Tomorrow the girls will be 7 months old. It's been awhile since I wrote much about the girls' individual, unfolding personalities. The reason is that I'm unexpectedly reticent to put much of their lives on the Internet. Blogging has its consequences, one of which is the loss of privacy. I'm not sure that this next generation will thank the mommy bloggers. I've been thinking about a post Krissy wrote for How Do You Do It?, in which she asked "at what point does [blogging] cross the line?" and whether the next generation will say "we were always too busy multitasking to truly pay attention?".
So although I had registered a new blog for Ivy and Nina before they were born, with the intention of using it as a family-accessible blog, I've never posted to it and probably won't ever do so. I email pictures to friends and relatives or post them on Facebook. I don't do the latter very often because some of my Facebook contacts are experiencing infertility and Facebook sometimes seems more like "Mombook" as it is.
With that disclaimer, here are some details about the girls at 7 months.
Nina is a very tactile baby. Since her first month, she has loved to touch fabrics, skin, etc., and now she is grabbing everything in sight, including my hair, and trying to put it in her mouth. She laughs when she is held face to face, and she kicks and wiggles in our arms when she is especially excited. She trashes her crib like a rock star in a hotel room. She likes to be outside and is calmed by fresh air and the outdoors. Nina is half an inch taller than Ivy but sometimes seems longer because she so often stretches and points her feet, then circles them one way and then the other, which I call "Ninalates." She likes to coo and babble, and she is extremely fond of a little stuffed turtle that hangs on the toy bar of her bouncer, as well as a cat face-shaped board book. She clings to us more than Ivy does and isn't as comfortable being passed around a group of people. Sometimes she has nightmares. Her eye color continues to darken and sometimes looks brown, but I think it might remain hazel. Nina's eyes are almond shaped and fringed by dark, thick lashes, and her mouth is wide and rather sensual; sometimes her lower lip is tucked in questioningly to one side. Her hair is coming in light-brown, and her complexion is olive.
Ivy is quite observant. She studies objects and is interested in the Baby Einstein sign language DVD. Truth be told, she is interested in ALL Baby Einstein DVDs, especially the puppet shows, and she seems to have an early sense of humor, judging from the way she laughs at the puppets' jokes. (She also boos critically at some dull scenes in one DVD, such as the English/French/Mandarin/Spanish "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Bring back the puppets!) She has a megawatt smile and the bawdiest barroom laugh I've ever heard in a baby. She is crazy for "I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" and lately screams with delight when I read a rhyming bunny book to her. I call her my little hop-frog because she loves to kick and jump. She likes to put her hands in her mouth after receiving a spoonful of food and suck the food from her fingers and sleeves. Ivy has a darling little Reese Witherspoon-like chin, a marvelous cupid's-bow mouth (which is going to look awesome in red lip gloss), chubby cheeks, porcelain skin, and bright blue eyes with Bette Davis eyelids, which she gets from D.'s family. Her blonde hair sticks straight up from her head. She has gone from being nearly 3/4-pound lighter at birth to being 3 ounces heavier than Nina!
Both babies worship Sadie, especially like to be carried down the stairs, rock the hell out of their bouncers (sometimes watching each other and then bouncing in union), and are interested in each other. They seem to understand that they have to take turns. Developmentally, they aren't superstars with the big milestones, but they are on track (rolling over, reaching and transferring with hands, sitting up partly assisted, responding to her name, etc.) and the pediatrician says they're doing great. Everyone tells me what good babies they are, and it's true that they are pretty easy-going and good humored. Lucky parents are we!