Aaron and Averie showing their poker faces

Wow, we’re already more than halfway through the first year!  Averie’s definitely becoming more and more responsive to her surroundings and other people and she’s regularly picking up new skills.  Lots more laughs, smiles and coos came from her this month, so I’m hoping she’ll be less serious as she gets older!

Sleep:  Not much has changed – naps were still a bit inconsistent in terms of timing and duration, but I tried establishing a routine at least for her morning nap, so this month she was going down at 9am and at times without a fuss.  She was usually nursed to sleep when I was home but I’ve been trying to break that habit over the last few months and we were starting to see some progress.  I nursed her down, usually when she was overtired, but she was starting to get the hang of soothing herself to sleep with the help of her paci and soother.  Bedtime was still 6:30pm-ish unless we’re out somewhere, with one nighttime waking between 2-4am.

Eat: I can’t recall how much Aaron ate when he was this age but I sense Averie definitely has a bigger appetite for solids.  Then again, she’s always been a good eater since birth.  She’s liked everything I’ve given her, from veggies to fruits to meats and so far, hasn’t had any allergic reactions (keep fingers crossed!)  I still pumped about 2 times at work during month 7 and at home, nursed her about 4x/day and once in the middle of the night.  My supply started going down this month so I’m not exactly sure how much milk she’s getting.  I usually leave three 5 oz. bottles of milk for the nanny for the day, plus I nursed her once before work and once at bedtime, so I assume she was getting at least 20-24 oz. each day?  Since she’s always game to eat food, I wonder if I should start supplementing with a bit of formula, like a bottle/day.

first time at the beach -she loved watching the water and seagulls circling about!

Milestones: I love the months when babies can sit up but not yet crawl – they’re so cute and curious about their surroundings, but aren’t at the stage where you need to keep a constant eye on their movements!  She’s a bit late on sitting up and only truly started to do so for a minute at a time without assistance right before she turned 7 months.  Watching her admire her hands, play the baby piano toy, or trying to chew the heck out of Sophie never failed to make me smile or forget all the irksome things troubling me at work.  She definitely knows who mommy is – the best part of my day is coming home and seeing her smile and wave her arms excitedly.