The Connection Runners

We're on to lucky number seven this month.

Measurements
Not much change here this month, and we don't see the ped until 9 months for an official measurement anyway. I did toss her on the bathroom scale just for giggles, and she was 15.8 pounds.

Clothes and diapers are still the same: 6-month and size two. Everyone who sees her says she's petite for her age, which I guess is true. She must get it from her great-nana, who is going to be 83 this year and weighs exactly that many pounds.

Milestones & Abilities
Charlotte made some progress toward crawling in the last few weeks. She can push up onto her hands and knees, but then realizes it's way more fun to just army crawl and roll to her toys, so she drops back down.

We've still been working our way through the food pyramid, too. This month, I tossed a few new finger foods her way, including some banana puffs and a homemade teething biscuit. She loves both, and I can tell from the way she snatches up bites that she's going to be all, "Ugh, Mommy, let me just do this by myself because I'm way better at it" when she gets older.

I don't know if it's the increase in calories or an act of some god or a pure coincidence, but after a summer of tumultuous sleeping, Charlotte's finally mostly back to sleeping through the night. We've drearily faced a gamut of issues - traveling, getting in the habit of nursing to sleep, trying to determine a nap schedule - that left all of us bleary-eyed and angry.

For the last few nights, though, we bumped C's bedtime up to 7:00 (eschewing the early evening nap), and she's passed out more soundly than a fraternity pledge during his first hazing of rush season.

Likes & Dislikes
So that happy-go-lucky baby I bragged out a few months back? She's gone.

Well, mostly gone. Charlotte has taken to being much more specific about the world lately, now that she's finally come to terms with the fact that she inherited her parents' judgmental personalities.

In particular, she recently realized that she hates:

• having her boogers picked or sucked out
• being strapped into her high chair without any food
• laying down for diaper changes unless she has a toy
• the show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo (okay, that's mostly me, but I can't stop watching clips of that trainwreck)

• Being tossed into the air
• Going for walks or sitting outside
• Chewing on anything that's not a real toy (remotes, laptops, garbage bags, phones)

Month Seven by the Numbers
5: short days of summer that remain until I head back to work
8-plus: people we name off during bedtime "I love yous"
27: approximate number of Rockabye Baby CDs Kevin has gotten from the library for C's iPod
0.4: seconds I can stand watching Ni-Hao, Kai Lan on Nick Jr. before Kai Lan's condescending eyes make me stabby