Mr., Mrs. and 5 Little Misses: Madelynn, Claire and Natalee: You are SEVEN months old!!!

**Whahoo for Mommy actually posting this on your seven month birthday!!!!**

I know I say this every single month, but phew, where has the time gone! I have three seven month olds!!! Oh my goodness! I need to start planning your birthday party! Whahoo!

Food/Eating Habits:

This month I started giving you each banana puffs and sweet potato puffs and you girls LOVE them. Claire, you will scream for Mommy to give you more if I don't consistently put them in your mouth. You would eat the whole container if I let you. I have to put them into your mouth so far but I am really working with you each to try to pick it up off the tray and put it into your own mouth. Madelynn, you will pick them up and bring them to your mouth but you can't seem to get them really in your mouth, but you are trying sooo hard! it's so cute! Claire, you on the other hand, will just lick the tray and try to get them into your mouth. It seems to work which is crazy, I don't know how you really get them into your mouth, but you do! I also started giving you apple juice with water in a cup (first time on July 17th) and you each did great with it. I only give it to you with breakfast, because you will not be getting used to having juice all of the time. I'm kind of against juice, and prefer you to either have water or milk when you get bigger. Juice is just too sugary and I don't need three crazy sugared-up kiddos running around. So your morning cup of juice/water will be your only cup for the whole day, until you are much, much older.

Claire, here you are on the first day with your juice cup! My big girl!!!! It's like you knew just what to do!

The only new foods I have given you this month is some chicken mixed with sweet potatoes. You were not big fans of it, but you all did eat it.

We are going through 6-9 cans of baby food a day. This month I promise to start giving you lunch! It just takes awhile to get you all fed in the morning, so I would literally have to turn right around and give you lunch...so we might have to rearrange our schedule a little to accommodate. I give you fresh bananas (never from the jar) so those aren't included and I have also given you many other fresh fruits that aren't included in that. Plus, your puffs and baby cereal that you have each day. Last month I went through ten boxes (8oz each) of oatmeal or rice cereal. Here's just SOME (2/3rds) of your food for this past month:

You have definitely started drinking more during the day without having your night-time bottles (more on that below). Madelynn and Claire, you will drink about 8oz now and Natalee, you still drink between 5-6oz at each of your feedings.

Sleep Habits:

This past month I have been super serious about eliminating your feedings at night and it has worked really well. I followed exactly what I read in 12 Hours of Sleep by 12 Weeks Old and it really worked. I started going down one ounce of formula every three nights and thus have been able to get you to not want to eat. To be honest, they each didn't really wake because they were actually hungry, it was the routine of getting up at that time that they got used to, because even when I went down to one ounce, you guys could care less about it, it was that you got out of your bed and got to see Mommy for a few minutes. I made these feeding SUPER fast. It took no time at all to warm the bottle and by the time I would change your diaper (because if I don't you always pee through) you are done with your bottle and I could feed two of you and be back in bed myself in ten minutes.

The only trouble I have had is that you each like Mommy to come in and pat your back if you get REALLY upset for long periods of time at night. You never, ever have cried yourselves to sleep. You go down really easily after drinking your last bottle for the day around 7:30/8:00pm, but if you wake up sometimes you either make a few noises and go right back to sleep or you scream bloody murder (just for attention) for awhile. I normally go in and pat your back, turn your music on and/or give you your lovey and only stay less than one minute and you are normally calm as soon as I walk in, but as soon as you realize I snuck back out, you start the process over again. Madelynn, you are my best sleeper and Claire and Natalee are my worst, but still it's not really that bad. Claire, you seem to get into this crazy cry and it's almost like you are sleep crying, because the minute I will go in and startle you, you completely snap out of it. It's weird. But you always put up a good fight and will cry for awhile before settling down.

Natalee, you are just an attention lover and will scream and scream and the minute you see me over your crib you smile and stop, INSTANTLY. I know there is nothing wrong with you, you are just wanting me, but it's night-time and you need to learn to self-soothe yourself. I have noticed that after I go in after five minutes and you settle, and then when you start up again, you can go on and on and if I finally cave and go in to see you, you only cry worse and harder after I leave. So, I have come to the conclusion that it's better to just let you cry-it-out than to continue to keep going in and having you start the process over again. You always stop crying within an hour but that hour is pure hell for me. I HATE letting you cry but I know that you are old enough to learn and you need to. It just hurts my heart so badly because I know the only reason you are crying is because you want me and that is so HARD! Each night though, you have been getting better and better and you have really improved on self-soothing yourself, which proves to me that I am doing the right thing as hard as it is for me. Again, I will not let my emotions hold you and your learning back.

