I feel like you are practically a toddler. You aren't moving yet but you seem so close. Most of this month was spent in the US and I think I'll do a separate post about that and link it to this one. You are still so very happy and easy going. Here is what you've been up to this month.
My mom, your Grandma Debbie, made this quilt for you. I love the colors!
Another classic Stella face and move!
StatsYou didn't have a 7-month appointment but since we still have a scale I weighed you around 7 months and you weighed 6.67 kg (14 lbs 11 oz) which is in the 13th percentile. I have no idea how long you are but we should find out at your 8 month check up. You are wearing Libero Comfort 3 diapers in Stockholm and Huggies Little Movers (which I LOVE) size 3 in the US.
I feel like this is a typical Stella face!
EatingYou tried lots of new foods this month. Since we were in the US I was able to get individual veggies, fruits and meats so I could introduce them separately. I didn't wait 3 days in between because we had a limited number of days ;) but you seemed to handle them all just fine. So far you've tried: zucchini, green beans, peas, sweet potato, carrots, pears, apples, butternut squash, bananas, spinach, chicken, kale, peaches, avocado, broccoli, rice, tomatoes, and couscous. You make pretty funny faces with fruits. Maybe you tend to favor savory over sweet.
You seem to be spitting up less but every once in a while it catches me off guard and goes everywhere!
Sleeping
You were sleeping through the night with very little help pretty consistently and then we went to the US (notice a theme). Once we got to the US you would wake up once or twice per night but after I fed you, you would quickly go back to sleep which was great and hard. I didn't feel like you needed the feed but I would give it to you because I knew you'd go back to sleep and you wouldn't wake Linnea or the campground up. I hated feeling like I was training you to 'need' the nighttime feed.
Jetlag seemed harder for you this time or maybe it was I was more understanding when you were 10 weeks old. It took Linnea about 3 days to flip her schedule and sleep all night and you only slept/went through the night twice without eating during the entire 2.5 weeks.
Here you are thinking you need to hang out with us while we eat popcorn and watch West Wing.
You are wearing size 6 and 9 month tops, bottoms and pajamas. You seem to have a long torso so most 6 month tops are getting a bit small on you but 6-month pants seem to be fine.
We had to get pretty creative dressing you at night when we were in the tent. It usually dropped to 50 degrees or so at night. I had a hard time sleeping because I kept worrying that you were too cold but you didn't seem to mind.
You still love tummy time although you didn't get much of it in Colorado. I wonder why? You love getting up on all fours but you haven't made much forward progress. You are getting better at sitting up on your own but you definitely need pillows around you just in case.
I have tried to really soak up our days together. Whenever Linnea is home you are asked to be more go with the flow which is good but I miss having time with just you. I'm trying to make sure we still go out for lunch, fika or play dates instead of staying home every day.
Activities and Outings
We went to Colorado and California this month. You did a great job. You slept in a tent, convinced me to feed you one to two times every night, didn't get much floor time but you slept in your carrier, went on a few hikes and did a good job going with the flow. Once I write a post about Colorado and California I will link it here.
You slept great in the bassinet on the airplane.
Firsts and New SkillsI would say the main one would be camping! It was our first time camping with kids and that was a whole different ball game.
Sister Moments
Linnea does a great job trying to help Stella calm down if she gets fussy. She loves to have Stella watch her climb, play, etc.
I love the way Linnea is looking at Stella in this picture. She just LOVES her little sister.
Linnea is getting pretty good at translating from Swedish to English and vice-versa if needed. Sometimes she makes up random words and just says them with a Swedish accent but other times she can actually translate.
When we were driving to Longmont, Colorado after we were done camping it was late at night and we thought Linnea would fall asleep. She didn't and tried everything she could to stay awake (talking to us, singing, etc). We were trying to ignore her to let her fall asleep but it wasn't working so then she started asking Grandma Janet if she would read a book to her but she asked in Swedish. She just flipped a switch and tried to have a whole conversation in Swedish. It was hilarious!
