also seem to think that by smushing the nipple into your face, you will be able to get milk out faster. We keep pulling it out a bit and tipping the bottle upwards to show you… hopefully you will pick this up soon.


Holding her own bottle... sorta

You love to play. You can’t get enough of your exersaucer and you love making your musical toys light up and sing. At daycare you seem to really enjoy the maracas and piano (although, I’ve noticed that you try to put the entire side of the piano in your mouth with no success). You love to swing on your swing set in the backyard and go down the slide. You love to touch, mouth, and manipulate squishy rubber balls, you enjoy gnawing a chilled teething ring, and hearing bells jingle inside a stuffed animal. You also like stuffed animals like your cabbage patch doll and octopus. You love peek-a-boo and silly faces...we play “Where’s Maya?” and you pull the blanket off your face all by yourself now so you can hear, “There she is!”


reaching for a toy


swinging in the yard with Bubbie


Loving the lights and sounds

You can reach for and scoop toys towards you. You can pick them up and transfer objects from one hand to the other fairly easily. You take your pacifier out of your mouth and put it back in. When you can’t reach a toy, you wiggle, shimmy and roll your way over to it. This is especially frustrating to Jerry who is now realizing you are almost mobile. You adore Jerry. Whether in the bath or the highchair, whenever you hear him meow you immediately stop what you are doing and look for him.


Love for Jerry

You like to explore. The computer seems to fascinate you. The scenery outside the car window captivates you. We’ve been signing to you pretty consistently. We do signs for milk, bath, more and all done. You don't know what any of these mean yet, but “all done” gets a great big laugh from you every single time. I know it’s still just imitating what you see, but when we say “high five” we put our hand up and sometimes you do as well! It’s very cute.


Computing with Daddy


See Daddy? I can do that too!

You’ve got a great appetite. No teeth (yet!) but your diet is expanding and you seem to really enjoy the textures and flavors of each new food. So far, you’ve had squash, sweet potato, peas, carrots, banana, avocado, mango and prunes. You had your first stomach bug. We think it was a virus; you couldn’t keep anything down for a few days. Once you were able to tolerate liquids, you had a really upset tummy. I felt so bad for you, but you really do have a wonderful disposition and you handled your illness like a champ. Except for when you were actually getting sick, you had a smile on your sweet face the whole time. Then a few days later your little body seemed to overcorrect itself and you got all backed up. Again, I felt awful for you and you were more uncomfortable this time, but you were still my smiley and giggly girl. Thankfully, all of your plumbing seems to be in order now.


healthy again and very happy!

You went to the beach for the first time. We joined Bubbie, Great Grandma Rona, Pappa Donnie and Uncle Brian in Myrtle Beach for Grandpa’s (belated) birthday celebration and you had a blast! You loved the sand and waves. You loved sucking the bow on your bathing suit to taste the salty water. We went to the aquarium and boy did you have fun! You couldn’t get enough of the brightly colored fish and sea life fluttering past you in the big tanks. You were especially fond of the orange jellyfish bobbing around; you were shrieking with delight. I wasn’t sure you were old enough for this activity, but you were in awe the whole time. I just adore watching the way you respond to your surroundings these days.


First time in the ocean


Family beach pic


Hangin' and reading a book with Uncle Brian


showing off her fancy 'shark' balloon hat


LOVING the fishies at the aquarium


She LOVED the fish. Couldn't take her eyes off of them.


pooltime fun

You are a blur. You are always moving. I used to get nervous when daddy would roughhouse/ play with you but you love being thrown in the air. Anything that involves swinging high and low makes you laugh out loud. Anything that involves shaking or wiggling makes you cackle in delight. Your hysterical laughter usually results in a fit of hiccups which are short lived. Your are getting stronger. You sit up so well and you can ‘stand’ while being held up for balance.You grab necklaces and glasses, but also parts of faces and clothing as well. You are a master at taking daddy’s pen out of his shirt pocket. While rocking you to sleep at night, you often grab my tank top or nose.


grabbing daddy's glasses


Sitting up and watching Sesame Street on Saturday morning

You babble like crazy… I swear you said baby the other day. Of course it was more like, “Bayeeeee Beeeeee” We still think your first word will be “Hi.” I sometimes wonder what your voice will sound like when you got older. Sitting in the car on the way to daycare, we often hear you say, “da da da da.” Daddy likes to think you are saying ‘daddy’ but I don’t think you are quite that advanced. Sometimes in the bath or during dinnertime, you make sounds like “teh teh teh" and once we heard you say “maaaaaaaa.” When you get excited you shriek and do your happy dance, kicking your legs and moving back and forth like Stevie Wonder.

You were lucky enough to see all of your Great Grandparents this month. You saw Great Grandma Sara & Great Grandpa Joe in NJ for Abuelita and Saba's BBQ. You spent the weekend with Great Grandma Rona and Pappa Donny at the beach and you even got a visit from Oma Ruth and Opa Paul for a few days! Boy are you loved, my sweet girl.


G&G Ehrlich


G&G Felder


G&G Koles

I think you might be on the verge of teething. You’ve become a little more drooly than usual, and although you are rarely fussy I’ve noticed some discomfort / inability to quite get settled recently. I’m going to miss that gummy smile but time marches on I guess.


My beautiful baby girl


Daddy and his little girl



This month had ups and downs, but you are so much fun, my sweet girl. I can't wait to see what kinds of adventures and discoveries next month will bring.

Love,
Mommy