Paloma at 7 months

The big news during P's 7th month is that she got her first tooth! It's not all the way out yet, but it's there and it's so cute! Then, pretty much right at the 7-months mark, she started babbling "babababa" (thanks, Haley, for bringing my attention to P's syllable of choice). Also, ever since we started propping her up to sit, that's the only way she wants to be. She only likes hanging out on her back to do happy-baby pose when she is in the nude and she is pretty much over tummy time, so sitting it is. It's funny, I wasn't in a rush to get her to sit, but when I saw that babies younger than her were already sitting on their own (when placed in that position), I started placing her that way to give her a new perspective and switch things up and she took to it pretty quickly. After a week of sitting with pillows she didn't really need them anymore and now I feel confident just setting her in the middle of the living room (on a rug) with nothing but toys surrounding her, though she still topples over occasionally. Toppling over and crying out for help, however, is not how I dreamed the sitting up milestone would go down.

When I first learned I was pregnant with P, I decided I wanted to do this whole RIE approach to sitting babies up (which is actually to not sit babies up but allow them to develop that gross motor skill naturally -- that means that a baby who gets herself to the seated position on her own and topples over will be able to put herself back up, unlike most babies who cry until someone comes to rescue them). I thought of it almost as a science experiment. How cool would that be to watch your baby discover how to sit on her own for the first time ever? It was a beautiful idea, so we got rid of the Bumbo and the baby swing in order to focus more on floor time and freedom of movement. The only "baby container" we had (and still have) is one of those Baby Bjorn bouncy seats. I was determined to let the baby have LOTS of movement time on the floor. 

When P arrived, I was really good about letting her spend time on her back, but I quickly learned that the only time she was safe on the floor was when Hunter was at school. During her first month of life, we were home a lot nursing, cuddling, and spending time on the floor. As she got older, those hours that Hunter was at school became my time to take care of errands, so we spent quite a bit of time outside the house. Consequently, she spent less and less time at home in her movement area and more and more time in my arms, a baby carrier, or in the car. We also found it more convenient to have her join us in the kitchen in the bouncy seat. 

Up until she was 5 months old, she really had no desire to scoot or roll over. I worried that it would taker her FOREVER to eventually sit up and she "seemed" bored on the floor. I loved the idea of letting her develop the ability to sit up on her own, but I grew impatient. And once you sit a baby up in a bouncy seat or propped up with pillows in a seated position, there is no turning back. She will not want to go back to hanging out on her back. So there you have it, the end of my RIE dream for the baby. While I am disappointed that I allowed myself to be pressured by the common practices of mainstream parenting, there's not much I can do about it now, so no need to beat myself up about it. OK. End of ramble...

Well, that's all for now. She's our girl, and we love her just the way she is!