Ella 7 Month Update

Stats:

• Weight: 16 lb 14.5 oz  - 52nd percentile 
• Height: 28.75" - 99.3rd percentile  (This is only .25 taller than last month but sometimes I measure her and get an inch shorter. She's difficult to measure)
• Head Circumference: 16.7 inches - 38rd percentile
• Diapers: Size 2 and Size 3 (We use size 3 during the day since I like the stripe and the rest of our size 2s don't have a stripe indicator so we use those at night)
• Clothing: Disney 6-9 month (3-6 mo still fit over size 2 diapers but aren't long enough over the size 3 diapers), Spasilk 9 months, Steelers 6-9 month, (Leveret 6-12 month onesie is too short but I never tried the 12-18 mo ones yet).  Carter's 9 month dresses. I've put her in a few 12 mo things just because I have them. They are a bit wide though. Sometimes the neckline is far too large on the tank top type dresses. 

She's barely gained this month. Actually most stats are pretty much the same. Maybe she'll level off and not seem like a giant anymore. Moms at mom group continuously tell me how she's the tallest baby they have seen.

Sleep
Ella has been sleeping through the night again. She only had a couple nights where she woke up in the middle. She napped better until Dave went back to work after 2 weeks off and then started refusing to nap and only taking short naps again. When she naps well, she's taking 2-3 naps a day. Glance at but don't analyze the picture above. All the gray is when she slept. Notice how inconsistent during the day.

Eating
She is now nursing between 1 and 3 hours a day. She continues to have pumped milk a few times a week.  Mostly when we leave the house but sometimes at home when she's just refusing to nurse.  This reduced time is not reduced time for feedings though since I'm giving her baby food 1-2 times a day. She eats half of the 3.5 oz or half of the 4 oz foods at a time except once when she ate all 3.5 oz. Sometimes she has puffs or those lil' crunchies after she had her puree. At restaurants we give her a lot of the puffs and lil' crunchies to keep her occupied. When Ella's arm is not swaddled and she's nursing, she's flailing it around the entire time. It's quite annoying. She sticks her hand in my mouth a lot. I try to 1 arm swaddle her just so the upper arm is swaddled. It's really hard to nurse with an arm moving the way it does. 

Sample Schedule:
She still doesn't have a specific nap time or food time yet. It is so hard to plan anything. She might stay up consistently for 2-3 hours between naps but her wake-up  time varies by 2 hours so then every shifts by that much.  Also naps can range from 1-3 hours long.  
Basically she sleeps for a long period of time starting at close to 9:00 PM. She sleeps until about 6:30 (but it also ranges from 5:30-7:30.  Then she says awake for 1-2 hours playing and chilling with Dave. Then she goes to sleep for maybe an hour.
She then will be awake and play for about two hours. This time has been getting longer throughout the month. She eats after she wakes up most of the time and before she goes to sleep again. Throughout the day her naps range from 40 minutes to 3 hours but are probably closer to an hour and a half.  She is up for more than 2 hours at a time pretty much every time she is awake. But a lot of the time she's awake for 3 hours. Sometimes for 4 or 5. Sometimes she plays and is pleasant when awake. Other times she's so fussy and won't let me put her down to play. She might also seem tired but she sure won't go to sleep.  At 8:00 at the latest, I start feeding her to get her to eat then go to sleep. (This shifted from 8:30 partway through the month.)  Her bedtime routine involves Dave swaddling her and then taking her around the room/house to try to find me to nurse. She sees me and gets all excited when she sees me. If I swaddle her and walk her to the chair it's just not the same. I used to always be in the chair and she'd look over at the first spot Dave would stop to ask her if I was (in the closet).  So now I go to the bedroom or bathroom or office just to let their game keep going. 

Special Moments:

On June 23, I tried to teach Ella to drink from a straw. I think she learned but I didn't have a specific straw cup for her to keep using.
On June 28, we started to try to get her to fall asleep on her own.
On June 29, Ella sat in her first high chair at a restaurant and did so well.
On July 2, she drank from an adult plastic cup with a straw. She loved it even though she'd choke on the water here or there.
On July 3, she had her first real banana. On July 4, she had her first mango and avocado.
On July 5, she started to learn to go from lying to sitting on me (on the boppy) so she kept doing it over and over and continued this throughout the month.
On July 6, she had her first restaurant booster seat (with a strap).
On July 10, she started crawling (or maybe it was earlier but I first noted it on the 10th).
On July 12, Dave and I sat on the floor to get her to practice crawling and help her. Ever since then she sure moves around a lot. She just needed some guidance.  Dave also started to teach her to pull her arms out when undressing her and she does it and continued to do it for the most part.
On July 15, she said "dada" to Dave 3 times while I was in the other room. I heard her say it a few times since. We ran out of size 2 diapers with the stripe indicator so we started using the size 3 diapers.  She was seated and I had my leg blocking her off so she couldn't get to Poly and she stood up using my leg.  About a half hour later she was lying down and  I was trying to fix her cup and next thing I know, she's sitting up and untying my shoe. I still have not seen her do this.
On July 18, she thought Dave was home (and so did I) and she rotated on the floor to face her bedroom door and said "dada" but Dave was still at work!

