Dear Rye :: 7mos

Dear Rye,
Your smiling and laughing so much and your siblings are soaking it all in. When one notices that you are laughing at the other, the first one goes and tries to take over to get you laughing at them. Fighting ensues. It's so gratifying to get your baby giggle.

I was telling a friend who has a similarly aged baby that you can't sit up yet ... as her baby crawls around like a powerhouse. I'm not worried - because I know you'll sit up in your own time and then you'll be crawling ... and life will suddenly be a lot more complicated! As we discuss this, I prop you up between my legs on the floor. An hour later, you're still sitting. So I realized, I don't often put you down. And when I have to, it's because I knew two hands and can't be with you, ensuring you don't tumble over. So I've never seen you sit up for any length of time, but all that rocking back in forth while in our arms or on our laps has apparently created a strong enough core and you've got this sitting thing down.... I'm now holding my breath about how long we have until you're crawling.

You continue to be the communal baby at Farmhouse Pantry and are always amenable to being passed around. This is very convenient for me, our regular customers, and you. Your community is large and loving and it's wonderful to see how this makes you shine. We often get comments on how quiet and content you are. Lately you've been babbling more, which is a fun treat and you save most of your enthusiasm for me ... but your siblings, dad, and grandparents are obviously important to you too. You smile huge and shake your whole body when you see one of these family members.

You're "awesome sleeper" status is definitely out the window. You're up frequently in the night - but Noah prepared me well and I'm happy that you are happy to be nursed back to sleep, even if it is every hour. You take awesome naps at home - like multi-hour naps!! But at Farmhouse Pantry, you really don't want to miss anything. So napping and nursing is infrequent and is interrupted frequently.

You laugh a lot and love playing peek-a-boo.
Your hands are no longer as exciting as they once were. The new distraction is your feet. And when your socks are off - !!! - it's a whole new world!

You're still not a night person at all. If we're out and it's dark, you are usually not a happy camper. You want to be home and in bed. But otherwise, you're pretty chill.
I'm amazed at how long you're getting ... how so baby you are instead of new baby.
You love smacking your lips and your gums to make different sounds.
You're very interested in pets - you're excited and want to grab them ... but when they get too close they can also be frightening.

You have a strong grip and get really sad if someone takes away a treasure you're gripping and investigating. You loved holding spoons, pens, and paper. And if you're holding them - that's right - they end up in your mouth.

We haven't had as much baby wearing these days. I used to wrap you every time we went to the grocery store and other errands. But this month you started sitting up in the cart. It's not always a perfect system, but it's an easier one and you love sitting there. You are determined to get the handle into your mouth .... but you have yet to be successful.

You're growing so fast - I can't believe we're closer to a year than not! We're having so much fun!

Love you forever,
Momma