8 Months!

The coolest new skill is talking!  This last week, Eric said "Heather, come look.. she is moving her jaw up and down."  It is so cool....now saying "hi, dada."  We assume she is putting sounds together, not actually understanding, but still so neat.  Also, to just make us melt even more, she is giving big open mouth kisses to our cheeks.  Amazing.   
But, this weekend her screaming eagle screech has returned.  It arrived one weekend awhile back, went away and is now back! It is not the prettiest sound.

After Christmas we started with consistent sampling of foods.  So far she seems to enjoy all of the different foods.  She made a pretty funny face for broccoli, but has still been eating it.  Blueberries seem to be a favorite as she has been shoveling them in.  Her pincer grasp isn't quite there yet, so she rakes them to the base of her fingers and sticks most of her hand in her mouth to get them.  She tried egg yolk for the first time today.  I found a great "recipe" for roasted pears and bananas....just roast pears and bananas (or just pears)for 25 min. on 400....then puree....delicious!!

About a month ago she started tipping over her toy box and emptying its contents.  All of these toys were once in the box; she's pretty good at flinging them over her shoulder.  This toy basket has since been removed after she had a sharp piece of wood from it fully in her mouth.

No teeth yet.  I thought she was teething about a month ago since she had a rash on her face, but it was really splotchy so we thought maybe a reaction to oatmeal.  I had been keeping track of the foods she was eating and the rash was occurring every time she ate oatmeal.  We have since held off on it and serving barley cereal for now.

I guess she is finished with the pacifier.  We just noticed we hadn't offered it to her in a few days so we decided to just be done with it.  I know the sucking reflex is gone now anyway, so she doesn't need it.  I'm glad I don't have to try to "get her off of it" in the future.  A friend here was saying she took her one-year-old's away and he went and got one of the stuffed animals that had one and put that in his mouth and was crawling around with the toy pacifier and the stuffed animal hanging off of it!  ha ha.    

Bundled up to go for a walk.  

Bundled up to watch Mom shovel.

Carrots!!  I've been letting her feed herself for the most part even though it is very messy.  It's the OT in me, plus she wants to.  We've been having her practice using a regular cup with water at meals.  She is getting better at actually swallowing some and not just lapping the water like a dog.  We've tried a mini-straw, with some sucking action, but not enough to reach her mouth.

She is really enjoying books.  It is so wonderful to have her sit on my lap all snuggled in our bed and she will relax to listen to story after story.  The Going to Bed Book and Moo, Baa, La La La, both by Sandra Boynton, seem to be her favorites and she will turn her head to look at me anticipating certain parts....so cute!!  It's also funny when she clearly is not interested in some books as she starts looking around for a new one.  She now initiates touching the touch and feel books.

She loves to play with zippers and strings on our clothes.  I don't know why they don't make toys that look like lotion or diaper cream because that is all she wants to grab.  Taking dad's glasses off or even Grandpa's off on Skype is a favorite activity.  She is laughing at everything lately and raises her arms to be picked up.   

Loves to splash in the bathtub and now holds her hands out to feel the water pour onto her.  Lately she has been crying post bath; I'm not sure if it's just too cold or if she knows bed time is coming or what.  We've tried earlier bedtime and bigger towels, but no luck so far.  She is still a night owl, often going to bed between 9-11.  Thankfully it has been closer to 9 lately.  She then usually gets up around 1:30 and 6:30 (and sometimes 3:30), but stays sleeping until 8:30 (occasionally 9:30).  She hasn't done a nice 8-9 hours sleeping stretch since she consistently did at four months.  Sleeping seems to be something that changes often depending on what skills they are working on, how their day was, maybe what they ate, if they are hungry, thirsty, gassy, hot, cold, etc, etc, etc.  I've decided not to sweat it.  Luckily I easily fall back asleep myself. 

The other night was crazy as she was up 8 times by 3:30am and then I just had to hold her until morning.  Every time I went to get her she was up on all fours rocking away.  I would pick her up and she would fall back asleep right away.  I promised her I would let her work on crawling the entire next day if she would just go to sleep!!  The next day she performed the move from lying on her stomach to sitting up for for the first time, so I think she was "working" on that the night before.   She did the same thing before she mastered rolling...was up every hour.

 Blueberries!

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Did you say I am 8 months old today?  Are you sure?"