7 months {Jessica}

Well, this post is WAY late! I didn't even do an actual 7-month photo shoot this time, but I did happen to bring out the camera a few weeks ago when we were enjoying beautiful weather on a Sunday afternoon. It totally counts... ;) I guess that just goes to show you how busy our lives have been in the last little while. I've increased to 8 voice students, Michael's been doing lots of fun rides on his road bike, I'm running more, and we're now getting back into the DIY craze. Yeah, we couldn't keep away for long!

But, this is the good stuff. Michael and were just talking about how much we LOVE this phase of life. It's full of lots of demands, but we are so blessed to be comfortable, to have our needs and many of our wants, and we enjoy every single day with our girl. She brings such fulfillment into our lives and I think it's safe to say we are happier for having her here with us! Onto what this post is about...our girl.

 She is loving the swing that Grandma and Grandpa Black gave to her. What cute little feet she has. You can see where she's been moving around a lot on the carpet and gave herself a bit of a rug burn. But, it doesn't phase her. That girl loves to go!

 Her expression is totally saying, "Daddy, this is fun...but a little scary at the same time. Is it okay for me to enjoy this whole swinging thing?"She then giggled profusely a few minutes after this picture.

 The 3 previous pictures are ones that perfectly describe her. Always looking around and assessing the situation. Learning about and exploring her surroundings. She's a very observant little girl and really likes to watch people and things. I wonder if she gets that quality from me?

 And a smile for good measure! Because this girl smiles all. the. time. She's such a happy baby as we are constantly told.

Exciting updates:
Jessica is now a pro-roller! She uses it to get everywhere. If she sees something across the room that she wants, she will roll over and over until she gets to it. I am not allowed to accidentally leave my phone on the floor anymore!

She is also very good at pivoting on her stomach and turning herself around with her arms and legs.

The other day, after I changed her diaper and sat her up, Jessica saw something in front of her that she wanted. So, she started to reach for it, and next thing I new, she was on hands and knees! All these things...she's building her crawling skills. It's only a matter of time!

She does what we like to call her "parlor trick". Anytime her mouth is open and we put our finger to it, then move it up and down, she'll start saying "ahhhh" just to make the fun sound that results. Every time, without fail.

She continues to be a great little talker, but the prompt "dadada" is what will make her start talking anytime I say it. I've tried "mamama" and "bababa"(as she likes to say those consonants too), but she seems to only want to start talking on command when I say "dadada". Cute!

Jessica is still without teeth and for that I am grateful (purely from a nursing perspective). She has given me what the baby/nursing community likes to call "niplash" (TMI?!?) too many times to count. That's enough for me right now!

She's very used to my voice students singing during lessons, and I'm so proud of her. The mother of one of my students says that Jessica's eyes get really big every time her daughter or I start to sing during lessons. 

Jessica has started smiling at me when I sing directly to her and in full voice. It makes me so proud because I can tell she really loves it and is on her way to being a lover of music like her mommy! I'm so glad she doesn't cry at my full-voice singing anymore like she did when she was brand new.

Her stranger danger is basically non-existent from what we can tell! Our trip to Rochester really did her a lot of good, I believe. Yay!