Lucy and Ellory- Seven Months.

Lucy and Ellory are 7 months! For some reason they seem older than usual this month, like they are over half a year. We've entered the “upper months!” We say frequently that they are such sweet babies. For awhile in the beginning it seemed like they would be babies forever, but now it seems we are seeing their baby days fly away all too quickly. Ellory is calm, even-keeled, and happy almost all the time. When she gets mad, she can get really mad, but it doesn't happen often. She is quick to laugh and thinks many things are funny. Lucy is a little lover and also the biggest wiggle worm and is almost never still. She loves to be held, and especially after picking her up when she's crying/whining, she almost instantly stops and wraps her tiny arms around your neck and gives the biggest hug and sloppy kiss. Lucy has the biggest open wide smile. Ellory shakes when she gets excited and Lucy kicks her legs. Ellory's laugh and Lucy's tiny hands on the back of my neck are two of my favorite things!

Teeth: No teeth this month for either one. They love to chew on their teething rings, so maybe more are coming. In the last week, Ellory has been biting/sucking on her bottom lip.

Feedings: Both are good nursers and we thankfully haven't had any problems with that. As always, Ellory is very serious about her milk and will down her bottles quickly and would take more, but isn't as much of a fan of solids. She got much better over the month, but is much slower than Lucy. We've discovered that it works better to go at her pace, which is very leisurely and allows for a thumb suck between almost every bite. Lucy does pretty well with her bottles, but sometimes is a little picky about it, but she will down her baby food quite quickly.

So far, they have had carrots, green beans, pears, yellow squash, and zucchini. They liked the last three better than the first two. I mix their food with a little of my milk and some cereal. They are having one bottle a day still, for some supplementation, of about half my milk and half formula, and we give them 2 extra ounces of formula before bed because they want it.

Feeding schedule: Nurse at 8, 11, and 1:45, bottle at 5:15, baby food at 7:45, and nurse/bottle at 10:30.

Diapers/Clothes: Wearing size 2 diapers, but almost out of them, and switched to 9 month clothes on September 10 at 28 weeks.

Sleeping: We are very thankful for good sleepers! They sleep from about 10:30-7:45, wake up to nurse, and then go back to sleep for a bit until about 10. If we have something in the morning, we sometimes just keep them up or wake them up if needed and they do fine with that. They take a really good afternoon afternoon nap from about 2-4:30, and have two short catnaps for half an hour at about lunchtime and early evening. Ellory has been crying in her crib at night more often and needs a few extra cuddles before falling asleep (she probably just wants to take her turn when Lucy is sleeping because she demands more cuddles when she's awake!), and Lucy has been waking up first in the morning more often.

Developments: Both girls are rolling experts and roll over frequently. Lucy is such a wiggle worm and spends the majority of her time on her belly. She's a tummy sleeper and even tries to turn over during diaper changes. Girl loves her belly! Lucy also learned to scream (not like a crying scream, just a loud, high pitched noise scream) and loves to do that to try to get attention. Ellory is about 50/50 sleeping on her back and tummy. I would say they are doing “supported sitting” right now. They are definitely not sitting independently, but we've been practicing a lot and sometimes will sit for a couple seconds. They can sit for a bit longer when they use their arms to prop themselves up. Lucy first did supported sitting on 8/24 and Ellory on 8/29 at 26 weeks. They also discovered their toes at 26 weeks and have been grabbing them, and Lucy even eats them sometimes (8/29). Both girls also learned how to spit this month (Ellory on 9/9 and Lucy on 9/12 at 28 weeks) and enjoy doing that. They both started going up on all fours at 29 weeks, Lucy more in a plank position and Ellory on all fours with her knees and hands. Ellory has even been rocking back and forth!

Favorites: Some favorites for both are swinging, being outside, chewing on anything they can get their hands on, trying to drink out of our cups, watching Norah, and splashing in the tub. They've both started to grab the pages of books. Ellory loves her milk and Lucy loves her baby food. Lucy loves to be held (or at least within vision of you when down), and Ellory loves to suck her thumb. They both smile often, but Ellory laughs more and Lucy “talks” more. Ellory still likes to face outward more when being held and Lucy likes to face inward. We set up their bouncer activity seat (at 29 weeks), but both only like it for a couple minutes. They went for their first wagon ride this week (just laying down in it), and they liked that.

What sweet babies we've been blessed with! Lucy and Ellory, we love you so much!

                                      

(Proof that Lucy doesn't stay still.)