7 months of pure joy

Bristol turned 7 months old on March 15. These pictures were taken today, April 1. I've been so behind over the past several months with taking her pictures on the actual day she turns a new month. I am determined to take her picture on the 15th of every month starting when she turns 8 months. So although she is "older" than 7 months in this picture, she is still in the 7 month, so it still counts. At least I'm not taking her 7 month picture in her 9 month. Yeah, this has become too confusing. ha!

My sweet baby girl has developed quite the personality. She loves to giggle at momma and daddy, full of smiles, kicks those little legs and is a little ham. She get more fun each month. I really feel like when she turned 7 months her little personality has blossomed. Like I said, she is a little ham around her momma and daddy but when we get into public, that's a whole new story. More times this month I have heard this phrase " wow, she is so serious". It's true, this chick doesn't like to smile for strangers or anyone she doesn't know very well. At times, I feel bad when she doesn't smile at people because I don't want people to think she isn't a happy baby, because she really is. But truth me told, I was THE.EXACT.SAME.WAY when I was her age. I would NEVER smile for anyone or the camera. At least I can get Bristol to smile for pictures.

She is definitely gainging more weight. You can see it in her arms, legs and cheeks. She has always had a chunky set of cheeks, which I love! Her hair is getting thicker and longer, it grows over her ears which is toooooooooooo cute. I always get a good little laugh when I see her hair over her little ears. We are still not sure what color her hair is. It can look blonde, brown, strawberry blonde, red.... depends on the lighting. Bristol likes to pull off her bow/headband when she is in her carseat. She will then usually put it in her mouth after ripping it off. But when we are out and about in public, she never messes with it. Out of sight out of mind.

Bristol is teething and it still no teeth. We have had some rough nights over the last month or so. Her poor little mouth is red and swollen. I can see the tooth buds but none have cut through the gums. I swear, I wake up everyday thinking at least 5 have popped through. Sounds dramatic I know, but really, teething has been the PITS in the Barron house. I know it doesn't get any better either for awhile. Bristol likes to chew on anything but she specifically loves beaded necklaces. At therapy they give her necklaces to motivate her to roll over, turn her neck a certain way, etc. Brandon brought home a few necklaces awhile back and I work with her on rolling over with them. She loves to put them in her mouth, but don't worry, I never leave her alone with them and they are the kind where if the necklace breaks, no beads come off. I bought her a bead teether and she LOVES it.

Rolling over is getting easier for Bristol along with sitting up all by herself. I am so proud of her for both milestones. It's been something that we work on every single day. Although she still doesn't like to be on her tummy, we still work on using her neck muscles which help her roll over. We are also working on bearing weight on her legs. She can do it, but only when she wants. I'm working hard on different positions for her to be in to straighen her legs and get her feet flat on the ground. Therapy really has helped her and I am so happy we decided to put her in it. I enjoy watching her "work out" every Friday. I also get to participate which makes me happy.

Bristol still loves to grab her feet and now she can put them in her mouth. It's quite funny. She still loves bath time. Boy does she love bath time. She could sit in there all day if we would let her. I can't wait till she is sturdy enough to sit up in the rub and play with toys. It will be a whole new world for her and well me too. Her sleep is still rocky. She usually takes 1-2 naps during the day, depending on what is going on in our busy schedule. But today, she is going on her 3rd nap, which NEVER happens. But I will take it! She sleeps anywhere from 45 - 1 hr and 30 min. She has been suprising me lately and has taken 2, 2 hour naps. I was jumping for joy. Night time is a different issue. She will either go down perfect but then wake up an hr later screaming and crying or she will scream and cry when she first goes down and then will cry herself to sleep. She still wakes up 1-2 times a night which has taken a toll on me lately. I miss the days where she slept through the night.

Tink Tink ( i gave her this nickname when she was itty bitty and she was having poopy problems, sorry if thats too much info) loves to scrunch her nose when she smiles, it's the cutest thing ever. She is making all sorts of noises, screaming, squealing, humming, growling, fake coughing, grunting... the list goes on. I love every single noise she makes. It's precious. It also tells me how much she is growing up and changing which makes me a little sad. I do not see her crawling anytime soon and I am perfectly ok with that. I actually enjoy not having a mobile baby.

Bristol still loves all her food! We tried mum mums for the first time this month. She really likes them but we have to be extra careful with them because she literally can bite a huge piece off and it doesn't dissolve right away. She also likes puffs which she has had 1 time. I am slowly going to introduce those, since she can't grab any food out of my hand yet. So far, the only food she didn't like was avocado, everything she loves. I am still making mostly all her baby food. I'm not going to make the meat. Too hard and too time consuming. She will be eating organic if I buy it. She likes the chicken and sweet potatoes and turkey ( and something else I can't remember).

She made her first art project the other day at the Easter playgroup. It was fingerprint flowers. So cute! Something else that is SUPER CUTE that she does it reach for people. I can put my arms or hands out and she will reach for me and I.LOVE.IT!!! Makes me feel sooo good. Bristol loves when daddy comes home, she gets the biggest smile on her face and gets sooo happy. Sometimes she gets shy and it's precious. She still loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse :) She loves her bouncer more and more and is less into sitting in her lamb chair. I am going to put that away soon.

Bristol loves to be outside. She is very interested in her surroundings and has found a love for the outdoors. We took our first trip to the park by the house the other day and she loved it. She was a beautiful day and our park has a shade cover over it so it was perfect for us to sit on the ground on a towel and play with toys. Brandon and I also took her to Oyster Creek Park awhile back and she LOVED it. We have a problem with her in her stroller, since she is soo tiny, she has a hard time being comfortable in it. It's a City-mini jogging stroller. Either I don't have the straps right or she is still too tiny for it. Oh well, we use it and she will slowly get used to it. I have also taken her on our back porch with her toys and set up a towel and brought her bumbo out there so we can enjoy this nice spring weather.

I've really been slacking on taking pictures of her in our everyday life. I've been so busy with my little photography biz that I often forget to grab the camera and snap a few for her. My goal for month 8 is to really slow down and focus on her and capturing sweet moments of thing she loves, loves doing, etc.

Well, that's about all I can recall. This post as taken me 2 days to write. My mind is on overdrive and I can barely form sentences, correct ones at that.

I can't wait to see what month 8 has in store for my sweet baby girl. I love Bristol Elaine, to the heavens and back.