7 months

Elle,

I can barely stand that you are already 7 months old. It is going by so fast I can't even believe it. You are growing and changing every day. Your dad and I were watching you last night and can't believe all of your accomplishments. Within 10 minutes you showed us so much. You looked at your daddy and said dada. You have been saying dada but last night it was as if you were addressing your dada. You also took two objects and banged them together making music and singing while you were doing it. You are working hard at learning how to crawl. You are making daily progress. It will happen in no time. You also like to do downward dog many times a day to show us you strength. Your little personality continues to shine through and there is actually nothing little about it. You are just precious. You are very funny and like to make people smile and laugh. You are generally pretty easy going UNTIL you get mad or frustrated and then well you become IRATE. You don't do just a little mad. You love, love, love familiar faces. You truly do recognize people and have definitely developed some stranger anxiety. You are very needy of your mama right now. You don't like me to do pretty much anything without you. Your dogs and cats are so entertaining to you. You love to watch them play. They tolerate you for a few minutes and then get away as quickly as possible as you try to rip their hair out. Your laugh is the most wonderful sound that your daddy and I have ever heard. Pure joy! I love having this time with you during the summer. We get up with daddy in the morning and take a dog and meet your MeeMom and one of her dogs for a nice walk on the seawall to start our day. It is such a great way to start our morning and appreciate our island. You have been eating solid food since your turned 6 months old. The foods that you have currently passed are: cereal, avocado, banana, sweet potatoes, tofu, pears, baby yogurt and mangoes. Your favorite is definitely a mixture of avocado and banana. At the beginning of June we (your mama, your dada, your MeeMom and you) went to visit your Aunt Catherine, Uncle John and Cousins Eva and Johnny in New Jersey. You did a great job on the plane and while we were there. We went to NYC a few times to check things out and you seemed to enjoy yourself. Mommy and Daddy left you overnight for the first time on our 5^th anniversary. We stayed in a fancy hotel in the city and went to dinner. You also have been to Vegas. Mommy needs to go back and write about this adventure. This past weekend we went to Austin for the weekend with Daddy. Daddy had work stuff to do on Monday. We had a nice time at Uncle Beau's house. You got to see lots of people that you really like including Zak &Amanda, Will & Danielle, The Bonnin Crew, and of course Beau and Megan. We had a great time. Mommy put you to sleep on Monday as I drank my coffee from Jo's and drove around and went down memory lane of my life in the ATX. Hard to believe that so much time has passed so quickly. We need to slow it down and savor each day. We love you our little pootie girl.