Picture perfect: Adi at 7 months

Adi has just started to babble; she really likes "b" and "v" sounds that she can make with her lips sucked in. She loves it when I make nonsense noises to her: "ga ga ga ga" or "golly golly golly" and so it seems that she can tell when we make sounds that are different than normal speaking. When someone sings to her, she stops whatever she is doing to look around and give a big smile; it is still possible to calm her down in the stroller or the car with a simple song. (Itsy-bitsy spider has been a favorite since early on, when Dave made up some spider-crawling, head-rubbing motions for them). She's been responding to her name for a few weeks now, which is both useful and delightful- to know that she is starting to understand us.

Her feet rank as a favorite toy, especially without socks. She will put her foot into her mouth all the way up the arch . All toys still go in the mouth; sometimes it seems she spends all of her energy trying to chew on our fingers. She often sticks her own hand in far enough to make herself gag. No signs of teeth, still (we're not in any hurry!). Favorite toys right now include a soft, crinkly book and the slick baby photo albums from both sides of the family-- she isn't too much into looking at the pictures but they sure must taste good! She still likes the 'halloween bear' that our neighbors gave her; one of Dave's games is to balance him on top of her head-- her arms are too short to reach him:

In her crib, we have a Taggie stuffed animal (a brilliant concept) that she will talk to for up to half an hour when she wakes up in the morning, looking at it, licking a tag, looking, sucking on its nose, etc.

She often sleeps in what Dave dubbed the "inverse fetal position": starting out on her back, she looks sideways and then up, arching her back until her face is parallel with the headboard of the crib. It looks supremely uncomfortable but seems to work for her. We usually put her to bed with a burp cloth (as we're trying to follow Kara & Eric's lead and get her to 'attach' to something small, washable and replaceable); she'll suck on it a little but often ends up pulling it over her face to sleep which can be a little disconcerting! Maybe she's playing peek-a-boo: she'll initiate the game occasionally by pulling something over her face, and is now very quick at pulling it off when we do it.

She is still suspicious of strangers (=anyone who she doesn't see weekly) and might erupt in petrified screams if I put her in someone's arms. Loud noises get the same reaction (the house hasn't been vacuumed in months). Dave was trying to get her to bond with the electric drill when he was installing a gate at the top of the stairs; maybe it would have worked if he had let her put it in her mouth:


And she's fairly good at sitting but I usually put a pillow behind her. Here's how our photo shoot progressed. Thanks to Regan and Travis for the adorable dress !