Dear Elisabeth,

Well, once again I am dreadfully late with this update. We’ve been rather busy! Your Oma and Opa (my parents) were here visiting when you turned seven months old. We had a wonderful two weeks with them and took them around to see lots of things in London. We got awfully spoiled having them around and since they left, I’ve just been trying to cope with being mostly on my own again!

You have changed so much in the last month and a half! You are getting more and more independent and it’s so fun to watch. At six and half months you mastered sitting without support. It’s great to be able to sit you in front of you toys and let you go at it. If I put a pillow behind your back just in case you fall backwards, though, you repeatedly fall backwards on purpose. I think it’s just to get attention – someone has to come and right you. Starting around six months old you started to engage a lot more with your toys too. I can now put you in the exersaucer and often you’ll be happy for quite a long time just playing with your toys. It really depends on your mood and how tired you are, though. Your favourite toys are the nesting cups that Oma got you, the Conrad the Crocodile bath book that your Uncle Matthew and Anna got you, and your Sophie the Giraffe squeaky toy. You also love toys that make a lot of noise when you shake them.

You love to read, and will sit on my lap and pay attention through five or six books at a time. You love turning the pages and especially love opening and closing the flaps in your Playtime Peekaboo book. Your other favourite books are Talk With Me (which your Nana got you), The Very Hungry Caterpillar (you love it when I count the fruit), and The Animals of Farmer Jones which your Oma & Opa brought you from the U.S.

You are getting to be a champion eater, and boy do you relish your food! You are so intense about eating. I put you in your high chair with a tray full of food and you just chow down! You’ve gotten quite good at picking up smaller bits of food and getting them in your mouth. Your favourite foods are banana, toast, nectarines, cheese, melon and pasta. You are a fairly picky eater. You often turn up your nose at new foods, although if you accidentally stuff them in your mouth and discover you like them, then it’s okay and you’ll try some more.

You are a very social baby. You like being around people and you crave attention. You can be quite a show-off it means people will pay more attention to you. During the two weeks that your Oma & Opa were here when you were getting almost constant attention, you were the happiest I’ve ever seen you – and you are a pretty happy kid generally! When we’re on public transportation or in shops, you stare and stare at people, and if you catch their eye, they are often so taken with you they will do all sorts of (reasonably subtle) things to get you to smile. You rarely oblige, though. You just stare with an intense gaze. I still get lots of comments from strangers on what an gorgeous baby you are.

Standing up is still your favourite position to be in, but you’ll often be happy sitting as well. You still don’t like being on your tummy, though, and last week you finally learned how to roll over. Now when we put you on your tummy, you almost immediately roll over onto your back. The cranial osteopath says you need to spend more time on your tummy to correct your slight plagiocephaly, though, so now we have to find tricks to get you to stay on your tummy longer.

You are fairly consistently taking long morning naps now – usually at least an hour and often as long as 2+ hours – but your night sleeping is still a problem. You usually wake up two or three times during the night and always want a yummy milky snack to help get you back to sleep. At least since we got black-out blinds you are sleeping until 7:00-8:00 (and occasionally 9:00!) rather than waking up at 5:30. I appreciate that. We’re planning to finally move you into your own room this weekend and I’m very anxious to see how that goes.

You are quite a cuddly, affectionate baby. I think I’m pretty lucky in that regard! You give me kisses when I ask for them. And sometimes when I’m holding you, you’ll grab my face, pull it so I’m facing you, then mash your mouth into my mouth as if to say, “I need a kiss now, mummy.” I’m very happy to oblige.

Most days I just wonder at what a happy, curious, gorgeous, fun baby you are. I love you so much!