Version: 7 months

My dearest Amalia, you are seven months old (this week.  ish.  okay, five whole days ago.  bah.) and Baby, you are on the move!  You rolled over belly to back for the first time on March 12, like you'd been doing it for years.  Then, you started getting your left leg behind you in your quest to reach any forbidden item placed tantalizingly beyond your reach.  Incidentally, your new favorite toy is whatever not-a-toy that is juuuust beyond your reach.  You seem to love the challenge of getting to it and shoving it in your mouth before Mama or somebody else can wrestle it from you.  Next, we started noticing how far you actually were from where we originally set you down.  You can scoot, but don't don't know how you are doing it (though you are rapidly figuring it out).  You also, in your quest for some far-off piece of fuzz from the floor, or whatever dangerous object has somehow escaped the notice of the rest of us, or paper (because you absolutely love to chew up paper of any kind), can get your legs into a complete side-splits

At first, you would utter a little squeak when you realized you were stuck, asking for our help.  Now, though, you can get your legs behind you and end up on your belly.  You've also figured out how to get from sitting position to either belly or back gently.  You so desperately want to run with your sister.

You are still rather a chunker.  At your six month appointment, you weighed 22 and a half pounds.  Two and a half weeks later, you weigh twenty-three and change.   18 month sized clothes are getting too small.  Your cheeks, though still impressive, are less round than they were, though, and you definitely have a neck now.  

You love to eat.  Not baby food.  You put up with the pureed baby stuff when you have to, but love eating whatever we are eating at the table with us.  I am far less careful with what I feed you than I was with your sister, and you pretty much get anything except sushi.  Not really.  You adore chicken, and love chewing on a chicken drumstick after the meat has been taken off.  You've also gotten tastes of ice cream (not my idea!  I did  protest!  I swear!) and LOVE it.  I mean, why shouldn't you?  Ice cream is delicious. 

This month you got to both go sledding in the snow and go barefoot in the grass, that's how fast our seasons changed this year.  

You also love animals.  Well, the dogs and cat, at least.  You absolutely love watching Roscoe fetch his ball, and what is funny, is he actually rolls the ball for you.  You love to pet Polar, who also loves you because there is usually some tasty tidbit close by.  Most amazingly, is the cat.  You are entranced by her, and you actually pet her so gently.  Mostly. At least you try.  And she seems to actually like you, as well.  She isn't the most loving of cats, but she seeks you out, rubbing against you, allowing you to touch her.  

You got your first ear infection this month, and showed us all how you hate being sick.  Poor babe had a high fever (running 104 for awhile), stuffy nose and congested chest, and was throwing up.  I could hardly get her to eat anything, and whatever she nursed was thrown back up.  So very miserable.  We got amoxicilin for the ear infection, but the next morning, she had a rash all over her torso as well as continued fever.  Doctor thought it was a reaction to the antibiotic, so we got a different one.  Luckily, because the amoxicilin is dosed twice a day for ten days, while the new med was once a day for five days.  Amalia hates taking medicine.  She learned quite quickly that we would stick the medicine in her mouth when she was crying, so started crying with her mouth closed tightly.  Little monkey. She fought it every step of the way.  Amalia, you are dramatic.  We were all miserable, and quite glad to see the end of that sickness.

Amalia, I love you so very much.  It is so much fun getting to know your personality and seeing how you interact with the world now that you have more control in it.  You are my world, a little piece of my heart.

Loveyoualwaysandforever, 

Mama