Sand exploration

I was a little hesitant to put E in the sand. Partly because I was worried she would grab a handful and immediately shove it in her mouth, or worse, her eyes. But I wanted to try. She actually only put her hand in her mouth once - and took it out just as quickly. She loved raking her hand in the sand making a pattern in the ocean-smoothed beach. She also liked slapping down a shell to make unique imprints in the sand. She was so into what she was doing, I could not even get her to look up for a quick 7-month pic. I guess that is exactly how you want them to be. So enthralled in exploring that they are tuned out to what is happening around them. The strong wind that day muted all sound except an occasional audible splash from the ocean. She didn't smile, didn't look to me for reassurance. She seemed to know exactly what to do.

Self feeding

When I told E's doctor at her 6 month appointment that we were going to encourage self-feeding he sort of chuckled and said, "um no, she won't be able to do it". Well here Mr. Doc, here is a picture of my 6 month old feeding herself:

I do feed E most of the time, but encourage her to feed herself when she is interested.

She also drinks from a glass (with me holding it). I imagine this is not too impressive and actually quite common for breast fed babies. E won't touch a bottle, sippy, or anything resembling anything other than a cup. She will close her lips tight and turn away. She will however drink from anything I drink from which actually has me wondering if I should start drinking from a sippy...