We finally made it to the doctor's last week for our "6" month appointment. At 7 months, Avery now weighs 14 lbs (20th percentile) and is 27" (80th percentile). It looks we're going to have a tall, thin little girl on our hands! She has grown and changed so much in these last couple months. We love playing with her and watching her learn new things.
We are especially thankful for the good health God has given her. Other than a brief cold that she had for just a couple days back in September, she has been in perfect health. We just love her sweet, happy personality. She is constantly smiling and laughing at us, at her toys, or just life in general. Avery continues to sleep 12 hours at night (something she has done consistently since she was 12 weeks old). She takes two naps during the day, and is in the process of dropping her third (evening) nap. In the past month or so, she has started talking and giggling to herself in her crib before and after her naps. I love listening to her little conversations and hearing excited squeals coming from her room.
Her favorite time of the day is seeing Daddy walk through the door after work. She gets so excited she can hardly contain it. Daddy gets lots of shrieks and squeals during play time, and then Mommy has to calm her down before bedtime. Avery loves getting a bath each evening before bed. Baths have an amazing ability to stop any fussiness and put her in an instantly good mood. I think some bath toys are going to be on my list to buy her pretty soon!
Avery can say "mama" and "dada" although she doesn't do it on command. "Mama" is usually heard when she is done with her nap. And she says "dada" when Daddy is making her laugh. In the last few weeks, she has started saying "ni-ni" when she is tired and ready for her nap or bed. At first, I thought it was just a coincidence or something I was imagining. But after hearing it consistently for a few days, I started putting her down when she said it, and she would go right to sleep. Sometimes she will lay in her crib saying "ni-ni" over and over to herself as she falls asleep.
She can sit up by herself very well now, and can even go from playing on her stomach to completely sitting up all by herself. She still has not started crawling, although she can scoot anywhere she wants to go. She can push herself up very easily onto her feet and loves climbing on our legs while we are on the floor with her. In the last couple days, she has started pulling herself up while holding onto us. Maybe she will skip crawling and go straight to walking!
We are still in the process of introducing new foods to Avery, but so far she has eaten everything we give her. Peas and applesauce are back on the list of favorites. Sweet potatoes are still her top food, but she'll eat a whole avocado or a banana at one meal as well. Beets and carrots are on the menu for this week! She also loves drinking water out of her sippy cup (although she only gets a couple ounces of water each day).
Avery is one of the easiest babies to take out in public. She is so interested and curious about everything that is going on around her. She loves sitting in the cart at the grocery store. Although this last trip took a little longer than normal since everyone was stocking up for the snow storm, and she fell asleep. I saw her yawn and the next time I looked at her she was sound asleep.
She loves playing in the nursery and doesn't cry anymore when we hand her over to the workers. She'll smile at almost anyone who talks to her, but she especially loves watching the older children play in the nursery. We gave up on trying to get her to sleep at church because there was too much else going on around her! Thankfully, she is pretty adaptable and can handle missing a nap or two throughout the week.
We love being parents to such a sweet, happy girl!
