Milestones

I realized that I have been so busy reporting on all the activities we've been doing that I have completely failed to document all the developmental milestones that Kaya has reached and all the new tricks she can do to delight and disgust us. She's learning and growing so fast at this stage that it feels like everyday brings something new. 

At 6 1/2 months, she could pull herself up to a standing position while holding on to furniture. And, she started scooting around, using her arms to get where she was going and just dragging her legs behind her. Not the quickest mode of transport but she had some mobility for the first time and she was able to maneuver herself right off the bed and conk her head on the ground more than once. That's when I realized that Kaya being able to move around independently was going to drastically change this whole parenting thing! 

By 7 months, she was crawling all over the place, up on all fours with her tummy off the ground. She gets into absolutely everything. She has a toybox full of toys and even if I dump them all on the ground for her to play with, she will crawl right around them to tug on the wires to Papa's record player or bash Mama's laptop keyboard (which has already been replaced once due to a certain someone barfing their morning bottle onto it). Most of my days are spent baby-wrangling and chasing her around trying to keep her out of danger and trouble but it is really amazing to watch her discover the world around her. She has such a curiosity about everything and everyone and she's really starting to interact with her surroundings in a meaningful way.

In the last week or so, she has started to figure out how to use and control her hands in a much more coordinated way than ever before. She has started clapping her hands, waving bye-bye and she likes to sit on the kitchen floor while we are cooking and bang on a pot with a wooden spoon.

She is still nursing but she is a great eater and has gotten the hang of solid foods now. Shaun and I make all of her food ourselves, at home, in the food processor. It's actually pretty fun to just walk around the produce section at the supermarket, grabbing whatever looks fresh and delicious and coming up with new mixtures and ingredients for purees. She has a pretty diverse palate, I think; she will eat veggies- even the bland ones like cauliflower- and, she likes rice and barley cereal. But, fruits are her absolute favorite.

She loves strawberries and bananas, blueberries and peaches, apples and plums. I don't think she's met a fruit she didn't like. It's still a very messy process but that kind of makes it more fun! Besides, I think she looks quite fetching with a sweet potato goatee!

Sometimes it makes me a little sad to watch my sweet, fragile newborn growing up so fast and turning into a chubby, busy little infant but mostly it makes me proud. She is so smart and healthy, curious and loving. I am so excited for what the future holds- everything from her first Halloween costume to her first words, first steps, first Christmas- there is so much to look forward to!