All About Ellen, June & Frances: JEB: 7 Month Old!

Little June is getting SO big! At 7 months old, here's what our little redhead is up to:

"Talking": Junie has started chatting a lot more, making "dada" and "baba" sounds as well as a noise that sounds a little bit like "hi."
Laughing: Our little monkey is still super smiley and always up for a good belly laugh.
Teething ... still: There seem to be lots of teeth just waiting to pop through, but no full-fledged teeth just yet. The tips of June's upper canine teeth are still the only ones that have started to poke through.
Sleeping 12 hours!: June spontaneously slept all night two nights in a row a couple of weeks ago ... Once we knew that she could do it, we decided to help reinforce this behavior. So, no more middle-of-the-night feeding! Woo hoo! June now sleeps about 12 hours at night and continues to take two naps during the day (one at about 9 a.m. and the other at about 1 p.m.).
Eating like a champ: Although we omitted the 2 a.m. snack, June is getting plenty to eat during normal waking hours. I nurse her at about 7 or 7:30 a..m. when she wakes up, then again at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., and once more at about 7 p.m. before she goes to sleep. June also eats solids at approximately 8:30 a.m. (rice cereal or oatmeal), 12:30 p.m. (typically some sort of fruit) and 5:30 p.m. (most often vegetables). June takes at least one jar/pouch of store-bought baby food or 2-3 cubes of homemade food at each feeding. At this point, I think she's had all single foods and is working her way through stage 2 foods like meat/veggies combos. We've also tried whole milk yogurt. June seems to prefer the veggies and meats, unlike Ellen who favored the sweeter fruits. :)
Trying to crawl: JEB has mastered a 360-degree movement on her tummy to get to a toy or other object that is out of her reach. She wiggles her little body and does a bit of an army crawl. She's also been getting up on her knees and rocking back and forth, so full-on crawling is probably right around the corner!
Raking her fingers: June rakes her little fingers on just about every surface (when she does this on her highchair tray it looks kind of like she's playing the piano!). It's super cute and we love catching her doing this. I especially love when she does it to the back of my arm when I'm carrying her. :) This raking motion helps June find and grasp toys, her paci, etc. (I love that she can find and insert her paci all by herself now!)
Sitting up (almost) independently: June has just about mastered sitting up on her own; she still topples over sometimes, but her little body is getting stronger each and every day.
Growing/packing on the pounds: June's chub is still in full effect and we're slowly phasing out the 3- to 6-month clothes in exchange for more 6- to 12-month tops and bottoms. She's also started wearing shoes now that the weather is getting cooler and is currently in a size 2. And, we've officially transitioned to size 3 diapers.

Life with our June Bug gets better and better each day ... Her sweet demeanor and priceless smile make us so incredibly happy and remind us just how lucky we are. xo