~7 Months~

Thanks to everyone who kept Malu and Sina in their thoughts as they traveled back to the states.  After worrying about the flight all day yesterday and overnight, I called Grandma's house this morning and was happy to hear Malu's voice.  At that moment, they'd just gotten home from the airport.  They'd made it to Utah without any problems.  He said it was yet another problem-free flight for Sina.  That's my girl!  I am so happy that they're there and it was so nice to hear Grandpa Jim laughing with Sina in the background (she was tugging on his beard).

This picture of my two loves was taken during the first week of Sina's life.  She was such a little itty-bitty of a thing!  It's hard to believe that she turned seven months old last week and Malu and I agree that we've seen her progress the most this month.  It has been so much fun. 

On February 17th, Sina started crawling.  Last month, she'd get in the crawl position but was still stationary.  Well, no more....she's moving at full speed.  As a matter of fact, you have to keep a constant watch on her now (when she's out of the crib) because she's pretty swift.  When she sees something she wants, she'll make a bee-line for it.  She'll crawl over me trying to get a toy, a bowl of food, or anything that I've set aside. 

Last month, Sina got to the point where she could sit unassisted.  This past month, she's now at the point where she can stand up.  Now she can't stand up by herself for too long, but when she's supported like this...by hanging on to the couch pillows like this or onto her crib bars....she can maneuver herself a few inches to either side.  It's amazing how agile she is.

She loves, loves, loves to practice walking.  And she can do it for a pretty significant distance before she gets tired.  Malu has her walking down the long hallway from our room to the bathroom (which is about a 15-feet distance) all the time and she just laughs, smiles and coos the entire way.  If you're wondering what's on her head...it's one of those head massage things with the spider-leg prongs that make your head tickle.  Malu likes to play around with it on her and she'll just shudder from the sensation. 

She is so funny and I can tell that she's going to have a bubbly personality.  She's doing this copy-cat thing these days.  When you blow raspberries at her, she'll do it right back to you--over and over again.  I had a video clip of it, but deleted it by mistake.  It's so cute.  She'll literally "ppffftttttt" right back at you if you stick your tongue out and do it to her--only her version of it is a little bit messy.  Unfortunately, she'll also blow raspberries during dinnertime when she's in a silly mood and that can also be messy.  Malu even says that she says "boo" when he says it to her. 

Speaking of dinner, Sina recently started eating some of the steamed chicken and apples meals I've been making in her BabyCook.  I had to mirror the Gerber chicken and apples because making her just plain chicken or just plain vegetables was an epic fail.  She was looking for something with some taste.  So steamed apples or sweet potatoes combined with the steamed chicken gives her the flavor she's looking for.  She's eating 7 to 8 ounces of milk every four to five hours now and has pretty much mastered the pincer grasp.  Now a lot of her Gerber puffs go into her mouth and not onto the floor.  That being said, she's definitely putting on more weight, although we're not sure exactly how much she weighs, or if she's grown in length.  We won't know that until her 9 month check up.

We started her on the Your Baby Can Read program last month and big props to Malu for being so patient and interactive with this and exposing her to the videos, flashcards, and books throughout the day (as he's still waiting on his transfer packet from his last unit to go through before he can start working here).  Although she can't speak the words, we know that she recognizes them. 

For example, when she hears the word "clap" she kinda waves her arms, banging them together.  When she hears "mouth" she says "aahhhhh" and has her mouth wide open.  So we know that some progress is being made and we're definitely not trying to force it on her.  If she tires of it, we take a break and go back to it later.   But we love how she enjoys it.  When she hears the theme song at the start of the video, she laughs and smiles like crazy.

Bathtime is still such a fun time for us.  Her new favorite thing to do is to hold her mouth open under the shower spray (we have those detachable shower heads) so that she can have water flowing into her mouth.  So half the time, she's sitting there with her mouth open.  It now makes rinsing her mouth after brushing her gums a lot easier (surprisingly, no teeth yet).

So yeah, this past month has definitely been one of the most exciting so far.  We can't wait to see what the 7th month has in store for us, but man, she's going to continue to break my heart if she keeps growing so fast like this.  If she starts walking...I'm done!

Sina, you are our everything! We love you so much!  I hope this next week flies by so that I can smother you with kisses again!

Although they're not here and I'm missing Malu and Sina like crazy, it's been a nice weekend.  My boss and his wife, Denise, were so kind to invite me to dinner yesterday.  The beautiful weather allowed us to take a brisk walk downtown to a Chinese restaurant that had a wonderful buffet.  Today, I went to church for some spiritual nourishment, watched "Rango" at the theater on post (which was a horrible idea since every kid on post was there) and enjoyed chili at a cook-off event also on post.  All in all, a great time and now I'm refreshed for a new week. 

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend too!