Month Seven.

Unofficially, I’m a numbers gal. When they appear to come together in perfect arrangement, it makes me happy. Big Red and I got married seven years after we’d begun dating, in the seventh month of the year, in 2007, on Friday the 13^th. Lucille was born in 2013, after Big Red and I had been together for thirteen years. Seven is the number of the natural world. There are seven days in a week, and seven notes on the musical scale. Sheva, the Hebrew word for seven, comes from a root which means complete.

Lucille is seven months old.

This past month has been a tangle of illnesses. Lucy fought a cold for five weeks, and was finally put on Amoxicillin – and it cleared up. Looks like the initial virus turned into a sinus infection. Then she experienced her first vomiting episode at 2 am – and then again at 6 am – on the same day. The poor gal had been sleeping in her own wretchedness, soundly and without complaint. When I went into her room and discovered it all, I was amazed at how far-reaching the projectile nature of her vomit was: through the rails of her crib and down the side of the wall. It was in her hair, on and inside her clothes, and stuck to her face. And the sweet little babe didn’t once protest the filth. Clearly, something in her belly did not agree with her and it needed to go.

Then came the croup. That horrible barking cough that landed us in the ER at 11:30 pm last Saturday. After a visit from the doc, the administration of some Motrin for a mild-grade fever and a dose of steroids, they sent us on our way at a bleary-eyed 3:30 am. Once again, Lucy weathered the evening with smiles for all the docs and nurses. With croup came horrible congestion. Big Red stayed home with her on Monday, and I stayed home with her Tuesday and Wednesday. She was a little crankier than normal, and that razor sharp Mama Bear instinct kicked in. I called the doc and got an appointment that Wednesday morning. They confirmed her right ear was infected and sent us home with a script for Augmentin. We immediately upped her yogurt intake in an effort to ward off the known side-effect of diarrhea, and it appears to be helping.

Her food is so pretty: carrots, beets, asparagus

As of today, 3.5 doses into her medicine, she seems less congested, not bothered by her ear, but still coughing at night – although, thankfully, the barking is gone. Lucille is running the gamut of illnesses that we knew came with the territory of being in daycare. I remind myself that while it sucks to go through this all, she’s building what will be a brick house of an immune system. If anything, these challenges have reminded Big Red and I how lucky we are with this little girl; even in the face of these crappy stints, she remains jovial and charming.

Still no rolling. Lucy can twist her entire body over to the side, but hasn’t quite figured out how to throw her hip over. So close. She is extremely interested in pulling up; when given hands to grasp she will then use her legs to push herself up to a standing position. And while on her belly, she’s getting closer and closer to figuring out how to get those knees under her. She does a variation of an Army crawl backwards – but doesn’t have the hang of moving forward. We’ve also introduced Cheerios during meals. She still does the “raking” maneuver to pick up the O’s, and occasionally will display hints of the “pincer” grasp, but mainly the Cheerios end up on the floor – a bonus for Olive who has consequently become keen to this ritual and now hangs out near the highchair during mealtime. And do I detect a slight change in her eye color? They've been blue since birth, but I'm pretty sure I see some hazel creeping in around the pupil...

There are definite “m” and “b” consonant sounds: mamamama or babababa. Her teachers at school claim that around 4 pm, if we haven’t picked up yet (I usually get her at 3:30), she starts to say “mamamama.” I don’t doubt them, but I don’t believe she’s connected “mama” to me just yet. Lucy also acknowledged her teachers this month, as this week was Teacher Appreciation. “She” gave them these adorable Pinterest inspired gifts.

Mother’s Day is in two days, and I have my fingers crossed that the oft last minute scrambling Big Red will come through…

Despite all the sleepless nights, late nights, puke clean-ups, diaper blow-outs, booger and snot excavation, and sneeze sprays – she still remains my most favorite person on this planet.

Happy seven months, my sweet Lucille.