Taelyn - 7 Months

Now that Taelyn is 7 months old, she weighs 19.5 lbs., is 26 inches long, and has a head circumference of 17.5 inches. Although she looks like she is slimming down a bit, Taelyn is still in the 80th percentile in weight.

This past month has been about new challenges and experiences for Taelyn. From learning how to scream, starting solid foods, interacting with other babies, taking swim lessons, teething once again, and working toward crawling, every day seems to entail something new. We have discovered that Taelyn loves applesauce in the morning and carrots in the evening. Her favorite time during swim class is playing with a big bouncy ball in the water and pushing it over to the other babies. She also just starting getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth, and she is always going after toys spread throughout different areas of a room. When she gets a little fussy, Taelyn loves to sit in her outdoor swing on our balcony to relax and chill. She also can't get enough of some of her favorite toys: gecko, crazy eye man, baby doll, rings, and her teddy bear. Most importantly, though, Taelyn cannot get enough mommy and daddy time. Nothing excites her more than laughing and playing with us!

So far, Taelyn does not have any new teeth, but we know they are coming soon. She is waking up one extra time at night than she used to, and she is always playing with her gums. The interrupted sleeping has caused her to be a little more tuckered out in the morning, so we have enjoyed some snuggle time while we both try to get a little extra sleep. Justin has done a great job capturing some of these precious moments on camera.

Taelyn is a very busy 7 month old. Her typical week goes as follows:
Monday - Baby Library Time where we read books, sing songs, move around and dance, and play with toys
Tuesday - Swim Lessons in the morning where Taelyn practices kicking, scooping her arms, blowing bubbles, holding on the wall, and plays water games; the evenings consist of going to the Irish pub 5K followed by dinner and drinks with friends
Wednesday - Doggie Time at the library where Taelyn gets to pet a dog and gets lots of kisses in return (this cracks her up every time!)
Thursday - Playgroup at a playground with other babies and mommies; she loves the slide and swing the best
Friday - a different activity each week; this week we will hang out at another playgroup session
Saturday & Sunday - we usually do some type of family activity; this weekend we will go to a farm

Taelyn's 1st Race

Taelyn had quite an eventful time at Baby Library Time today. At the end of the session, there are always toys spread across and blanket for the babies to play with, and of course, all of the babies go crazy during this time. This week, Taelyn and another boy that is a few weeks older than her had their eyes on the same toys the entire play time. The boy would have a certain toy, and Taelyn would watch that toy relentlessly. Then Taelyn would play with a toy and drop it - the boy would quickly scoot on over to pick it up. Neither baby has mastered crawling yet; Taelyn just started rocking on all fours and lunging forward, but it takes her an entire morning to move across the room. This boy, however, was a little bit faster at scooting since he is older.

Then the true test began. Taelyn and the boy were both laying on their bellies side by side. Taelyn was playing with an orange ball, but then she dropped it and it rolled ahead of them. So.... the race began, and they were off! Both babies got on all fours and started to rock. The little boy started to move forward, but he was no match for our big brute. Taelyn fell to a belly flop, flailing her arms and legs as if she were swimming on dry land. This technique worked to her advantage as her arm pushed the boy's face and shoulder back. Every time he tried to move, she gave him a big shove. Both babies inches forward, but alas, the little boy was just a little more experienced with age and reached the ball moments faster than Taelyn could get there.

Needless the say, the attention of every mom in the room was drawn to the race. We all got a pretty good laugh out of it. I don't think Taelyn was too upset for having lost the toy; however I do think that she is eager to start crawling!

Giggle Girl

Little actions has made Taelyn giggle, giggle, giggle lately... kissing her cheeks, blowing on her belling, putting her hands on our faces, singing in a funny voice, dancing, making her stuffed animals dance, and so on. She is certainly a happy baby these days. Here is an example of how funny she thinks her teddy bear is.

New Milestones

Over these past few weeks, Taelyn seems to have grown up so much. She is reaching new milestones weekly, and there are new milestones just around the corner. Some of Taelyn's recent accomplishments are...

1. Coloring with crayons (although sometimes she would rather eat the crayons!).
2. Holding her own bottle.
3. Eating finger foods. (She really likes graham crackers and anything that is on mommy and daddy's plates.)
4. Pulling herself up when sitting on her knees.
5. Picking up small objects with her thumb and pointer finger.
6. Sitting forward with her arms up when getting out of her car seat. This is a big help in getting her out.
7. Grabbing our noses when we say "Get my nose."

A Day at the Park

One of Taelyn's favorite activities to do this past month has been going to the playground. She loves the baby swing and recently started to enjoy the slide. Here are a few of our favorite moments.

Taelyn - 6 Months

Taelyn had her 6 month doctor's appointment last week (it was actually 11 days after she turned 6 months). She weighed 17 lbs., 15 oz., was 25 inches long, and had a head circumference of 16.9 inches. This was the first time that she did not gain weight from the previous month. The doctor wasn't concerned at all about that, though, because she still grew in length and she is still in the 80 percentile for her weight. The doctor predicted that Taelyn may continue to grow in length but not as much in weight as she continues to move more and start crawling.

Taelyn's movement has drastically increased in the last month. She is rolling over all the time from both front to back and back to front. She also wiggles across her bed and the room by arching her back and pushing off with her feet. It won't be long until she starts crawling. I have already prepared myself for this by baby-proofing the apartment!

Baby Library Time

I took Taelyn to her first baby library time yesterday, and she had such a great time! As soon as we entered in to the room, we sat in a circle with the other moms and babies and started singing and motioning a song. Instantly Taelyn was alert and all smiles as she moved to the song. Her face just came alive when she saw all of the other babies there too. She then wanted to talk to everyone there and started making "ma" and "ah" sounds as well as louder squawks. Taelyn was by far the most vocal baby there; it brought quite a few smiles to the other moms.

At the end of library time, the babies are placed in the center of the circle on a blanket and given toys to play with. It was amazing to watch Taelyn interact with the other babies during this time. She would play with her own toys and then find another baby more fascinating, so she would reach out to that baby to touch him/her. There were of course some struggles as well where babies wanted to play with the same toy at the same time, and Taelyn was no exception. She got in to a little tug of war with another girl and wasn't quite sure what to do!

When it was time to leave, Taelyn was exhausted from all of the fun, but it was obvious that she had so much fun.