I'm having a harder time being timely with your monthly photoshoots. I promise you were 6mos old last week.
I feel like the 6mos mark gets all the attention but honestly..7mos is a huge month for change..at least for you.
You crawl everywhere. On your knees now. Although it's easier to belly slide on concrete floors (your poor knee caps).
We thought it was amazing when we found you had pulled yourself up to your knees and then 2 days later you had learned to pull yourself up to to standing!! Say what?!
You will put your chubby fingers on any ledge and pull yourself up. Window ledges are your favorite.
You are so mobile now and so daring..that bumps and bruises are starting to appear. You had your 1st big fall standing next to a stool in the kitchen..when you both went over. Bruise on your head and a sad mom and babe.
I try not to over worry but it's hard to know what I should worry about. A bruise to your head...what if you had internal bleeding? Or a concussion and I had no idea? I guess being an attentive parent gives me an edge but still sometimes I have to throw my hands in the air and pray for the Gods to keep you alive.
You sit on your own when you want but you always prefer your stomach or the famous "Nova lounge" position. Laying on your side tugging at the leg of your pant. We should patent that.
You make the cutest clicking sounds with your tongue and mouth now.
You have also started pursing your lips and blowing when you are thinking hard about something. It absolutely kills me dead. I love seeing you find your own way to express your emotions.
You are very in to the mechanics of how things work. Hinges, latches, knobs..all very interesting
You bang your arm down to your side. Like bam bam.
Also when on your belly, you will take crawling breaks to tap the ground with your right foot.
You are still in the damn swaddle. But how can I damn it when you slumber so well wrapped up? You nap around 3.5-4hrs during the day and then sleep 11hrs every night. Damn that swaddle.
Naps are in your crib and nighttime is in between dad and I.
Co-sleeping is a dream 99% of the time. We never get out of bed all night. There is no question of what you need and when you need it. But there are certain nights when you don't feel well and I think dad coined it best when he said, "It's like a monkey was in our bed last night". Yes, yes it was.
You sleep with your legs spread wide like a little cowgirl and if you fall asleep while I am nursing you..your kicking legs end up clam and crossed.
You are now in the 50% for size. I have decided I don't care much for percentages. You will have plenty of time on your own as a teenager comparing you body to others. Why make you go through it now? As long as you are thriving, any size is great with us.
Almost all of your dark baby hair is gone and is now replaced with a strawberry blond color. It is very wispy and fuzzy.
I have also noticed you have a very flat head. You should maybe think about balancing stuff on it as a career. Serious. You would make loads of money.
Playing with mixing bowls is super fun right now.
Also, pushing around end tables is really fun too.
You are very social. You will go to anyone and aren't afraid to grope faces or stick fingers in mouths..or their fingers in yours.
The only thing you fear..is the blender.
If look at you or talk to you, you pretty much always smile.
You notice and see the smallest things now. Buttons, any new space. You take in the world 360degrees. I love when we go on walks you and crane your head back to look at the trees or the sky.
You see light. Some adults are even good at noticing the nuances in light...but you do. You notice the line of light on the wall or the ray peaking through the curtain. This makes your photographer Mom VERY proud.
Food is not your thing. Avocado has gotten the best response..but still not very interested. How can that be? How can you be my daughter and not like food?
You crawl to me now when you need me. Love. You start climbing up my legs until I pick you up.
You didn't feel well a couple days this month and you just wanted me to hold you all day long. Didn't matter what I was doing...it was better in my arms than not.
Nighttime you need Mom. Dad trys..but you just want me.
Dad does take you most mornings when you wake up at 6ish and I get to sleep another hour or so.
You and dad love playing "a-boo". You giggle and laugh and are so on to his tricks.
If dad is in the room while you are nursing you love to pop off every few seconds (not kidding) and just make sure he's still there. He has to remind you, "it's OK nutty I'm here just keep eating"..and then with a little " everything is the way I want it" face you burrow back down for a snack.
Sometimes during the day you eat for a few seconds and then you want to come up to full sitting position. Not kidding.. and then 2secs later back down again. Down and up, down and up. It's one of our wrestling eating sessions.
You are not naked enough. I really dislike this.
We are using the maya sling more and more. Easy and fast to put on and off. I think you are still more comfy in the moby..but in the sling I can wear you on my hip and you can see out easier.
I think it's time to get you a big girl stroller. We have only use the Snap n' Go since you were born.
