7 Months Old!

Bailey is 7 months old today!  I still can't believe how quickly time has flown by.  She's closer to being a year old than she is to being a newborn now!  I know I say it on an almost daily basis, but I'm still in awe.  The past 7 months have been some of the best of my life (PPD and all) and I owe it all to Bailey.  She's made Scott and me so much happier than I ever thought we could be, and her smile just lights up a room.  One of my favorite things is watching her as she notices Scott or me come into a room.  The instant she recognizes that it's one of us she just lights up...HUGE smile, and often she gets so excited that she'll start kicking her legs and making all kinds of noise.  It's the best part of my day...

We can really see her personality starting to come through these days as well.  She's grown to love bath time, which is a total 180 for her.  For those of you who follow my pictures and videos on Shutterfly (if you don't already and would like to, feel free to let me know so I can give you the password), you might remember the video I put up from when Bailey was just three weeks old and we were on vacation at the beach.  The second her toes touched the water in the bath tub Bailey started screaming and she didn't stop until well after we'd taken her out and dried her off.  It took her a good 3 months or so before she even started to be okay with the bath, let alone enjoy it!  Now, though, she loves to splash in the water and play with her tub toys.

She also loves to play.  My mom says that Bailey "likes it rough", and she's right.  Bailey gets a kick out of being tickled and tossed in the air, or flown around like an airplane.  She loves to jump and spin.  Elmo is one of her favorite characters and, no matter what's going on around her, she smiles and laughs when Backpack comes on Dora the Explorer.  She's quick to let us know when she doesn't like something, and isn't at all shy about letting out an angry cry or scream.  We used to joke that she was taking on the personality of a crotchety old lady because she was very, well, crotchety.  She would have these moody times where you couldn't even look at her or she would get all mad and start crying and getting all red in the face.  Now, though, she's coming out of her shell and usually has a smile for everybody.  

Bailey started sitting up on her own last month, and can stand for a few minutes if she's holding onto something (like the couch)...but only if she's in the mood to do it.  She's perfectly capable of rolling over from back to belly and from belly to back, but she'll only do it when we're not looking at her.  She holds her arms out and she reaches for people when she wants them to hold her.  She claps her hands and shakes a rattle, and she's recently taken to talking...a lot.  Most of the time it's just babble at different volumes and pitches (sometimes happy babbling and other times angry or annoyed babbling), but she's starting to say "da da da" and "ba ba ba" more and more.  Scott says he's heard her say "ma ma ma" a few times, but I think he's just trying to make me feel better.  She got her very first tooth a few days ago (note to self: you will be bitten if you put your finger in her mouth when she doesn't want you to!), and I can see another one about to pop through next to the first one. 

She amazes me every day, and I'm so excited that I get to watch her grow up and see all the different facets of her personality every day.  She's becoming quite the entertaining little girl these days, and I have a feeling the next few months (and years) are only going to get better.  She's so much more than we could have ever asked for!

** I need to end this blog with a big thank-you to my brother TJ (and not just because I promised him I'd put him in my next post!) for getting my daycare Kindergartener to school in the crazy snow the other day!  My car never would have made it, and he offered to use Drew's truck (so thanks to you, too, Drew!) to get "A" to school for me.  Thanks, Teej! **