Linnea moved up to the older group at her preschool. I'm excited because the bigger kids get to do really fun things during the day. She doesn't nap at school anymore which can make the evenings hard but it also means she falls asleep super fast at nighttime.
Linnea Funnies/Quotes
Linnea cracks us up daily. I try to write them all down but I just forget some occasionally. Here are a few that I remembered to write down:
I will often pack a snack when we are out. Linnea will ask "Mama, did you bring a snack for me?" I tell her yes and then she eats it. Then she asks, "Mama did you bring 2 snacks?" If I did then when she is done with that she'll ask, "Mama, did you bring 3 snacks?" It doesn't matter how many snacks/books/etc I bring she always asks if I brought more.
This is the single stroller we had for Linnea and kept so we could use a standing board like this. It works great!
When Linnea nurses her baby she has milk on one side and water on the other side.
When we were in Colorado, after Linnea was sleeping through the night, Linnea slept in the grandparents' rooms (my parents in Denver and Jake's parents in the camper and hotel). It was nice to only have to worry about Stella waking us up in the middle of the night and not Linnea too. One night she wanted Stella to also sleep with Grandma Janet and Pa (Ken). Here is how that conversation went down:
Linnea: I want Stella to sleep in here.
Mama: That's sweet but she has to sleep in mama and daddy's room because she will wake up in the middle of the night and want to eat.
Linnea: But Mama, grandma has boobies. She can feed Stella.
Mama: (Uh . . . valid point) Good night sweet girl.
Linnea: But Mama, grandma has boobies. Daddy, grandma has boobies. She can feed Stella.
Mama: (. . . . walking out of the room and then laughing hysterically in the hallway)
Linnea also named her baby this month. Her baby's name is Alix (I envision it spelled Aleeks) pronounced Ah-leeks. No idea where she got the name but 'baby with the shoes' now has an actual name. She sleeps with Alix and asks for Alix to pick her up from preschool. It is adorable.
Linnea used to pronounce a few words incorrectly but several of them have fixed themselves now that she is older but she still says 'amimals' and I'm just going to keep letting her say that as well as 'bobbum' for bottom. She watched "Mesame Street" (Sesame Street) for the first time on the flight from LA to Stockholm.
I can't remember what we were talking about but Linnea said the phrase 'plenty of' correctly in a sentence.
I have a song I used to sing to Linnea when she was a baby and would get upset. It goes to a familiar tune but I'd change the words to match whatever we were doing. I made up one for Stella too. I hadn't sung Linnea's in a long time but I did when we were in Colorado. It always starts the same way, "Linnea likes to hang out with mommy, play with daddy, be with both of us. Linnea is the best girl around, oh yes she is. Oh yes, she is. Oh yes, she is. Linnea is the best girl around, oh yes she is." And then I add extra verses. After I sang a few verses to her she said, "Mama, that makes me feel good, your singing." Melt my heart. I'm guessing she recognized it from all the times I sang it to her as a baby.
Stella's song goes, "Stella Bella, Stella Bella, how is my sweet girl? Are you happy, so happy, yes you're a happy little girl." Then lots of random made up verses about picking up her sister, going to the store, making dinner, or whatever else we are doing. And bonus points if I can get them to rhyme!
When we were camping Linnea would sing "A camping we will go, a camping we will go. Hi ho, the dairy o a camping we will go. A hiking we will go, a hiking we will go. Hi ho, the dairy o, a hiking we will go." This was on repeat several times during our trip but occasionally she'd say, "what do you say after you ho the dairy o?" Ha!
Remember
As much as I love to sleep I kind of liked nursing you in the middle of the night again. It just made you seem like my little baby again.
I want to remember our days at home when it is just the two of us reading, singing and playing.
We love you, sweet girl!
Love,
Your Mama
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