Seven Months Old!

Fastest. Seven months. Ever!  Yet another month of Ellie's babyhood has slipped by without it even seeming like it!  We have kept busy over the last month, which might account for how fast it seemed to go.  In between friends and family visits, day trips exploring the area, family reunions, and holidays, Ellie has made her seventh month a big one!  The changes for Ellie in the last month include:

• Growth!  Ellie now weighs 16 lbs and is 24 3/4 inches long.  (That is a TWO POUND gain from last month.)
• Food!  Ellie breastfeeds every four hours but has learned to take a bottle.  She now gets one right before bed.  She is also steadily learning to eat solid food.  Right now she eats two solid food meals a day which includes many things.  So far she likes oatmeal, butternut squash, apples, bananas, sweet potatoes, and green beans.  She makes a horrible face every time I try to feed her peas and rice cereal doesn't seem to agree with her tummy.  
• Sleeping in her crib!  For the first six months of her life, we kept her upright, in order to alleviate her acid reflux.  She has improved so much in that department (no more spit up!) that we started laying her flat to sleep in her crib.  She isn't sleeping any worse (or better) than before, and she still prefers to be swaddled.
• Teeth!  After months of constant drooling and gnawing on everything in sight, Ellie's right bottom tooth finally poked through the gum.
• Action!  Ellie can sit up unsupported for quite a while and seems to prefer that position to laying down (back or tummy) for playing.  So far she doesn't seem that interested in crawling, but we suspect that has something to do with the fact that her older siblings bring everything to her.  (She also is happiest when Mama is holding her, and being the baby, Mama obliges.) 
• Sounds!  Ellie is a much more vocal baby than she was just a month ago.  Her favorite sound to make is a raspy, growly "Ahhhhh" sound when she is excited.  She also uses an "mmmmmmm" sound when she is working on getting upset.
• People!  We traveled to Fredericksburg, Texas for a family reunion where Ellie got to meet countless family members.  She also enjoyed a visit from the Eggers, Aunt Amanda, Matt and "the cousins",  Bill and Libby Morgan, Uncle Clint, and Ma-mas and Pa-pa.  

Seven month photo shoot...

Cooper helps to extract a smile.

Surprise!