Whoops! Where did the weeks go?

I'm trying to be diligent about this blog because I think it might make a nice story for Evelyn someday -- her first year on the earth.  So much happens so quickly -- this is the fastest she will ever develop.  Gotta stay on my toes.

This gorgeous girl has become a bit independent in that she can sit and crawl (scooch) and even (yes) pull herself up to a standing position to satisfy her need for new perspectives, new textures, and new parts of the house.  First trip to the dining room happened just recently.  I'm discovering all the things in my home that might topple over and/or get tangled on a baby arm/leg and they're all ending up in the attic or piled on the dining room table.  I'm also discovering how filthy my floors are...despite having help to clean once a week [yes, I hired a cleaning person this month and she is my hero]. Poor Evey ends up with a brown shirt, hairy fingers and a speckled face on her excursions round the house.  She doesn't seem to mind I guess.  But it's pretty gross.  Tag thinks we should just strap some mop heads to her knees and belly and make it productive (don't worry, I'm not going to let him).  Incidentally, I read in this baby food book I picked up that you should boil tap water before giving it to your baby to kill any traces of bacteria.  Does the author realize that babies crawl?  On the floor?

She's making all sorts of babbling sounds now.  "oooooooh wah wah wah" and "aah bah bah bah bah."  Tag's got her working on "pa pa" but I think they've got a ways to go.  I think I did hear "ah da" yesterday, which is pretty sophisticated considering the tongue action required.  How wierd it will be to hear her start talking...  She's already 7 months.  Won't actually be that far off.  My friend Sandy reminded me the other day that Evelyn will celebrate her 1st birthday in less than 5 months time.  I admit I got a bit teary at that shocking revelation.  I'm not ready.  Evey, please stay my baby for just a bit longer!

Evey's sense of humor is totally fun.  She deliberately does things (usually it's a sound) to make us laugh, and when we do, she joins right in.  So awesome.

I don't have pictures yet of her in the (CUTE) swimsuit I ordered.  We take her to the club pool and let her float around in this little canopy baby float thing (it's perfect) and she seems to like the water and watching Tag submerge and resurface.  We're avoiding the heat and sun of high noon (it's been sizzling in upper 90's here), so we go in the early evenings which is perfect, but unfortunately there aren't many kids for her to watch so she's stuck with me and Tag for entertainment.

We've taken a break from solid foods.  She just wasn't interested (lots of gagging...not a lot of swallowing), and I read in my trusted baby book that it's totally fine.  She's healthy as can be (no more daycare colds so far!) and gaining weight (18 lbs now) and she might even decide to skip baby food altogether (I read that some babies don't like pureed food and prefer to start out self-feeding finger foods).  We'll see (nursing sure is easy!).