7 Months: Watching my Daughter Grow
My daughter is 7 months today. If you’ve never had a child, let me tell you: babies get really interesting around the 5–6 month mark. I wish I thought about doing this log right in the beginning, though I feel like the entries would have been similar until now. Let me catch you up real quick.
1 Month Old: I can’t believe I’m a dad. My wife and I are 100% in charge of keeping this little girl alive by making sure she eats, is prepared for the elements, sleeps, and gets her vaccinations (even though it sucks watching her scream like that). Also, I wish I remember what sleep was like.
2 Months Old: Pretty much the same as 1 Month old. She’s getting a little bigger. She still wakes up a lot at night, and she’s more expressive. She does this cool thing with her eyebrows?—?like The Rock did. Remember? The People’s Eyebrow.
Man I miss the WWF.
3 Months: She’s starting to look and act more like a person. She seems to react to things, and she plays a bit better on the floor. She’s still pretty immobile, and doesn’t entertain herself quite yet.
4 Months: Very similar to 3 months. She is sleeping a bit more now. Her first two teeth came in, too. That was incredibly unpleasant for her. She also got sick for the first time. Google told me to do saline drops in nose, booger sucker, and humidifier. Seemed to work pretty well. She giggled for the first time. That was magical.
5 Months: She’s starting to eat some solids now and she’s noticing a lot more. It’s pretty fun seeing her figure things out. She does this thing where she lays on her back and propels herself with her feet to move towards where she wants to go, head first and back arched. It’s so weird and hilarious to see.
6 Months: Biggest changes so far! She’s definitely noticing a lot more, and examines things with laser focus. She will not be distracted when she’s figuring something out. She also seems to recognize people a lot better. She’ll react when she sees me or her mom, and even her grandparents. She’s also eating a lot! She’s basically on a 3 course meal for solids, and 2 other bottle feedings. She’s able to entertain herself. She giggles too, and is very talkative.
Today She is 7 Months Old
Being a parent is pretty amazing. My favorite thing to do is just watch her be. Watching her learn how things work, figure out certain cues, and how to communicate with us non-verbally is pretty fantastic. Over the last couple of weeks especially, she’s become very intuitive. 2 things that really drove this point home for me are:
- Last week she had her binkie (pacifier) in one hand and a strap that connects the binkie to her clothes in the other. They were separated and she looked at them for a while, and then put her hands together. She obviously can’t put them together herself; but it seemed to me she recalled that they should be together.
- A few nights ago, she grabbed my hand, and held it in front of her face. She then looked away to her free hand. Then back at my hand. Then back at hers, as if to say, “Hey. We both have these things.”
A few people have already told me she’s very smart. That she intuitively gets things. I’ve never had a baby before, so I have no frame of reference. I won’t make those claims, but it’s nice to hear it from other people.
“This is the most fun time”
My Mother-in-Law told us this would be the most fun time to have with the baby. She’s able to entertain herself as well as interact with us. She seems to take a real interest in what we are doing and watches us with such intensity you can almost see the wheels turning. As someone who’s easily distracted (at least sometimes), it’s interesting to me that she is able to focus on something and not be bothered by what’s around her; especially when she’s trying to figure out how it works.
The most common thought I have is, “What is she thinking?” I’d love to get a glimpse into the mind of my baby. How does she put things together, and how are her thoughts represented? Watching her grow is so much fun. Playing with her is my favorite activity. Plus I have a buddy to talk to all the time. She doesn’t seem to mind it 🙂
I love being a dad.
7 Months: Watching my Daughter Grow was originally published in Thoughts from Joe Casabona on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.