Rachel is 7 months old!

Rachel turned 7 months old on Wednesday! She is really getting mobile and starting to act like an older baby...she needs to slow down! In the past week or so she has started to crawl on her hands and knee/foot and is getting faster by the day. I've also caught her pulling up on low surfaces and even found her pulled to a stand in her crib after her nap this morning! She has also mastered getting her self from sitting to crawling and back to sitting again. If the pattern holds true she will be taking steps before she turns 9 months like her biggest brother Levi. Eep! She is growing physically as well and is now in mostly 6-12 or 9 month clothes, size 3 diapers and size 1 or 2 shoes.

Rachey Lou continues to be a social girl, but, she has become a little more of a momma's girl and a little less easy with her smiles. Her love for her brothers, however, has grown. She loves to watch them play and follows them around the house. No one can get her to laugh as quickly or easily as one of her brothers. During meal time I often catch Rachel looking past me and grinning at Nate. Watching their relationships grow is going to be fun!

The week she turned 6 months old we started giving her solids and she has done so well with the transition! She is now eating solids with the family at each meal and loves to feed herself small chunks of food when she has the chance. Just about everything I've made for her has been a hit, but she especially loves sweet potatoes, butternut squash and bananas. Even though she eats quite a bit of food she still loves to nurse and does so about every 3 hours and usually 2-3 times during the night.

Her sleep patterns have become more predictable and she takes 3 naps a day (when possible and not interrupted by her brothers and their activities). She usually naps at 9ish, 1ish and 4ish for 1-2 hours each time. Bedtime is 8:30pm and she wakes up for the day around 7am. The past few days she seems to be finally moving back to sleeping more at night, but she is still up between 1-3am and again between 4-5am most nights. I'm blaming it on all the moving she's doing during the day, burning so many calories requiring night time meals.

We all love our little Lou Lou and think she is the sweetest and cutest baby girl we've ever known. Her ego may become a problem with all the adoration she receives from her brothers and parents! She such a fun addition to our family, and watching her grow and learn is a joy!