Clearly, it was quite hard to capture her 7 month picture. She was very much preoccupied with touching the "document" as we like to call it.....anything paper-like, she is sure to touch, crinkle, tear, rip, etc. She is quite nimble with her hands.....she is working out the kinks in using her pointer finger and thumb....regardless, she is obsessed with hands: her own, as well as others. She'll stare at them, eat them, rub them together, run them through her flowing locks, suck on them. (You get the point.) I think we may have a hand surgeon in the making.

We are also working on (well, I'm working on) trying to have her fall asleep independently, i.e., without me rocking her or holding her. This has been very difficult as I cherish my time holding her. She falls asleep quite quick when anyone is holding her, and I feel we are creating a monster. She loves to be held so she can touch the person's face that is holding her......she starting doing this when she was very little. I'm sure it is a comforting thing for her. I understand this, as I rub my feet together, play with my hair, and rub Beans' ear to fall asleep. So her sleep issue compounded with the beginnings of teething has made for an interesting week. If she is unable to soothe herself to sleep, at least she is having quiet time. As instructed to me from Mrs. Sue Lockwood, mother extraordinaire, the more babies sleep, the more they sleep. These are words I have chosen to live by. Hopefully we can make some headway before the end of the weekend.

A few other things we have noticed....she loves all foods she has tried. She gave bananas a tear this morning, and they went down the gullet with no challenges. She likes apricots, squash, and mangoes. We are going to start more on finger foods next week. She is not really into Puffs. She is unsure what she is suppose to do with them......she knows Biscuit loves them.

She is sitting up on her own like a champ. She has a large "core" to support, so I can see how this has been hard for her. She is in the early early stages of crawling....not quite sure what she does with her legs, but she can surely support herself with her arms.

She has been a delightful baby. Practically no crying, regular pooping, and lots of laughing and talking. We are absolutely blessed to have a great baby. I'm not sure if this what happens when a baby is brought into the world in a rough manner, but she has turned out to be a blessing, truly.

She goes to the Neurologist for a check up at the end of the month. I am not sure if she will need another CAT scan, but she has shown NO signs of any developmental delay or physical challenges. She still has fluid on the back of her head, though I've been told that will go away in time.

Happy 7 Months, Margaret Elizabeth!