7 Months

It is amazing how much our sweet little girl changes every single month.  This month, I feel like someone hit the fast forward button, even more so than normal.  Its not so much that I feel like it went any fast than previous months, but that she's progressing so quickly lately from little baby to little toddler. 

Mary Elizabeth also took her first plane trip this month!  I was so nervous about the trip, worrying about her ears hurting or her being that screaming baby on the airplane.  But she did great!  Luckily, she's a very snugly girl and was just happy to be in mom's lap for 3 hours straight.

Smiley girl!

Happy as can be with 3 hours of nonstop snuggling

Our plane ride took us up to Minnesota, where we spent a long weekend with Papa, Grandma Dubbie, Aunt Jessica and Aunt Chelsey.  I don't think she got set down once the whole time.  There was a lot of "grandbaby showing-off" on the itinerary, as Papa brought her around town to practically everyone he knows.  It was really sweet to see how proud he was to show her off.  By the time we had to leave, I don't know who was the saddest.  I hate that we have to live so far away and that we only see each other every few months.

Swinging in Papa and Grandma Dubbie's backyard

Snuggling with Papa in the beautiful fall MN weather

In the past month, Mary Elizabeth has become a proficient user of the word "dada."  I can't quite tell if she really understands what it means but she says it constantly.  She loves her daddy.  I love watching her face light up whenever he walks in the room.  The feeling is more than mutual, as he still runs into her room every morning at the slightest sound of her waking up.  Usually he's in there changing her diaper before I even realize that she's awake!  He's such an amazing dad.

Mary Elizabeth continues to adore her Hershey dog.  I can ask her now "Where is your Hershey dog?" and she'll look around the room until she finds him.  When he walks in the room or shakes, she squeals with delight.  She's always trying to reach him to pet him and love on him.

Puppy love

Also big news, she got her first tooth!  It was 2 days after her 7 month birthday.  I didn't know we were even close to having a tooth pop through.  Then one day, she was a little fussier than normal and that night, I felt the sharp little nub of her front tooth.  I don't really understand what the big deal is about the first tooth...but we certainly made a big deal of it.  I was just so excited for some reason and kept trying to get her to open her mouth to show it to me.  I don't have any pictures of it, as every time she opens her mouth she sticks her tongue out to hide it.

Chewing on EVERYTHING as that little tooth came in!

She has done a complete 180 with the people food since we first introduced it.  I was worried at first that she was going to gag on people food forever.  One day, she just started to love it.  So far, she's not a picky eater, which is fantastic.  She loves fruit, veggies, cereal, whatever.  She also tried some organic puffs yesterday for the first time and seemed to love them as well.

Trying an apple straight off Grandma Dubbie and Papa's tree

Pro with a sippy cup

She has started rolling onto her tummy at night, which sufficiently freaked me out the first time I saw it.  I was worried about SIDS and suffocation and all that (first-time mom!).  But she's making progress everyday towards crawling so I guess that's just part of it.

One of the most exciting developments in the past month has been the beginning of her understanding and communicating with us.  The first time I noticed it, we were sitting in my bed and I said "Where's your Hershey dog?"  She looked around the room until she saw him in his bed and just stared at him.  I couldn't believe she actually understood what I asked!  Then a week or so later, she did her first sign.  She was eating dinner and did the sign for "more" multiple times.  We've been doing a little baby sign language for a few months now so it is really cool to see that its actually working!

Sweet little sassafras