Monaloca

Melina’s seven-month birthday (New Year’s Day) didn’t feel as momentous as her six-month milestone. But that doesn’t detract from the fact that she’s growing into more of a little person – with a goofy little personality – each day. Just look at all she’s doing now.

After 3 1/2 months of rolling from her belly to her back she finally made it the other way! I think it was partially inspired by her desire to reach the Christmas tree. Once on her belly she now enjoys hanging out there – at least until she wants to motor over to pick up a toy and realizes that flapping her little arms and legs as quickly as possible won’t do a thing unless she gets her torso off the ground. We can’t help but laugh at her frustration. She is able to move herself in a slow circle on her belly. Her arms are like the hands of a clock. I took this video just after Christmas, and it already feels outdated. She rolls so much more efficiently now!

We now sometimes find her lying on her belly in her crib, but more often than not she’s still on her back with her little blankie by her side or, just to freak me out, covering her face. We stopped taking the blankie away this month. She now screams if she wakes and can’t find it, and – face covering and all – we don’t want to deny her this security. She’s obviously able to breathe just fine.

She eats all sorts of pureed fruits and veggies and likes everything but avocado. Bananas also elicit a very special “too sweet!” shiver after four or five bites. She’s started grunting when she wants food (or anything else that’s out of her reach, for that matter). It’s a very throaty sound that hurts my throat to mimic. She also reaches for her sippy cup when she’s thirsty, looks for toys when they drop, and literally grabs her blankie from the crib rail as I put her down to bed.

She’s stopped sleeping as well at night, but only some of the time. Teething? Still no sign of a tooth. Despite what this photo shows, she still takes baths in her infant tub, but inside the big tub so she can splash around with delight. We tried the big tub solo once, but after a couple wet face plants decided to backtrack… for now. Also, as a few photos show, Meli still loves holding her hands together, close to her chest, almost prayer-like. She rarely sucks her thumb anymore, so this is her new trademark. An observant friend pointed out that I often do the same thing.

My favorite recent Melina moment came the other day as we were playing with Thor, the kitty cat, on our bed. Joey and I kept saying “kitty cat, Meli, look at the kitty cat!” She would pet or pull his fur, then started mimicking our “k” sound. At one point we swear we heard her say “ka”! Perhaps a first word in the making?

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