Eight Months Old

I am obviously behind on posting BabyGirl's monthly updates but better late than never I suppose!

-E got her first cold this month. It lasted a long ten days and we were all glad when she was feeling better!

-She began reaching her arms out when someone reaches for her...only if it's someone she wants holding her though!

-She is a little more reserved with her smiles than she used to be. She has to check things out before she relaxes a little bit.

-BabyGirl moved up to a big girl carseat this month. Mommy cried. She is growing up too fast!

-She slept through the night for the first time this month! She'd been sleeping 6 hour stretches at night, eating once when all of a sudden one morning I woke up at 7am and shot out of bed to check on her and there she was, sound asleep! However, we left for vacation this same day and her sleep habits since then have left something to be desired. 

-She nurses about every 4 hours and usually falls asleep nursing. She takes 2-3 naps each day and eats solids three times a day. 

-She is beginning to enjoy finger foods. This month she tried banana and green beans. She loves her some food!

-She rolls and army crawls all over the place.

-She still wears a size 2 shoe and can wear clothes sized anywhere from 6 to 12 months. 12 months are mostly too big but she's worn some so that we can get as much wear as possible out of them!

-We still have not left BabyGirl in the church nursery or with a babysitter other than Grandma. One day we will get there...and this is actually an area I have really thought and prayed about and for me, as well as BabyGirl's personality, I decided that we're not ready yet. I believe that our culture pushes mommy's to leave their babies sooner than necessary...but don't get me started on that! 

-She finally enjoys eating fruit. I used to have to water it down quite a bit or add lots of oatmeal before she'd eat it without gagging, shivering, or acting like she was eating something sour.

-Her favorite things to play with are pens, cell phones, anything crinkly, paper, her binky clip....and pretty much anything else that is not a toy!

-She is the smiley-est little thing! She is very quick to flash a huge grin at anyone she knows well but others aren't so fortunate! She is very inquisitive when we are out and about, watching and looking, taking everything in. She will often raise her hand up from the stroller or grocery cart wanting to touch my or Daddy's face. Once she's reassured that we are right there, she'll go right back to checking things out.

-We are learning that we have to keep things very neat and tidy because she is into EVERYTHING. There have been a couple instances where if we weren't sitting right there, she could have seriously choked on random things that the average naked eye would never spot!

-She still does NOT allow Mommy to leave the room unless Daddy is in there with her. For this reason, both Mommy and BabyGirl are very happy to see Daddy walk through the door every evening!

-We ordered ribs one night at a restaurant and decided to let BabyGirl gnaw on a bone. She LOVED it! She "mm-mm-ed" the whole time, flipping it from end to end chewing away. When I took it from her, she stared at it and then CRIED! This was the first time she really let us know that she wasn't happy with something. I gave it back to her and she was tickled pink. Yet another instance of our baby's personality shining through...VERY determined and dare I say, strong-willed. 

-She babbles all day long, constantly saying, "huh," waiting until we repeat her. She'll play this all day long. She especially does it in the car, making sure we're still there I think. She can see us through her mirror attached to the seat of the van. She'll repeat "huh" over and over until we look at her and then she'll smile as big as she can and turn her face into the side of her car seat. 

-She is very ticklish and has been ever since I can remember. 

-BabyGirl has always loved bath time. She's beginning to notice the water and likes to splash intentionally now, rather than just randomly...but she is not a fan of water getting in her face.

Words can not express our love for EK. We will forever be in awe that God gave us such an amazing, miraculous gift. This month was BUSY! We have learned to take advantage of every single opportunity with BabyGirl because it just goes by too fast. She changes so much every day! What a blessing she is to us. 

-Megan