seven months?!

That last month went so incredibly fast!  Unbelievable!  Our baby girl is 7 months old!

Elsa has almost mastered sitting up.  She *can* do it for a really long time, but she also can flop over at any moment.  :P  She eats breakfast, lunch & dinner with us, as long as she's not napping, & is getting the hang of feeding herself.  She really likes most of the foods we've given her & especially seems to like meat!  :)  

Elsa babbles & makes all kinds of noises, screeches, screams & almost laughs.  We can barely squeeze a belly laugh out of her when we tickle her, but she resists like a pro!  She's pretty easy going, for the most part, but will certainly let us (& anyone around!) know if something's wrong.

Elsa falls asleep well at night, but often wakes a couple of times throughout the night.  She often just needs her pacifier replaced, but sometimes will only settle down if I nurse her.  The last few nights she has slept through her "4 am feeding", making her parents very proud.  ;)

Elsa has always been fond of her brothers, but she really seems to listen & look for them these days.  She whips her head around to find them, if she hears them running through the house.  She gives huge grins & squeals, when she first sees them in the morning.  Elsa loves those boys!  The feeling is definitely mutual; her brothers still cannot leave her alone.  :P  

We all agree that it's so cool to have Elsa in our family!  :)

You can see the monthly photos I've taken by clicking on the links:

 one month

two months

three months

four months

five months

six months

phone photos

 I take the majority of my photos on my phone & share them on Facebook & Instagram.  I take hundreds a month; it's ridiculous!  I don't want them to just fade away or disappear into the depths of the internet, so I've got to include a few here...

Finley got a magic kit from his school's book fair.

 Elsa's #1 fan!

 I think she has my eyes.

 Silly smirk.

 Our February snow storm!  No complaints from this family!  :)

 First grade homework.

 Her toes are easiest to get when she's getting her diaper changed.

 My blessings.

 Such a good sport.  I made him strike a manly pose while he was working on chopping up the branches that had fallen from the ice that followed the February snow storm.  Was that a run-on sentence? :P

 Wearing a vintage bonnet that my mom wore when she was a baby.

 Sitting with pillows to prop her up.  :)

 Two out of three of us enjoyed the bright sun!

 "Helping" Uncle Aaron at the Grace Community Preschool board meeting.

 Elsa gets to come to work with me on my prep days.  My co-workers thought she was pretty cute, trying to get my coffee cup.  :P

 100th day of first grade!

 All dressed up for Harriet's baptism.

 Borrowing our neighbors yard for a lovely backdrop!

 These boys become creepy creatures whenever rose thorns are available.

 Despite the grim expression, Cedar has a lot of fun playing along.  :)

 Donning a vintage 1975 dress, previously worn by Elsa's Aunt Becca.  :)

 Just this.

 "Helping" Mama with diaper laundry.

 Such a lovely visit with my long time friend, Ben, & his wife, Kewalin (pronounced Gay-Wa-Leen).  

Prescott & Cedar are about 7 months apart & great friends.  Such lucky boys, to get to live next door to each other.

lego boys

Our first day of Spring Break!  The boys are so lucky to have a Dad who is so easily entertained by Legos.  ;)  His love for Legos has definitely rubbed off on his sons & they can play together for hours!  I'm so glad they have each other & their Legos.  :)

baby led weaning

 We are almost one month into letting Elsa explore food & have been having so much fun!  

 We're trying out the Baby Led Weaning (BLW) approach & we're loving it!

 Elsa is usually given whatever we are eating in easy to hold chunks.  

 We started slowly, but jumped right in as soon as we felt comfortable with how she was handling the foods she had tried.

 She always tastes everything on her tray, but doesn't always go back for more tastes.  ;)  Her favorites have been avocado, sweet potatoes, apple sauce, chicken, broccoli & lasagna.  She also loved my dad's smoked pork!  It really is so fun to feed her what we're eating.

Of course, most of the time the food comes right back out.  :P  She only has one tooth, so she is still working on getting pieces small enough to swallow.  Meal times are super messy, but quite pleasant, since Elsa stays entertained with her tray of yummy food.  We haven't missed spoon feeding or pureeing fruits & veggies, that's for certain!  ;)

Here are some more fun shots of Elsa's food adventures from my phone camera. :)

bath time baby

Elsa's sitting skills have improved so much & with her latest trick has come a newfound love of bath time!  She kicks & splashes, squawks & squeals!  She doesn't get upset (just surprised) when water gets in her face & eyes.  Everything is fun & exciting!  I love this stage.  

We've even experimented with letting the boys join her for a few moments, before her bath time comes to an end.  She practically laughed when Cedar climbed into the tub, which is a pretty big deal for this stoic girl.  

I had fun playing around with some Lightroom effects, but don't really know what I'm doing.  Fun effects, anyway.  ;)