6 and 7 months

Eleanor is our chunky little thing, off the charts in length and coming in at 17 lbs 1 oz for weight at six months. She is roly poly, rounder than anything at 6 months, but now at 7 months she's in a lengthening phase, slimming down a bit as she's more mobile. She's gone from army-crawling and scooting and rolling to sitting, full crawling, and almost pulling up in the past two months.

She's now on solids, though she's not really a fan. I'm hoping that she'll be a better eater than Avery is; Avery loved food as a baby and ate anything, and now she's so picky. Maybe Eleanor is the opposite - picky now and a little food-lover later. We started with avocado, moving to rice cereal, bananas, pears, barley, peaches, and peas.

The crawling is hard to keep up with, and it always astounds me when I find her in a different room than I left her in. She is fascinated by all things Avery, and it's a lot of upkeep to make sure tiny objects aren't in her range. Or paper - that girl loves paper. And tags. 

She has this charming little habit of sucking on my chin if she's still hungry. It's an odd sensation but makes me laugh every time. She likes to grab my face with both hands or run her hands through my hair. She's starting to become attached to a lovey, but I only let her have it when sleeping. She still loves the pacifier, which is fine for now. 

She and Avery love each other so much, and it's so wonderful to watch the two of them together. They get to giggling, and Avery calls her "my little sissie" or "my friend Eleanor". Last Sunday, Avery cried when she couldn't stay with Eleanor in the nursery. I pray that they are best friends always. At the grocery store, Avery and Eleanor sit next to each other, and Avery loves to hug her and give her kisses and squeeze her just a little too tightly. I'm already hearing, "Hey, that's mine!" and having fights break out over toys.

Other things to note about 6 months:

post-nap relaxing

her starting position for pulling up to sitting - she grabs hold of that pant leg and up she goes!

• sitting without assistance just a few days after turning six months
• nursing every 2-3 hours during the day, but still up once, sometimes twice in the night
• rocked on hands and knees for a long-time, with the occasional downward-facing-dog yoga position thrown in for good measure. I started to think she'd just stand up and walk before she crawled. 
• is SUPER flexible. She can fold herself in half to eat her feet, no matter where she is...sitting on the floor, in her carseat or the stroller, in the bath, in someone's arms
• is fascinated by her cousin Grayson - she lights up when he's on the floor, and he does the same when the girls come into view
• loves her aunties a ton, but Aunt Brittany gets the best giggles out of her
• not scared of Uncle Aaron like Avery was
• no separation anxiety yet (but this changes!)
• is easygoing all day until bedtime hits, and then she.is.done.
• nap schedules are weird - she goes down when she wants to, and usually gets about an hour at each nap, though sometimes she'll sleep for two hours. I guess that comes with the territory of being the youngest - you have to be more flexible with your schedule when big sister has stuff going on
• launched herself out of the Bumbo sometime between 5 and 6 months, face first onto the tile floor
• grabs objects easily and chews on everything

7 months:

• still nursing every 2-3 hours during the day, was sleeping 12 hours straight for a week, and now we're back to up once in the night again
• starting to enjoy solids, and finally opens her mouth for the spoon instead of slurping it in between her closed lips
• thinks Avery is the coolest person ever. She could be crying, and Avery will stop and pay attention to her, and the giggling commences
• moves from sitting to crawling to sitting to laying down to rolling to sitting to trying to pull up with ease
• pulled herself up to standing this morning, though it was on a short stool, so not sure if that really counts!
• apples are the latest food endeavor. I think I might try some cinnamon in them today.
• has the world's best smile and huge eyes. She shares her smiles easily and isn't shy, but prefers to view the world from Mommy's lap these days.
• wants to be involved in everything Avery does, right in the middle of it all. This presents some frustration for Avery 
• her hair is thicker and darker than Avery's was at this age. It's thick right in the center and front, and her baby bald spots have filled in MUCH quicker than Avery's ever did. Right now it's a very light brown color, which is quite charming with her bright blue eyes. 
• loves toys in the bath, and is a bath lover in general
• she's discovered bubble-blowing and grunting

Eleanor's personality is quite different than Avery's was at this age, more of a snuggler, not as high-maintenance (though both girls are generally easy), and just sweet sweet sweet. Avery, you were sweet too, just in a different way. Joy is a word that describes Eleanor as a baby. She just fits right into our little family so well!