She is a confident sitter now and I can plop her down in one spot, give her a surrounding perimeter of toy options and walk away to do something. Glorious!! I know it only lasts a brief moment, so I am thoroughly enjoying this stage for as long as we have it! She moves quickly to her tummy and will spin in circles, but no crawling yet. She loves to stand, though, (while supported by us) and she will often pull herself up onto things or onto a sitting-on-her-knees position. I have a feeling that she will learn to crawl and then walk the next week! She is SUPER active--holding her is like holding a little monkey that clings and climbs all at the same time! Once she is on the move I am going to be in trouble! So much for getting anything done after that!
Megan is also a chatterbox. She jabbers, sings, screeches, hums and the latest is "Ma-ma-ma-ma!" I tell you what, it sure makes getting out of bed in the morning a lot easier when you hear a joyful little voice on the monitor saying "Ma-ma!" I went from grouchy to melty when I heard that this morning! She loves being with people and just lights up when anyone (especially her brother) gives her attention. She has her fussy moments, but they sure are few and far between and there is such delight for the majority of the day.
Ben and Megan are beginning to be playmates now! Ben has been trying to teach her how to wrestle and play. He will ask to hold her and then fall back on the ground and have her lay on top of him and hold her around her neck or chest and tickle her. She lasts for awhile and humors him, and then wants out of the half-Nelson so she can sit up again. He loves to make her laugh, and she loves it when he does. What inexplicable joy to have your children love each other and have fun together!
Ben has become such a conversationalist lately. John and I have so much fun having real conversations with him. He will ask questions, answer with his own thoughts and opinions, say such funny things (sometimes on purpose to make us laugh!) and loves to point out things we see when we are out and about and then talk about them. One of the typical conversations we have in the car goes something like this:
Ben: "Hey Mommy! I see a BIG truck!"
Me: "I do too! What color is it?"
Ben: "Black! It's like _____'s truck!" (All the people we know who have trucks are famous because of what they drive.)
"Want to see its face?" (He thinks the front of all trucks/cars have a face like the vehicles on "Cars" do.)
Then we guess what is in the truck (if it is a semi), or where it is going. He especially loves buses, motorcycles, dump trucks, diggers and cement trucks. And he notices and points out ALL OF THEM.....wherever we go. My world is all about vehicles. They are in my purse, in my kitchen drawers, in and on every seat in the car. I step on them, find them in my bed, and have to put on an all-out man hunt at least a couple times a day for whatever the favorite car of the day is that happens to be missing. I have shown up late, more than a few times, for something because we HAD to find a certain truck or car. It is a whole new world from what I grew up with, but I am learning, and can say proudly that I can correctly identify things I never even cared before to know. Skid steer, front-loader, excavator....all a part of my repertoire now!
Ben has also started fully into imaginative, independent play. We will hear him acting out little stories with his toys and will have them talking to each other and playing together. It is SO fun to listen and watch! I love seeing his little imagination take flight. He is definitely growing up, and though he does still have his moments (like tonight when we went shopping and the whole store could hear him screaming because the hat he wanted didn't actually fit right), but overall the meltdowns are fewer and he comes out of them easier. He is taking on more control over his attitude and will actually say, "I'm having a good attitude, Mommy! No crying, no whining, no fussing. I'm happy!" Music to my ears!
My absolute favorite, though, is when he wants to talk about God. We talk about how God loves us and wants us to talk to Him (prayer) and that we can tell Him anything. That He is always with us and we don't ever have to be scared because God is super strong and keeps us safe. Usually these conversations end with Ben wanting to give God a hug, which just warms my heart to no end! I hope and pray that he falls head over heels in love with Jesus like we have!
Our days are so full and busy lately, to the point where when we wake up Ben will ask, "where we going, Mommy?" I think part of it is that he just expects to go somewhere, but the other part is that he loves going places! Because if I say we are staying home, he asks to go in the car! The other day we were getting close to bedtime and he said "Mommy, I want to go in the car." I said, "Where do you want to go, Ben?" "Just go," he says. :) That's my boy!
Just before the Megan turned 7 months, I wanted to get some pics of her at this stage. I attempted a mini photo shoot at home.....all by myself......with both kids....while trying to figure out my camera. So it is pretty amazing that I got anything worth sharing! Here are some of my favorites:
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| Notice the progression from this one through the next three....Ready.... |
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| ...set.... |
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| ...takeoff! |
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| And coming in for a crash landing! |
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| My new favorite! |
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| love the face! |
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| Toes in the grass! |
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| So many squishy spots to kiss! |
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| Chubby fingers and toes |
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| "Yay! Did someone say there's a party?!" (she is SO my daughter!) |
