Bethany - Seven Months.

Bethany being six months old has been, without a doubt, the most amazing period of her life so far. She's learned so many things in a short amount of time. The weekend we went to Florida she learned how to clap and blink. We don't see much blinking any more, but the clapping continues, and is beyond precious. (Of course, I might be biased.) Here she is, immediately post-clapping. You can see the glee. ;)
We've had the opportunity to see lots of friends this month. Kenzie (above) is the daughter of our dear friends Erik & Naomi. Kenzie is a big Bethany fan, and worked hard to help her sit still for this picture. She also tried to help Bethany learn to dance. Let's just say we're still working on that particular skill set.
Uncle Dr. T. was in Atlanta for a wedding, and we got to spend a bit of time with him one evening. Bethany loved to look at him and smile at him, but this is about as close as she wanted to get. Bethany has now met almost all of the Tulane crowd, so the three slackers (ahem, Bear, Wascom, & Raegen) need to get their act together and come visit!!
Our little girl is a stander-upper. She's liked this for a long time, but now she's to a point where she can support most of her weight without collapsing while we hold her. This is fine, except when we need her to sit in our laps and all she wants to do is stand. She does not handle disappointment well, and generally lets everyone in the vicinity know that we are refusing to meet her standing needs.
To celebrate our nation's independence, Bethany decided to become an independent sitter. She's pretty good at it, and still has the occasional head-bonk. Combining clapping and sitting might just be her favorite hobby.
(I just love this picture.) Bethany's favorite part of Goodnight Moon is "the quiet old lady whispering hush." She thinks it's spectacular, and usually gives us a big smile, then goes about her business trying to eat the book.
Baby pool = massive failure. Enough said.
Aunt Julie & Aunt Melissa came up to Atlanta to take some of Bethany's six month portraits. We were SO glad to see them, and the portraits are gorgeous, as per usual. You can see those here and here. We are forever grateful to have friends like the two of them. :)
Since BEB has become a sitter, bathtime has gotten more interesting. This is the day she first realized she could sit up in her whale tub. You can guess how she's feeling. The slobber is just a bonus for you.
More friends! This was a great day. :) Two of my friends from Macon, Laura & Jenn, brought their daughters, Susanna & Allie, to play with Bethany. They are a bit older, but Bethany was entranced by them, and just could not figure out what she was supposed to do. It was probably the calmest I've ever seen her. Here are Susanna & Allie in Bethany's room - the group would not cooperate to get a good picture of all three girls.
And the (terrible) family shot - more fun to look at the camera than at the mirror, I'm afraid.

Phew. I'm exhausted just reliving all this. Maybe next month we'll have a tooth to show you!