Kinley is 7 months old

My little girl is 7 months old. It's flying by! We are definitely having fun with Kinley, but she has her moments and has been pretty difficult this month. I know that ALL babies have their moments, but for whatever reason, my babies are fussy in general. They can't be content with just being a baby and hanging out. I go back and forth daily on whether Tyler was or Kinley is more difficult as a baby. Tyler gave us a pretty rough run, but he was definitely more content at seven months. He was crawling all over the place and that sense of freedom made him happy and he only became happier with each day and milestone he achieved. I think Kinley's physical limitations are making her more frustrated. She wants to be mobile, but it's just not happening. She lays on her belly and arches her back and legs (think of a seal on stage at Sea World), but she's just not strong enough to pick up that big belly. I'm sure she's also just uncomfortable from being so big and that makes her cranky as well. Although, she is sitting up for long periods of time and she does seem pretty happy about that. She still hates car rides and is very vocal about something that she wants or doesn't want and can have a full-on melt-down in a second over any of that. In typical girl fashion, her moods are very unpredictable.

She still nurses a lot (because SHE wants to, obviously not because she needs to), but she definitely enjoys trying food. Some of the new things she has tried: eggs, cheese, yogurt, beans, mashed potatoes, chicken, bread, blue berries and banana pudding. I can't believe it, but she finally figured out how to suck from a bottle and sippy cup and loves to drink water. If only I could get her to successfully take a pacifier! I think she's outgrowing clothes faster than I can put them on her. Her thighs are just so big and most of the 12 month pants are too tight on her now! She looks comfortable in 18 month clothes, but I'm sure that will change next week. Anna has assured me that I can't over feed her, but I'm starting to wonder about this little chunker!

I think part of the problem is the frequent night nursing that she does. Dare I say, but I think we have fallen into the same nighttime troubles as we did with Tyler when he was a babe. Kinley is turning out to not be a great sleeper and she relies on nursing to fall asleep. She is still in my bed and now waking every couple of hours and wants/needs to nurse back to sleep. I'd like to think it's because of teething or something else temporary, but it's all too familiar and I expect it to get worse before it gets better. I said we wouldn't repeat the same things we did with Tyler, but here I am doing everything all over again. Honestly, the only thing that I thought would be different is that she'd be in her own bed at this point and I had just hoped she would naturally be a better sleeper. Getting her out of my bed is still something I want to accomplish, but I'm just too lazy to think about hiking up the stairs every couple of hours during the night right now. Not to mention, when I do consider it, I hear a crazy story of a 10 month old baby being kidnapped from her crib during the night and then I find myself completely fine with Kinley laying safely next to me. Soon though. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for Kinley), my thoughts on the cry-it-out method haven't changed at all since having Tyler. It's just not going to happen...I can't do it and I don't feel comfortable doing it. I have tried to not give into every time Kinley wanted to nurse during the night before and she got so worked up, gagging and choking, etc. and that's with me lying right next to her trying to console her! I just can't feel good about putting her in her crib and letting her fall asleep in that state. So, a lot of this is my fault, which is why I'm not going to complain like before. I would rather continue the nurturing bond between her and I instead of stressing over "training" her to fall asleep right now. Crazy, I know!! However, having gone through this before, I do know that she will eventually sleep through the night when she's ready. Of course, I'm hoping that's sooner than later.

She loves being outside. We usually lay a blanket out in the front yard and wait for Travis to come home in the evening. The weather has been great! She recently started blowing bubbles and will mimic us when we do it to her. Super cute. She is still dealing with separation anxiety, which is no fun. Flattering that she wants to be around me so much, but no fun. haha. I think that pretty much sums up our little fiesty girl for the moment.