October 7, 2019
Time flies when you’re raising your first baby. Caroline turned 7 months old on September 24th. She has become so mobile, started to make funny faces, and exploring all kinds of food. We’ve been having more fun than ever!
Development
Holy moly. Just days after I posted Caroline’s 6 month update she started crawling. It happened way faster than I thought it would. We were actually over at a friend’s house when she did it for the first time. I was so surprised because she was exhausted from going to the beach and hadn’t taken a solid nap in hours. I put her on the floor to stretch out and she got up on all fours and started making some forward progress. It was the coolest thing ever, and it was so fun to share the moment with friends (which also meant we got a lot more footage of her first crawl).
In the last week and a half Caroline started to pull up on things. At first, she was pulling up onto her knees on lower surfaces like the fireplace and a little stool that we keep in the living room. After a week or so she started getting one foot up, and now all she wants to do is stand. I do my best to give her dynamic support. We have only bonked our head a time or two (bless).
Caroline just recently discovered that she can crawl into other rooms. At first she was staying in the living room around the rug where I put her in the floor to play. Now she has no limits. She have even found the stairs (yeah I’m not thrilled about that one).
We have also started to show a little bit of separation anxiety. Story time: Milton got home from work early one day, so I left him and Caroline at home to have some alone time (probably just walked around Target). Milton called me after I left the house and told me that Caroline started to cry after I walked out of the door. She then got on her hands and knees and crawled to the front door as fast as she could and just sat there. OMG, so sweet but makes my heart burst at the same time. She got over it pretty quickly when she saw her kitty.
Sleep
This has been a doozy lately. She had a little sleep regression recently, plus, a week-long tummy bug kind of messed us up. For a week or two Caroline would wake up around 4 am and literally just party in her crib. She would chit chat, scream, and crawl around for an hour. ONE WHOLE HOUR. I’d leave her alone because I figure if I entered the room she’d think she was getting up for the day. No ma’am. Go back to sleep.
That has passed and now she’s just an early riser. Most days she wakes up around 6:00 am. Every now and then she will let me sleep until 7:00 am. I just shared her bedtime routine. We do the same thing every night. This routine has worked great for us! Read it here.
Growth
Caroline is 18 pounds and 26 inches long. It seems that her growth has slowed down some. She’s wearing 6 month and 6 to 9 month clothing, and 9 month pajamas. She very rarely wears shoes so I have no idea what size she is.
Feeding
As of the last update we had started solids! It has been very fun and very messy. This has also resulted in a little shift of her schedule which I think I am finally getting used to.
If you have a little one I’m sure you have heard of baby led weaning (BLW). It is ALL THE RAGE, but I was hesitant to start it. I felt so clueless when starting solids, which was kind of disappointing because I literally have a degree in nutrition. That being said, we might have spent one week on infant nutrition. A month into solids I am getting way more comfortable with it and have started some BLW with Caroline. So far we’ve had sweet potatoes, baked squash, toast, avocado, and shredded cheese. I do give her fruit every day but as a puree. Apple and pears keep her regular. However, I actually baked some pear and apple slices tonight that we will be trying this week.
If you’re interested in BLW, I really like following New Ways Nutrition on Instagram. I also subscribed to her emails and look through her site to learn more about BLW and get food ideas. She’s a Registered Dietitian!
Random Updates
Caroline got her first stomach bug. It was tough, but she was a trooper and I think the whole thing was harder for me than it was for her. PTL for Moms On Call. I was actually visiting my parents when Caroline got sick and THANK GOODNESS I packed my Moms On Call book. They have an entire section on vomiting and what to do. It was a little tedious but Caroline stayed hydrated the whole time and was really in great spirits. Her bug was super contagious! I only got a little sick, but other family members were not as fortunate.
I have a Moms On Call Review here.
We went to a play space for the first time. I honestly thought she would enjoy it more than she did. They had a lot of soft surfaces pretty low to the ground, so I thought she would enjoy crawling around. Her teeth were bothering her that day so I think that prevented her from having as much fun. I went with one of my best friends from college and her daughter, and it was worth getting to spend that time with them! I think now that Caroline is pulling up she would really have fun.
Caroline met 50 Cent. You read that right. I’ll be sharing that story in my next Coffee with Cait.
