Happy 7-Month Birthday

Happy 7-Month birthday Elise. Every month seems to come more quickly than the first. Elise continually surprises us with her newfound skills. They seem to just come out of nowhere, without any warning. One day she's babbling nonsensically, and the next she's saying "da-da." Yup, she's uttered the first words and although she doesn't really know what it means, Dad is in seventh heaven. So when she wakes up in the morning, she says "DAAAAA-DAAAAA!!!" She can also sit up without support and if she falls over, can usually get herself right back up. Although not quite the crawler yet, she's showing promise if we put her on her stomach and place a toy out of reach, she'll move a couple of inches by wiggling her tummy.

But one of the best developments lately is that she is getting so playful and aware of her surroundings. She is constantly reaching for things, looking around, exploring, and taking things in. Sometimes we'll catch her staring with the deepest intensity at someone having a conversation or doing something. Glimpses of her personality are surfacing and we find that she's more of a thoughtful observer rather than someone who'll join the fray right away. She is cautious when first introduced to new things (ie. toy saucer which she now loves) and is passionate about what she likes.

Our emotions pendulum between pride and sadness that our little girl is growing up so fast. It is very difficult to put into words how much joy she gives us everyday. It is not only the big things but even the little things that make our hearts ache with so much love we think it'll explode into tiny little pieces. Things like watching her sleep with her tiny hands clasping the blanket, when she smiles so purposefully when she sees us, watching her eat with so much pleasure and contentment, or when she rests her head on our shoulder and just sighs.



Dad gets to spend most of his quality time with Elise on weekends and a couple of hours after work. He gets the pleasure of being on diaper duty and carrying her everywhere we go which she doesn't seem to mind at all. Dad is really good about making Elise laugh and plays goofy games with her. He was the first one to coerce a laugh out of her by singing and dancing to Donna Summer.















When it's just Mom and Elise, the whole day is filled with active stuff like playing and "exercising" to develop new skills. Then there are the quiet times that are spent lying in bed staring deep into each other's eyes as Elise feels around Mom's face.