Month 7

Dear Sophie,

Today you are seven months old. You are growing up so very quickly, sometimes it scares me. You are more interactive every day, grabbing at everything in sight. Your coordination has improved vastly, and you grab hold of hair, necklaces, keys, purse straps, pretty much anything and everything. And it all goes in your mouth. Including your sign.

You are getting better with food. You will eat most of the vegetable purees, especially the 'orange' ones, like squash, carrots and -your favorite- sweet potatoes. You also love puffs, little crunchy things made by Gerber that dissolve in your mouth. I put them in front of you, on your highchair tray. And you reach out with those tiny little fat fingers and grab them by wee little handfuls, and bring them to your mouth. And then - who knows? Some end up in your mouth. Others get stuck to your chin, to your cheeks, or on the underside of your hands. I even found one behind your ear the other day. And most of them fall on the floor, where Janka, in a state of puff-induced bliss, sits waiting to gobble every wayward puff before it hits the ground.

Your relationship with River and Janka was truly unexpected, and is wonderful. River is more sedate, and gives you passing kisses as she walks by your exersaucer. You open your mouth in a wide smile, because, well, you love getting doggy kisses. Janka is constantly excited, and is our little troublemaker who runs insanely all over the house in endless circles, making little clacking noises on the wood floor with her nails. And you sit and watch this nutjob of a dog, running all over the place with a squeaky toy half hanging out of her mouth, and I swear this is the funniest thing you will ever see. Your father and I try all day to make you laugh, your huge belly laugh that echoes throughout the entire house, with hit-or-miss success. That dog, however, makes you screech with laughter, just by being her crazy self.

We moved into the new house this month, right before Christmas. Your room is much bigger, and you don't have share it with the computer anymore. None of your things are on the wall yet, but I'm sure we'll get around to hanging stuff really soon. But for now we go up and down stairs all the time, and your room has carpet so you roll around on the floor. You're not crawling yet, but you get on your hands and knees and rock, and I'm sure you'll figure it out really soon.

We had the whole family over for Christmas. Your Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Ashley came all the way from Illinois to stay with us for about a week. Your Grandpa and Ashley hadn't seen you since you were a teeny tiny baby, and marvelled at how much you'd grown. We also had your Abuelita, Abuelito, your Great-Grandmother, Tia Monica, and your cousins from Maryland over to celebrate and exchange gifts. You got lots and lots of loving from everyone.

You now have six teeth, and you are a chewing, teething monster. At a couple of resteraunts, you have gnawed on tables. Tables! One evening we went out to the Cheesecake Factory, where they have granite table tops, and you bent all the way down to give it a taste. But granite is really, really hard, and you hurt your mouth. And, my dear, that's why we don't chew on tables. Besides the fact that we're not a family of beavers. Who probably still wouldn't chew on granite.

Your favorite sounds to make are 'Yissssh' and 'Yeeeah', so we ask you questions, like 'Is your mommy always right?' and you say 'Yeeeah' and this is how I know you're really really smart.

Oh- and for the record, teeth and nipples are a pretty bad combination. We'll leave that topic for another day.

I love coming home from work. I look forward to that moment when I see you again, after a long day at the office, to your huge smile. Yesterday, when I held you right after coming home, you pushed your nose against mine in an Eskimo kiss, as if to say, 'hi! Welcome home, and I missed you.'

I missed you too, baby.

Love,

Mama