Almost 7 months!

I cannot believe how time flies. I am immensely enjoying watching Charis grow but then I have to remind myself that this also means I am doing the same, not exactly growing (hopefully) but getting older. Everyone I meet tells me to treasure these days. There are always words of advice about how it gets more difficult,... the terrible two's, the terrible three's, etc. How is it that that "terrible" list seems to keep getting longer!?! I, however, am looking forward to these ages. With careful, biblical training these ages only become more fun and interesting because one's child is now able to understand and respond in a loving manner. Anyhow, enough of my soap box speech! :) I just wanted to in this post tell you a little bit about my ever-maturing daughter.

1) Charis just started to roll from back to front, something that she has done in her sleep which wakes her up, but never on the floor while awake. She has yet to discover that this is a form of mobilization. I assumed that rolling would be a relatively easy task for her since she rolled to her side consistently to sleep since day one. She has been rolling from her belly to her back since she was 6 weeks old.

2) The only direction that Charis seems to be able to move is either by pivoting around on her belly or by pushing with her arms back. Since backwards is never the direction she intends to move, she merely becomes very upset and insists that she must be picked up.

3) Charis has been sitting for about 3 weeks though still falls over occasionally. She has learned to tuck her head while also squeezing her eyes almost closed waiting for the inevitable bump on the head.

4) She has been eating little bits here and there and seems to love about anything we give her. As far as daily eating... I still have not been too scheduled with this because she only seems to demand food when watching us eat. While becoming very vocal if her wishes are not granted, Charis rarely seems to want food at other times. She gets a small portion of bananas and rice cereal every night, and I attempted to start butternut squash, but... She actually seems to like foods with a stronger taste.

5) She has learned to love her daddy after some early on issues (at about 3 wks.) of being quite upset when he took her. Last night, Charis actually cried whenever he left the room.

6) Charis is quite the well-traveled baby. She goes back and forth with me from OH to MI weekly and enjoys watching me teach to a certain extent. She does get upset if the student does not sound good or if the music is minor or too dramatic. She prefers the happy, upbeat variety of music. Though she does well with most people, unfortunately, she has taken a distinct dislike to one of the fathers who at times accompanies his daughter to lessons. Thankfully, he is not usually able to stay in lessons. I say this not because he is not nice, for he is a very kind, gentle man, but because Charis now screams every time she sees him. She smiled and "waved" at him when
he first came until the point when he went to touch her. From that point on, she now refuses to even look at him, and last time, she actually hid her face on my shoulder while sobbing, though eventually calmed enough to peak back around to see if he was still there. When she realized that he was, she burst into genuine tears again. This process repeated itself numerous times.

8) Thankfully, Charis has become quite the easy baby at bedtime. We have no set ritual other than I pray with her at night. However, I made a point of putting her to bed whenever she became fussy sometime back, and she now goes down without a peep as long as she has her pacifier and her bear. What a blessing! There are the moments when she cries or needs to be soothed while in her bed, but otherwise, if I hang around at all after I put her down, she just looks at me as if to say, "Why are you still here?"

9) Charis has said different words repeatedly at different points. Right now, her only words are "da-da," "nu-nu" (which means tired or hungry), and sometimes, "ma-ma." She did say "hello, hi, and woof." She recognizes certain things and will actually look around for them if you mention them -- clock, fan, light, dog, etc.

10) Charis' new favorite "games" besides reading or chewing on her books is having Daddy chase her or kissing herself in the mirror. She does occasionally see fit to give others kisses too, but she without fail always leans forward to give herself a peck. :)


Finally, there is not much more to say! I am sure that all of you, whether having watched your own children in time past, whether watching friends' or relatives' children at present, or if you have your own, can appreciate the little things babies/children do, that bring such joy to others around them. What lessons we all can learn from such small, dependent happy children!