Gwen at 7 & a Half Months

I think I say this every time I post about Gwen, but I honestly can’t believe how quickly time is going. Over seven months already??? HOW. It feels like this was just yesterday:

… but that tiny baby is all grown up and probably weighs 20 pounds now (her last weigh-in was about five weeks ago and she was 18lbs3oz).

She’s very tall, very strong, and a very physical baby. She’s kind of a daredevil- she loves being startled, thrown into the air, and when the dogs jump over her (although not necessarily ON her, especially on her face with scratchy dog claws).

Gwen has no interest in rolling from her front to her back, and barely any in sitting up on her own (she can balance while sitting up now though). The only thing she is interested in is travelling around the house at high-speed and also backwards. She gets up on all fours (hands & knees or sometimes hands & feet) and rocks back and forth, and she’s started pulling her knees forward when she’s rocking she hasn’t yet figured out that she has to move her hands forward as well. For a second last weekend I thought she might be going forwards, so I put a line of tape on the floor so I would be able to tell more easily, even if it was just one inch.

It didn’t work out like I hoped.

She did once launch herself forward to grab a toy, but it was more throwing her body in desperation than crawling. She can turn around, and will go around obstacles or move into a parallel position to scoot alongside something. She does still get stuck under furniture, but it doesn’t happen as often as it used to.

So far the baby-led weaning has been an exercise in futility. She is getting better at picking things up and putting them in her mouth- just not food.


If I could find a way to make food look more like a smartphone I think I’d have more luck, but as it is I can only get her to eat solid food if I break it into teeny tiny pieces and pop them in her mouth, and even then 90% of it gets spat out. The one food I have had luck with is yogurt, which is great but also annoying because spooning mush into a baby is so flipping tedious.

She loves it though. I’ll probably start making her some baby food to help her get used to different tastes and textures and then try the blw again when she has better hand dexterity. I’ll also probably buy her a toy smartphone so she stops trying to devour mine, geez.

Gwen is still the best, most chill baby. Sure, she has her moments of frustration and anger where she cries and fusses, but it’s usually just when she gets stuck under the furniture, or can’t sleep, or is lonely. She still loves bathtime, she’s still a good sleeper (although her schedule has been messed up a couple days this week, leading to her refusing to go to sleep at bedtime, or treating bedtime like naptime and waking up after an hour). She loves hanging out with us, grabbing our faces and slobbering all over us, cuddling on the couch or in bed, or sitting on my lap and mashing the keyboard when I’m at my desk. She loves whatever her big sister does and she’s more obsessed with dogs than ever. She’s just the best, really.

PS if you need more Gwen in your life follow me on instagram since I pretty much just post pics (and now videos!) of her and also dogs.