I really thought Ella would have a tooth poking through because it is so close. The gums looked a little white but I don't think it's a tooth.

Development:
When Dave holds Ella, he will just hold her so she sits on his arm and then she holds on. He can lean forward and she holds on. I find it pretty impressive.
Ella has started pinching with her fingers to pick things up instead of just using her palm to pick things up but she doesn't always pinch. It's a work in progress.
Ella does an army crawl this month and gets around pretty good.  Sometimes she gets her butt up and moves but her chest is still on the ground.
She discovered Poly and likes to "chase" her. I will hold her by the armpits or hands and she will run after Poly. She has had many kinds of baby food now. She has also had banana, cucumber, avocado, mango, and toast.
She sits and plays for over a half hour at a time this month. She can even reach for toys and not fall over (unless they are really far away)/
She still rolls multiple times in a row and changes her angle to get to something.
She puts everything in her mouth. 
She grabs everything instead of just touching it. 
She waved bye a few times but really it was rare. She has started lifting her arm up a lot more so she's close
She kisses and hugs me all the time.
She started helping us dress or undress her. We tell her to help get her arm out and she does. She has some trouble helping get her arm in her long sleeve night gown though. Her thumb catches sometimes.  We also ask her to help get her arms in the car seat and strollers and she does. 
Ella finally turns when you say her name consistently. Before she might do it here or there but mainly ignored us. Now she's much better.
She enjoys peek-a-boo a lot more. She sort of did some last month but this month she's loving it. She also throws blankets over her own head then gets excited when she gets out. (I say peek-a-boo when she gets out too.)

Other Tidbits:
Likes
She still likes to play a lot! 
She loves to army crawl around. She likes being more mobile. (I sort of got a video.)
She especially likes if she crosses a barrier like getting into the hallway. Then she giggles like she knows something is up.
She loves it when she's swaddled (even if it is the 1 arm swaddle or 0 arm swaddle).
She gets so excited when she's on her changing table about to be swaddled. She knows food is next and she's super excited. 
She likes to stand with support.
She likes to sit by herself.
She likes to be held when she wants to.
She likes to talk and smile at us. 
She likes to watch TV.
She likes to play AND watch TV.
She likes to look at her mobile. She just loves those planets. She likes to reach and touch them if we are holding her.
She likes when Dave makes her fly. (She doesn't love it as much when I do it.)
She loves to roll over to get from point a to point b. She rolls 10 ft across a room.
She loves to squeal with delight. These squeals have been getting louder too.
She likes to kick those feet when she's lying on the ground.
She loves to grab everything including my face. 
She likes to put everything in her mouth.
She loves to pull my hair. 
She likes the page in The Very Hungry Caterpillar that shows all the different food he ate.
She likes to scoot around to get close to Poly to pull at her feet or pull her fur.
She loves when you get out tylenol. She tries to help get that syringe in her mouth. 
She likes to laugh.
She likes to eat actual food.
She likes to swing. She likes to be thrown around. I think she likes all things that are like a dare devil.

Dislikes
She doesn't like to nurse if I'm talking or if anything is going on. 
She doesn't want to nurse during the day without being swaddled if she wants to fall asleep next.
She doesn't want to fall asleep in the car and she protests and cries for a bit. 
She doesn't like to be anywhere she doesn't want to be. She could be happy on the floor playing then change her mind and you better pick her up or she's crying.
She now hates staying still on the changing table. She rolls over. She squirms about.
She hates to be left alone without a warning that I'm just going to the other room quickly for something. (With a warning she is fine.)
She hates to wake-up to a person that is not me.
She won't go to sleep without nursing first if we are home. (Ask Dave how pleasant this was when I had surgery.)

Fun Facts
Longest time sleeping: 11 hours 30 minutes  
Days with a sleep greater than 5 hours: 28 
Diapers used (from July 1-19): 8.6 per day (decrease from last month by 3!)
Time spent nursing (from July 1-19): 96 minutes (1:36) per day (decrease from last month)
Feeding average per day (from July 1-19): 1.5 oz (decrease from last month)
Time spent sleeping (from July 1-19): 13.8 hours per day  (increase from last month)

Favorite Toys
Blocks
Walker
Dragonfly
Sophia the Giraffe (teether)
Books (I count them as toys)
Exersaucer

Favorite Songs
All of Me
Happy

Dave was getting Ella to smile and apparently that made me make weird faces!

My Update
I made it to my pre-pregnancy weight this month. A few more pairs of old pants and old shorts fit again, but many still do not. I had neck surgery so exercise was restricted again for half the month and even though I wasn't restricted, it still held me back the rest of the month. My weight also pops a little above pre-pregnancy weight.

I feel like there is so much more. She's always changing but I just can't think of it now sitting here. I need to learn to write these as the month goes on.