myla at 7 months

To the most adorable baby in the world,

Seven months and I love you more every single day. You are such a little person with so much personality! Your dad and I joke that you are  "high adventure" baby because you thoroughly enjoy getting swung around at top speeds, getting thrown into the air, and anything that could be considered a "ride." You love motion. You are also trying to move yourself around. Much to my dismay (and excitement) you are on the verge of crawling. You are up on your knees rocking and otherwise either planking, rolling, or trying to stand (making diaper changes very, very difficult). You can stand up with your walker toy by yourself and with a little encouragement can pull to stand. You love to "walk" while holding onto our hands or your walker...I am going to have a mobile baby on my hands before I know it and I'm not sure I'm ready for that. The apartment isn't ready for your curiosity and I'm not ready for you to be so grown up. What happened to my snuggly girl?

You are sitting absolutely by yourself now and I love it. You can play much more independently and you are pleased as punch about it. You've also figured out your jumparoo and have a great time in there. You also think that I am a jumparoo, however, and try to jump whenever you're standing on my lap. Good arm workout for me.

You have a passion for food and have liked everything offered to you. You like to sit in your bumbo, bib on, food in sight, and have your arms straight out to the sides while beckoning the food forward with your hands (hard to explain). It's basically a "give me that food!" stance. It's pretty adorable. If I'm not delivering it fast enough you start to grunt and groan. You have now tried oatmeal cereal, bananas, avocados, peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, cottage cheese, cucumbers, puffs, apples, "mixed veggies (spinach/carrots/peas), and prunes. While timid with new flavors at first you have loved them all after a few introductions. I think your favorite is prunes mixed with oatmeal. You like to say "Mmmmm...Mmmmm...MMMMMM" while you eat.

Your mouth is prepping for more chunky food - you sprouted a tooth at the beginning of May and the second one isn't far behind. Bottom center left... or as your dad insists, "left central incisor of the mandable - tooth #23". You are still nursing and those teeth make me nervous, but so far no barracuda attacks! Let's keep it that way.

Thanks to your new food, your poop is... different. I won't go into it. More gross but less blow-outs.

You went on your second set of plane rides when we went to New Mexico and you did great! I was very nervous because dad wasn't there to help out, but you did just fine despite going longer than you have in your whole life without a nap (4.5 hours!). I thought for sure you would sleep on the plane but you just wanted to be social with everyone. You grinned at everyone as we walked down the aisle to our seat and then flirted shamelessly with the people sitting next to us for the hour flight.

We had a great time with grandma and grandpa Nielsen, auntie Jen, and sweet cousin Gage. He couldn't get enough of you and you loved him too! You are so much fun to play with and are starting to really get into "peek-a-boo," "pattacake," and the "tickle-monster!" You also love it when we blow in your face. You always smile after you sneeze. You have the silliest personality and you crinkle your nose when you smile real big... like when we tickle you just right.

You are officially consistently sleeping through the night! Alleluia.

We love you so much. I love being home with you and feel really lucky that I get to be around you all the time. Thanks for being SUCH a joy. xoxo

Love, mom

at the splash pad!

in New Mexico!

Gage and Myla were SO cute together!

this lady loves her baths!

Easter bunnies :)

First tooth! And... of course she is chewing on EVERYTHING she can

Enthusiastic with her sweet potatoes. I got together with a few friends this month and we made a bunch of baby food - it was a lot of fun and myla has liked it all!

Myla at 6 months

I never posted this one! Never mind she'll be 7 months in a few days...

Sweet Myla,

I can't believe you've been out of my belly for half a year! Happy half birthday. You've changed so much lately and we are loving watching you grow. You get stronger every day and would rather be standing than anything else... you can get quite feisty until we pull you up to standing. You are also sitting all on your own now! Being the little curious girl you are, however, you tend to tip over when trying to explore something that's just out of arm's reach. Falling down doesn't faze you and you're always ready to try again.

We started you on some solid food this month! You had your first taste of oatmeal cereal on March 13th and you loved it! You're still trying to figure out how to taste it and swallow it without it getting out of your mouth though. You've also tried a bit of banana and avocado and liked both of those too. You make the cutest faces when you're eating and try something new! You couldn't figure out how to get the avocado off your tongue and down your throat so you just sat there with your mouth open and tongue sticking out.

You love to explore things with your hands... especially my face... especially while you are nursing. You like to try and stick your fingers in my mouth and just stare at me while you eat. It's pretty adorable.

We go to lots of activities during the week and you are getting more and more involved. We have Baby Rhyme and Playtime at the library on Tuesdays followed by lunch and institute with daddy. On Wednesdays you have swim lessons but those are going to end now that you are turning 6 months. Then on Fridays we have Music Makers at Midwestern.

You are still not sleeping through the night, but you are getting better. You consistently take 2-3 naps during the day and sleep from about 8:30 to 3ish, then you eat, and then you sleep again for a few more hours, eat again, etc...  Your daddy and I are thinking about starting some sleep training in the near future :).

We're going to New Mexico this month to visit your grandparents, auntie, and cousin - can't wait! Hopefully you're just as well behaved on the way there as you were on the way to Oklahoma :D

We love you so much, Myla girl!

picnic fiasco...

Myla and her friend, Cohen!

fresh out of the tub!