Tomorrow, little miss Isabella turns seven months old. Here's what she's been up to lately.
Her hands are constantly busy exploring. It's amusing to watch her lay on her back and just examine her hands as if they're the most fascinating thing she's ever seen. She loves playing with paper (which oddly enough, unlike everything else, she doesn't try to stuff into her mouth), and she's constantly grabbing for food, and especially drinking glasses or soda cans.
She's starting to give hugs now, which she likes to couple with passive-aggressive hair-pulling. And she's giving big open-mouthed kisses, which melt her mother's cold, shriveled heart every time it happens.
She can sit up virtually unsupported, and only topples over occasionally, and mostly when she's trying to grab one of the cats' tails.
She still hates tummy time, and most often will flip right back over when placed on her stomach. That said, she will roll over onto her stomach on her own when reaching for a favorite toy, then quite amusingly realize what she's done, and flip right back over, giving up on the toy completely.
Her favorite activities now include making noise, which delights her to no end, by either banging a toy on her highchair tray, or scraping her pacifier along the wall while I change her diaper.
And there's still nothing that entertains her more than ripping off her socks and sucking on her toes.
She's recently begun making motor noises with her mouth, which is actually pretty funny. Not so funny is her newly developed penchant for grunting, a la Billy Bob Thorton's character in Slingblade. Very unappealing to listen to, let me tell you.
She's trying lots of new foods these days, all of which are made by yours truly. She especially loves sweet potatoes, apples, and squash, and hates zucchini with a fiery passion.
And perhaps the skill that makes her mother most proud: she can turn the pages of her board books all by herself.
I'm continuing to learn new things about motherhood each day. For example, I learned this week that feeding your baby an entire banana, even a small one, over the course of a single day will cause your mother and your grandmother to take her into a back bedroom at your aunt's house following Sunday dinner, strip off her pants, undo her onesie, and massage her belly in order to alleviate perceived (and as it turned out later, very unappetizingly real) constipation.
I've also learned that my baby likes to make me look bad, probably as punishment for making her eat the aforementioned dreaded zucchini for three days in a row to see if maybe, just maybe, the next day would be the day she'd decide to like it. She behaves like a perfect angel when in the company of all of my family members. No whining. No grunting. No back-arching thrashes. Nada. Which, as you can imagine, leads them to say, "Well, I can't imagine what you're talking about when you tell us she's having a bad day." Right. Of course, I must be lying!
And the second they leave? Her alter-ego, Miserbella, rears its ugly head. Ah, babies and their split personalities.
Her hands are constantly busy exploring. It's amusing to watch her lay on her back and just examine her hands as if they're the most fascinating thing she's ever seen. She loves playing with paper (which oddly enough, unlike everything else, she doesn't try to stuff into her mouth), and she's constantly grabbing for food, and especially drinking glasses or soda cans.
She's starting to give hugs now, which she likes to couple with passive-aggressive hair-pulling. And she's giving big open-mouthed kisses, which melt her mother's cold, shriveled heart every time it happens.
She can sit up virtually unsupported, and only topples over occasionally, and mostly when she's trying to grab one of the cats' tails.
She still hates tummy time, and most often will flip right back over when placed on her stomach. That said, she will roll over onto her stomach on her own when reaching for a favorite toy, then quite amusingly realize what she's done, and flip right back over, giving up on the toy completely.
Her favorite activities now include making noise, which delights her to no end, by either banging a toy on her highchair tray, or scraping her pacifier along the wall while I change her diaper.
And there's still nothing that entertains her more than ripping off her socks and sucking on her toes.
She's recently begun making motor noises with her mouth, which is actually pretty funny. Not so funny is her newly developed penchant for grunting, a la Billy Bob Thorton's character in Slingblade. Very unappealing to listen to, let me tell you.
She's trying lots of new foods these days, all of which are made by yours truly. She especially loves sweet potatoes, apples, and squash, and hates zucchini with a fiery passion.
And perhaps the skill that makes her mother most proud: she can turn the pages of her board books all by herself.
I'm continuing to learn new things about motherhood each day. For example, I learned this week that feeding your baby an entire banana, even a small one, over the course of a single day will cause your mother and your grandmother to take her into a back bedroom at your aunt's house following Sunday dinner, strip off her pants, undo her onesie, and massage her belly in order to alleviate perceived (and as it turned out later, very unappetizingly real) constipation.
I've also learned that my baby likes to make me look bad, probably as punishment for making her eat the aforementioned dreaded zucchini for three days in a row to see if maybe, just maybe, the next day would be the day she'd decide to like it. She behaves like a perfect angel when in the company of all of my family members. No whining. No grunting. No back-arching thrashes. Nada. Which, as you can imagine, leads them to say, "Well, I can't imagine what you're talking about when you tell us she's having a bad day." Right. Of course, I must be lying!
And the second they leave? Her alter-ego, Miserbella, rears its ugly head. Ah, babies and their split personalities.
I LOVE it! That top pic reminds me of some I have of my kids and also my grandkids. How time flies! You are going to love to re-read your posts 20 years from now!
Love the picture. We just started Maddy on sweet potatoes (homemade, thanks to you) 2 days ago. I will blog about it at some point today.
Can't wait to hear the Billy Bob grunts! What a riot. Sounds like she's thriving on all the loving and good food she's getting. And she's looking as adorable as ever.
You're doing a great job, Momma!
Miserbella - ha! That made me smile.
It's so very cool that you are making your own baby food. And it's kinda funny that she doesn't like zucchini - it's such a bland, watery vegetable, really!
Pretty girl, your Bella. Happy seven-month birthday!
Kristi- I did add water to the beans and peas. But, they were still like little minced pieces...that were stringy. Could it just be that my food processor sucks?
She is entirely too adorable.
And I laughed a bit over the name "Miserbella." A couple of Jekyll and Hyde moments, eh?
Miserbella! Hee hee! My boy also just flips right over onto his back if you put him on his tummy. He probably will be one of those kids who skips crawling and goes straight to walking because of that!
PS Does Isabella have a "zucchini face"?
Mm, I reckon' that's mighty cute, mm-hmm.
And hilarious. Why does she hate the tummy time so much?
I can't believe how big she's gotten since I've last seen her. When I do see her in person she'll be a YEAR. At which point I'm expecting her to have pi memorized to 20, no, 25 digits and her first symphony already written and performed by the Philharmonic.
oh she is SO cute. She is now closer to one year than to a newborn. Crazy.
Happy 7 months!
J.