Life as a New Mom: More Sit-Ups and Less Spit-Ups

MAJOR weekend for my now seven-month-old daughter, Dolores: she's sitting up and never, ever shutting up. It's great!Dolly has been able to sit unassisted for short periods of time for the past month or so. We were playing in her room Sunday and out of nowhere--BAM--she's sitting up like a big girl with ZERO help from Mommy!

This may seem like NBD to most people, but it's HUGE for me--and any parent. Until you have a baby, you never think about the crazy amount of motor skill mastery it takes to do something as simple as sitting up. In seven short months, my girl has gone from a floppy little newborn who needed head support at all times to a giggly, wiggly girl who can sit up on her own.

It's amazing to see her grow before my eyes. I was watching some old videos of her this weekend and was, like, completely blown away at how much she's changed. She doesn't even look like the same kid. Seriously. You saw that video above of her playing tug-of-war with her dad? Check this one out--taken just five days after she was born, the day she came home from St. Vincent's Hospital.

DAAAAAAANG. I am sure all parents feel the same way about their children, but I had NO IDEA until Dodo* made her way into my life. She eats baby food; she can drink from a sippy cup all on her own--a far cry from the tiny kiddo who could barely get down two ounces of milk without spitting it back up. I can't keep up with how fast she's growing.

*Dolly's other nickname is Dodo. I volunteered at the St.Jude Radiothon for our sister stations 92.9 WTUG and 95.3 The Bear in January, and I met another volunteer who was a  member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority. She and the rest of the TriDelts were oohing and aaahing over Dolly's pics. When I told her that my daughter's name was Dolores, she informed me that her grandmother's name was Dolores but everyone called her Dodo. I was like, Dodo? LOL, until it came out by accident a day or two later--and stuck. Looks like Dolly had better get used to being called Dodo...

Dolly is a chatterbox, too. She is CONSTANTLY babbling, and I love every moment of it. The video below was taken after I walked into her room the other morning. She's always babbling to me... and it's such an incredible feeling to know she's starting to verbally communicate with me.

I also think it sounds as if Dodo is saying, "Hi" and "I love you!" in this video. YOU CANNOT CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE.

She's seven months now, which means I only have a "baby" for five more (according to this stupid Dreft commercial that makes me BAWL). I am already planning her birthday party, but that is another post... and a possible intervention. This party's gonna be ridic. God help my bank account.