You got your passport photo taken!!! How rad is it that you will have a baby passport?! You are the coolest.
Nicknames this month include the old standbys (nutty, nutz, do-do) and a few new ones have made the rotation, daddy's sweet pickle, nov's, novita, novi. And I have always called you "my precious"...I am just now realizing how creepy that may be.
We also say the the phrases "yes, I'm your mommy" or "I'm your dad" or "you're my sweet baby", "you're MY baby"...A LOT. I'm sure you are thinking..OK weirdos. Isn't this information we all already know?
My favorite times of the days are two: right when you wake up from a nap- I unwrap you and rub your belly while we take about your dreams. Then I pick you up and you rest on my shoulder. Then we walk into the bathroom and look at us cheek to cheek in the mirror. We both smile and fall a little bit more in love. Then we walk into the family room area and say hi to your house..all while your cheek is still pressed to mine.
My second favorite time of the day is bathtime. For what ever reason time stands still at bathtime. One of us is in the tub with you, while the other sits next to the tub..and as a family we enjoy 15mins of having nothing else to do. Water is just that way. It washes away stress and hurry. Makes us slow down.
I had someone tell me this month that I am one of the most attached parents he knows. Me thinking this was a HUGE compliment, thanked him. Turns out he wasn't trying to compliment me. I am finding more and more peoples attitudes about parenting has a lot to do with what's included or missing from their own lives. If they don't feel very attached or intimate with anyone else than it's hard for them to understand the type of relationship dad and I care so much about trying to create with you.
Here are some simple parenting philosophies I feel absolute about; 1, You can't love your child too much. Impossible. 2, Being around them as much as possible is what they want and need. 3, Building trust with my daughter now means a stronger bond through adulthood.
Everyday I am becoming a more confident mother...but the fear and the worry about not doing it "right" is still there. I do think attachment can run the wrong direction but only when the parent wants to keep the child from progressing. I live for your development and independence. So far so good.
Also, just so everyone knows, we don't like to wait until you are begging to give you what you need. If we see the signs of hunger or that you're tired we won't wait until you are screaming until we give it to you. What's the point? You don't have a lot of reasons to cry, so you don't
But sometimes you need to cry for a release but it is never because you are hungry or we are keeping you up. Before you fall asleep you like to have a good cry. I've learned this is just what you usually do before you can settle down.
We are both anxious for the big family/work change happening this weekend. We sit at home and count the seconds. Life is about to change in a really amazing way..and we are doing it mainly for you. Pretty much any worthwhile desicion now has to do with you.
Novs, can you do me favor and just be my little baby forever? Forever and forever x's a million? That would really be great.
Also, how would you feel about a sibling? NO we are not pregnant....but wouldn't a little boy for Nutty to boss around be the best? I also secretly day dream about a house full of little girls all hanging around Grant's neck smothering their papa with kisses? (Of course I see this daydream in the form of a photograph). I mean a house full of little women all calling me marme would be the bee's knees. My baby is 7mos old WHY am I thinking about a house full of kids!!!!!?? I am exhausted to the max thinking about it...but at the same time have butterflies in my stomach like it's Christmas morning.
Being a mom is the #1 best ever. For those of you getting close to having your 1st child, I'm sure you are being smothered with all of the "never sleep again" "go on as many dates as you can now" horror stories...and they're all true (to an extent). But your love for your child runs so deep that you want to make the sacrifice. You'll ask to make the sacrifice. That's what true love does. It eats all your brain cells. You find yourself running on full power with an empty brain and an overflowing heart. As always, Friday Night Lights says it best, "Clear eyes, full heart, can't loose".
Novs, you and I are gonna take state. Mark my words.
(images shot on film and digital, mixed!)
Yesterday we had to lower her crib.
(moi, grace and amy)
We are on our way to Boston today. Spending a few days with an Aunt and Uncle who haven't spent much time with nutz yet. We are all looking forward to it. Especially Nova. She loves 5hr flights.
(Sneak peak from Mike & Failop's Malibu wedding. You wish you were a guest. Trust me.)
What a beautiful, beautiful family. The love each other. They trust each other...and you can tell.
(*Illustration above by 
We had a little baby party yesterday with some of the parents and babies that we did our birth prep classes with. It was so much fun!
Had the pleasure of shooting this gorgeous family a couple weeks back.
