8 Months

Height: 28.5 inches

Weight: 19.5 pounds

My sweet girl, what a fun month it has been watching you start to explore your surroundings! You are a girl on the move (and it's getting much more difficult to get your traditional, sitting monthly picture).

Although, I have to admit, I love these outtakes even more because they perfectly depict your spunky little personality. I could just eat you up. I seriously wish I could freeze time right now because it's such a fun stage! We even share the same excitement over a trip to Target (I hear you Izzy-girl, look at that empty aisle)!

You are an expert crawler and are also getting the hang of cruising around furniture. Just today, you figured out how to climb up stairs! There's no stopping you!

In other developmental news, you're starting to babble more. We hear da-da quite a bit, but you seem to call everyone that, so I don't think you've attached meaning to it yet (although I swear you say it every time you see daddy when he gets home from work). You also have just started to wave- it's not super coordinated, but we can totally tell what you're trying to do. I will have to get it on video before next month's post. You have also started to shriek at the top of your lungs as a form of communication. It's become a game that you and your brother play- you shriek and then he shrieks and then you both giggle (while I plug my ears). KG even joins in the fun sometimes and starts howling... (Have I mentioned that our house is a circus).

You started some finger foods this month, too, which you just love! I think peas are your favorite. You've also had some green beans, potatoes, cauliflower, cottage cheese, and various bits and pieces of anything soft that we're having for dinner. (You really liked my chicken pot pie). You still don't have any teeth, but you seem to be pretty proficient at gumming foods. You're also getting faster and more accurate delivering food from your hand to mouth (instead of grabbing a fistful and dropping most of what you picked up, you can now pick up a piece with your thumb and pointer finger and put it in your mouth). Meal time is filled with squeals of delight and lots of pounding on your tray for more!

Sleep has become somewhat more organized over the past month. It hard to get you into a solid routine because we're often out and about with your brother's various activities, but thankfully you sleep really well in the car. These days you go to bed around 8pm and sleep until 8am (when I usually have to wake you up so you can nurse before we bring Jax to preschool). Most nights you wake up once (around 2 or 3am) to eat and go right back to sleep, but sometimes you put up a fight. AND, every once in a while, you sleep a full 8-10 glorious hours in a row!! I'm hoping to see more and more nights like that in the near future- I feel like a new woman after getting a nice stretch of uninterrupted sleep. Your naps are getting a little longer now, too. You typically take two or three, 1-2 hours naps a day (depending on your previous night's sleep).

In other news, a new library opened in our little downtown area at the beginning of the month. It's awesome and has become a weekly activity for us!

The weather has slowly, but surely been getting nicer, which means we've been able to get out for more walks and trips to the park. You love riding in the stroller (probably because you have your own personal little entertainer standing right in front of you).

You've tried out the swing a few times, too, and had a blast!

You had your first trip to the Minnesota Zoo this month, as well. You loved watching the fish and the bears!

We even ventured out to the Arboretum one evening so Jax could run off some energy exploring in the woods (while I took pictures of you)...

...at least I convinced him to join you for one.

He really is the best brother a girl could ask for. He loves you so, so much! He turned four this month and, in planning his birthday party, he wanted to make sure that you were invited. He even said that he would always invite you to his birthday parties- how sweet is that?! Gives me tears!

We are about to celebrate another first holiday with you- Easter! In preparation, we went to see the Easter bunny yesterday (and to celebrate the first day of Spring). I thought you would be terrified of him. Boy was I wrong!

Happy 8 months, sweetheart!

Love, Mom