Today is Cate’s 7-month birthday. Now when I write these little milestone recaps, I have to go back and read the previous month’s, to make sure I’m not forgetting anything or mentioning something twice. I guess lots of parents probably brag excessively about their children’s accomplishments, and I don’t want to get too redundant. Anyway, Cate’s latest achievements:

* She raises her arms when she wants to be picked up. Which would be quite cute, except she does it all the time. And oh man, my aching back. Girlfriend is heavy.

* She’s still working on those first 2 teeth. You can see them just under the surface, but they have yet to make an appearance. I’m not in any rush for her teeth to come in, since that’s when I’ll have to start her on a fluoride supplement. That’s what happens when you live in the boonies and your water supply is from a well. We have to compensate for what our water is lacking. Fun.

* She’s slightly improving at sitting up on her own. I’ll get her sitting up, let go, she’ll be ok for a few seconds, then she flops over and face-plants on the carpet. It’s sweet, she reminds me of myself after a few margaritas.

* She is a backwards-scooting maniac. Set her down anywhere, and you will find her a minute later several feet, and usually at a 180-degree angle, from where she was. I guess that’s the problem with crawling backwards, it’s hard to stay in a straight line. It’s pretty hilarious to watch. Although half the time, she’ll get up on all fours and start to fuss because she can’t figure out what to do next.

* This has been the month that we’ve really started experimenting with solid food. So far, here’s the tally:
Likes: rice cereal, oatmeal, carrots, sweet potatoes, green beans
Dislikes: peas, yo baby yogurt (!), bananas (!!), and apple juice (!!!)

I find it really odd that she rejects all of the sweet tastes, but I guess that explains why I only craved salty foods when I was pregnant. The apple juice kind of made sense to me – she’s only ever had water in her sippy cup, so when you’re expecting water and you get juice, I’d imagine that’s it quite a shock to the taste buds. So the fact that she spit it out and started to cry seemed like a reasonable reaction. But the bananas and the yogurt? I have no explanation.

We have a new stroller that should be delivered tomorrow (courtesy of my parents, who rock), and I can’t wait because I’m so tired of lugging her around in the Baby Bjorn, and I think this will be much more fun for both of us. Who knows, I might even get over my fear of walking her down the big hill that we live on.