You each take great naps and normally sleep from 12:00 or 12:30pm until 4:00pm. I do not let you sleep past 4:00pm because you will not sleep good at night, I have noticed. Again, you each have no problem going down for nap and almost the minute I put you in your bed, you are out cold. Natalee, you still sometimes sleep in your swing for naps but Mommy has been getting better and better about putting you in your crib for naps, like your sisters. You just don't sleep as much as your sisters and that's ok, but you can't sleep in your swing forever so the sooner you can get out of that habit the better. Now that you don't have reflux anymore either, there really isn't any reason to sleep upright, so you are slowly getting back to your crib for naps.

Here you are one day on your nap with your lovey:

Claire

Madelynn

Each night, after going to sleep around 8:00pm, you will all wake up around 8:30am. Sometimes you will be up at 7:00am or sometimes you sleep until 10:00am, when I have to go in a wake you sleepy-heads up.

Natalee, you love to suck your left thumb now. It's the cutest thing ever!

This picture just melts my heart.

Playing:

You are all such happy babies. Everywhere we go and anyone that comes over always is so amazed how happy you guys are! I am very lucky to have such well behaved and happy babies! But sometimes I do wish you wouldn't leave you big fits for when it's just me at home!

Madelynn and Claire, you both love sitting up. You can almost do it completely on your own now. I can sit you up and you stay that way for a few minutes before getting tired of it.

Natalee, you aren't strong enough yet for sitting up, but we are working on it daily, of course. Natalee, you LOVE standing up and you will hold on to anyone's hands and stand-up for forever, waaaay longer than your sisters. You love it. I always say "BIG GIRL" to you and you love to say the words "geeee" and I swear you're trying to say "girl"! You are so funny! Daddy and I joke about how "you run the house" and "what you want goes". We have already been practicing walking with you, and you love that too. I bet you will be first to walk and maybe will surpass crawling and go straight to walking. My big girl!

You all love pulling off you bibs now, which gets to be old. Or you love to eat them, that hasn't changed. You all love screaming and yelling, and grabbing at one another. You love to still suck on each other clothes, arms and legs.

Natalee, you love to hold your piggy-toes all of the time, but you mainly just grab your left foot. You also know just how to get your Daddy to hold you. You scream this fake cry that's purely for attention and it's so funny. No tears, nothing. But you always win and Daddy always, always gives in to you.

Madelynn, you are scooting everywhere. You are so quick these days and when I put you down, in a few minutes you are somewhere completely different. Claire, you do the same, but prefer to roll where-ever you want to go. You have to have toys near you to put in your mouth. You have to have everything in your mouth, Claire, whether it's you fingers, hands, arms....just anything you can get. You still love to spit and blow raspberries everywhere. I constantly have to keep bibs on you both because you will either spit and get yourselves soaked or eat and suck on your dresses.

Madelynn, you still love to "swim in the air" as we call it where you wave your arms and legs in swimming motions. It's so funny but you did it so much in your bouncy seat that you made yourself get blisters on the back of your ankles (that's how hard you do it). I think you might be an Olympic swimmer one day!

You all still love Baby Einstein, of course. You aren't completely mesmerized with it like you were in the beginning but it still calms you guys during your fussy periods. It's so funny when we are upstairs and we have to rewind the video (since the dvd player is downstairs), you guys get SO MAD and as soon as you catch that it's back on, it's instant silence! Daddy and I crack up!!!! We have to get it on video!

You all LOVE your bath time with Daddy. We still give you baths every other day. Mommy's back is still in no shape to bend over the tub (especially now) so Daddy does majority of the baths and you guys love your time in there. Natalee, we normally give you the last bath and you can stay in extra long some nights because you love to kick and splash like a crazy girl. You all have been much better about getting your faces wet and Daddy practices with you because we do not want you to be afraid of the water and getting your face wet in the future. So Daddy gets you undressed, and gives you the bath and then I swoop in and get you dried off, lotioned-up, diaper and jammies on and then it's on to the next little girl.

Growing:

I have had to put away many, many of your 3 month outfits now this past week. Some of my favorites, so it was a little sad. But I have gotten out so many more of your new outfits and so many of them your Aunt Megan bought you. You all are so lucky to have so many people love you so much and buy you such adorable clothes!

You are all in size 2 diapers, but I think only another month of them and we will be moving to size 3! So thankful for yet another month of free diapers! Thank you Diapers For Divas!! :)

Madelynn and Claire, your feet now touch in your excersaucers (well they have been for while, but now you can actually push up and turn all around with your feet completely flat) and you can turn and grab all the toys with no problem. Such big girls! Nat, I think you are going to be a little smaller/shorter than your sisters, and I have finally accepted that you might take after both of your Aunties...so you have some catching up to do.