I’M SEVEN MONTHS!
Height: Baby Tall (TBD)
Weight: Baby Thin (TBD)
Wow! It has been a jam-packed, fast-paced month. I think the holidays always tend to make you feel that way. It’s like once Halloween arrives and it over, Thanksgiving flies by and then it’s suddenly Christmas. This is by far my favorite time of the year (Join the club, right?), and I can’t wait until McKenna is old enough to understand some of the magic of the holidays – apart from just how fun it is to bang on and climb all over the presents under the tree. McKenna has grown from 6-months to 10-years-old over night. Okay, so she really hasn’t aged that much, but all of the milestones we’ve hit in the last 4 weeks has made it feel like it! She passed the 7-month mark on Sunday, Dec. 14 and has lots to fill everyone in on!… We had our first Thanksgiving. And our first bites (or finger-fulls) of mashed potatoes. (Naturally, we loved them.) 
And our first turkey coma. 
We’ve learned how to tell someone we’re hungry. This fussing bit normally starts when she knows she’s about to eat (aka she sees you preparing her food) but is her way of telling you you’re not going fast enough. Some people might think my “teasing” is mean in this video, but I can assure you she is – already – totally faking and cracks smiles in between those fusses constantly because she thinks she is so funny (which, she is because she’s so cute). When she’s not fussing for her food, she’ll often kick her feet and pant like a dog in anticipation. Somebody has her dad’s appetite. 
We’re lucky Rigs is good at sharing. 
We’ve started pulling ourselves up and standing. It used to be that I couldn’t get her to sit still in her jumper or highchair without fussing because all she wanted to do was crawl. Now I can’t get her to crawl because all she wants to do is pull herself up onto… Well, anything really. From the ottoman or couch to her storage bench and even the wall (I’m not kidding, we’ve got a Spidergirl on our hands), nothing is off limits. Of course, what goes up, must come down, and when she doesn’t settle down nicely (she’s still working on mastering that technique) she often takes a pretty quick Boom! to the butt or back. She always takes it like a trooper though… I haven’t seen her cry yet! This girl has no fear. (In fact, sometimes I think she does it for the thrill… Adrenaline junkie like her parents.) 
With our runny nose and mild fever last week came our first tooth! I have been waiting for this tooth for 5 months. McKenna started drooling incessantly at such a young age that I thought for sure she was following in my footsteps and would start teething at 4 months. But here she was, getting her first tooth 2 days before she turns 7 months old, and reminding me that she can do things at her own pace and to stop rushing things. 
We were also in our first parade. We represented the company I work for, a Green Pro Certified pest control company in Tampa, in the Rough Riders Holiday Parade through downtown Tampa. It was a beautiful, cool day and McKenna and I rode in the bed of the truck with the other kids and tossed out candy and beads. Tampanians love their beads. 
McKenna is still the happiest of babies (with a few tears of course… It wouldn’t be normal without them). Often times she’s quiet and observant – but never too good to crack a smile – which makes me think she’s an old soul. We’ll see if I’m right. On other days, however, we get this super goofy, shrieking (in a good way), giggly baby girl… Those moments I love!
And the outtakes… 
Our Little "Whoops!" 