7 months of Hazel.

Something about Hazel turning 7 months makes me feel all the things! I hung onto calling her 6 months old until the very last day, because turning the corner on the halfway mark makes it seem like she's basically already one!! Although, even if I do feel all the mom-emotions about it, I have to say this is shaping up to be my favorite age so far. In weird moments that only a mother could love, earlier this week she was constipated and she was so cuddly and needy of me. She wanted to be held until things (ahem, poop) ended up happening, and I didn't mind one bit!

Development/Milestones: She's been confidently sitting up all month and seems really interested in reaching for things. We're wondering if she'll be on the move with crawling / scooting soon, although it seems a few weeks away. She's very social and alert, and she recently learned how to clap on command. Her hand eye coordination is also super impressive - she doesn't miss an opportunity to pick up things nearby!

Eating: She's getting much better at eating her solids, although she still doesn't seem to love the veggies. We're working on it! Her favorite foods seem to be pears and oatmeal with mixed fruit. 

Sleeping: Still sleeping like a champ! I can't say it enough, we're SO grateful.

Likes and Demeanor: Her favorite thing right now is a little yellow ball that she loves to shake and teethe on. She also seems to really love Aaron and I right now - she's always SO happy to see us and it makes our hearts melt on the regular. As far as demeanor, she's all around a very content and happy baby. She really only fusses toward the end of the day when she's tired, and now that we know her well enough we're able to avoid it most days.

San Juan, Puerto Rico.

When I hopped on JetBlue a few weeks into the new year and saw that we could get round trip tickets with our points to Puerto Rico, I jumped at the opportunity. Knowing that we typically get the itch for some kind of "spring break" come March, it seemed like perfect timing to take a quick vacation. The best part about Puerto Rico - no passport required! It felt like one less thing to worry about when traveling with Hazel, as we thought through all the logistics and timing. Since this was our first time traveling with a baby (other than my sister-trip to Waco, TX), we went in with realistic expectations of how much relaxing we'd get to do, and kind of treated it as an experiment vacation. As usual, Hazel exceeded all our expectations and was just as go with the flow as she is in our normal life. While we didn't read as much of our books as we would have hoped, we had such a wonderful time away as family and felt absolutely spoiled staying at The Condado Vanderbilt Hotel. Most of our days were spent lounging by the infinity pool, and enjoying our oceanfront balcony. We also had a lovely outing in Old Town San Juan, which surpassed our expectations as well. We headed off the beaten path, and found some of the less tourist-traversed areas which were all so beautiful. We also discovered an amazing craft beer bar which was run by a couple who used to work at a bar in New York City - on the block where we lived, no less! All in all, we had such a fun time soaking up sun as a family (with plenty of sunscreen!), and hope to make a trip back someday!

Hazel's Baptism and First Easter.

We had such a sweet day of celebration yesterday as Hazel was baptized on her very first Easter. We were surrounded by our families as Aaron's dad baptized our sweet baby in front of the congregation that has been a meaningful part of our lives since day one of dating. We celebrated afterward with lunch at Aaron's parents cute house, and felt so loved as our families joined together for this most important Sunday. Our prayer for our baby girl is that she would come to know Jesus as her Savior and lead a joyful and faithful life following Him.