A Few of Her Favorite Things

This tunnel from Ikea is so much fun to crawl through!

Daddy gives the best "elephant" rides. Nothing makes Caterpillar Girl laugh more than tromping around on daddy's shoulders.

Orson is a sweet and patient cat that she loves to grab and tug. We are practicing nice petting.

Baby Steps

People say, "My baby started walking at 11 months,"...or 14 months or 9 months, or whenever. It sounds almost as if the child just stood up and started walking one day. Of course, that is not what happens. It's a series of small accomplishments that happen day by day. It's nearly impossible to tell when the process starts. About a week and a half ago, we marked what we like to call Caterpillar Girl's first step.


She likes to pull herself into a standing position using my legs as support, as seen above. This particular day, she saw Daddy standing nearby and decided to make her way to him. She let go and took a step towards him. We're not sure if that foot even hit the ground before she toppled over, but it definitely marks her first attempt to propel forward on just her feet. Every day now she tries new positions and new acrobatics. She likes using her gym as a walker, like a little old lady.

She is particularly obsessed with trying to stand up from the middle now. She jackknifes her butt up, with hands and feet on the ground, a little like a downward dog for the yogis reading this. Then she tries to lift her entire torso into a standing position, usually unsuccessfully, but then she tries and tries again. Babies have different personalities, and I remember one mother remarking fondly of the time when her baby could sit up and would peacefully play with nearby toys while the mom worked around the house. I kept waiting for that day. However, Caterpillar Girl never stays in one stage for that long. She constantly strives toward next stage. So when did she start to walk? The actual first hands-free steps are still months away I think, but she's already taking the baby steps to reach that point.

Seven-Month Stats

Weight: 17 lbs 11 oz
Height: Still 27 inches. Whew! A little more time before we have to get a bigger car seat.

Timeout on Tasting

We're taking a timeout on the solid foods. She just doesn't really like it. In this case, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Tasting Time

Friends and family kept asking when she would try solid food. Others moms of little ones shared their experiences with me, and it seemed that many babies are not that interested until they can chew on finger foods. I was not in a hurry to start feeding her because I value the pleasure and ease of our breastfeeding relationship and the not-so-bad smelling poop that 100% breastfed babies produce. After all, I never have to pack food when we leave the house; I never have to run to the store at the last minute; I can eat my own dinner in relative peace; and did I mention the poop? However, just as her face in the bath water indicated to me that she was ready for water, she let me know she might be ready for solid food. She bit a piece out of my magazine and before I got it all out of her mouth...cough...gulp...swallow.

So, last night I baked stuffed squash for our dinner and made acorn squash puree for Caterpillar Girl. We sat down to three plates instead of two.


She was pleased enough by the first bite but rolling it around in her mouth, she was not so sure. A few faces and a few mouthfuls later she had had enough. This was definitely not mommy's milk.

We let her play with the spoon while we ate our dinner. Then I tried giving her a tiny piece of my squash. She spit it right out, and Daddy tried to put it back in. That just made her cough, kicked off her gag reflex, and then she threw up. Yep, absolutely not ready for more than puree. We'll keep trying but at just over 7 months, I know she has plenty of time before she really needs to eat solid foods. For now, it will be a little of this and a little of that. To paraphrase one of my books, So Easy Baby Food, early eating is more about experiencing a variety of new flavors than nutrition. She will still nurse most of the time.

Some Sleepy Sundays

A few images in the family bed

Sipping Water

Caterpillar Girl sticks her face in to bath water and tries to drink it. She splutters, coughs, and tries again. So, our new Safe Sippy is filled with water for her to drink. It is a little large for her, and she spends half the time sucking on the outside rather than the straw part. She's a big girl now. First water, next comes food. Yikes!

Muh muh muh muh

During the Labor Day weekend, Caterpillar Girl babbled "muh muh muh muh" while holding her arms out to me. It is now her super power because the connection has been made, and she does it whenever she wants me to pick her up or take her from the person holding her. Facebook friends have agreed that this counts as a first word. Labor Day weekend was family time with birthdays celebrated for Ahpa and Gran, yummy barbecue, and lovely weather.

Sniper Crawl

A friend has noted what I did not recognize: Caterpillar Girl's belly scoot is a perfect sniper crawl. Arms are bent at a 90 degree angle in front of her as she pulls arm over arms. Belly is low to the ground. Legs splayed out behind, pump, and propel her forward. So she is crawling...and building her resume.

Time of the Signs

We have been excited to start signing with Caterpillar Girl and decided on the American Sign Language system from Joseph Garcia. It is recommended to start signing with baby between 6 to 7 months when the ability to remember the signs is present. We are starting with three signs: milk, cat, and more. Milk and more are both recommended for first signs, as well as eat. However because Caterpillar Girl is still exclusively breastfed, eat did not seem appropriate right now. She does recognize and get excited when she sees the cats, hence our choice for a third beginning sign. Milk and cat are used often but I am still having trouble introducing more. According to the video, babies generally don't form signs until around 8 or 9 months. Seeing the babies sign to their parents in the video was adorable and useful. I am looking forward to Caterpillar Girl's first sign.

Belly Scoot

Between painting the dining room and chasing around our mobile little one, I haven't had much time for writing. It's been about two weeks now that Caterpillar Girl has been able to cross a room in 9.2 seconds. It's not quite a crawl because although she does alternate hands and feet, she doesn't lift her belly...so I call it the belly scoot. I am amazed at what fascinates from her vantage point. She heads straight for computer wires, bits of paper that need to be vacuumed, and books (she loves to chew on books). Last night we finally decided that we needed to separate the computer part of the room from the play part of the room and purchased the above safety gate for scooting time. A lovable development of this time is that while she loves to scoot all over sometimes late into the evening, she also craves time in our arms or the sling for when she feels like chilling.