I sit up with a little help from my boppy

Our little seven month charmer is sitting up unassisted for up to 20 seconds at a time before she flops over. She lasts much longer with the boppy. Here is a picture of her mid-topple. For some reason she finds it amusing.

Friday night she was up way past her bedtime at a friend's house for Shabbat dinner. We decided that there's no point to a routine if it's not broken every so often. Everyone there was very familiar to her and she had a great time. It was one of the rare occasions in which she wore a dress. We won't be doing it again for a while. Personally, I like wearing skirts and dresses but I am realizing what completely impractical garments they are for the smaller set. All the safety belts on strollers and car seats go up the middle so she ends up with uncomfortable bunched up skirt, flashing the world her diaper. Ditto the Bjorn. And when crawling begins, a dress is nothing but a trip hazard. (And, as my friend Sondra pointed out today, you can't see her knees when she practices her shimmy.) She has to wear tights since it's cold; if I'm going to put 2-3 garments on her, then I'm just going to put her in practical pants. People like seeing little girls in dresses. Sure, she's as pretty as a picture, but she's pretty darned cute in pants, too.

Intermittent signs of teething continue, but nothing breaking the gums yet.

Solids are continuing well, with a few new added foods. Tonight we met Tony and Eric at The Heartland for an Espana plenary session, since Eric leaves on his solo tour of the Lowlands and France on Saturday, and I gave Yelena a few pieces of mushed up avocado. Divine buttery orb of yumminess.

She's doing cool stuff with her hands, helping turn the pages of board books and picking things up with her thumb and forefinger. She's our little fine motor girl. She's also making some cool new sounds and it's getting easier to distinguish her happy sounds from her pissed off sounds from her I-just-made-a-poopy-isn't-that-funny sounds. She also has fabulous fits of giggles and loves getting and giving kisses.