This past month has been a blur with settling into the new
school year, a lot of new makeup job opportunities, and P becoming much more
mobile! I find myself being slightly surprised and sad at how fast 8 months have
gone by. In the beginning, you have this tiny little baby and you are
overwhelmed by the thought of taking care of them alone. The days seem to creep by. Now,
I feel that the days, weeks, and months are flying by at break neck speed and I
am struggling to keep up with the pace.
My sweet little (err—BIG) baby girl is growing and changing
so much every day. It seems like she is doing something new each day, and life
is a bundle of exciting moments strung together. In her 8th month of
life P has become the master of sitting up. She can now lean all the way down
while sitting to pick up an object—without falling over. She can reach back and
to both sides to grab a toy that she wants without losing any stability. This
seems like such a small thing—but it is really cool to us. We are not AS
concerned about her falling and bonking her head as we were a month ago. She
can also go from a sitting position to all fours and belly down, or what you
might see as “crawling position.” She can only stay in this position for a
little while before she falls on her belly.
Once on her belly she can go in every direction—except forward.
Baby girl can spin herself around in circles. She can back herself under the
Pack N Play and crib. She can also easily roll now from belly to back and then
back to belly. This is a skill that took 8 full months to develop. P is hitting
these developmental milestones at the top end of the average time frame. I
guess homegirl is a perfectionist because by the time she does it—it is
SEAMLESS. It’s almost as if she game plans for each new milestone. I think she
may be a little stubborn or OCD. I am not surprised in the slightest as her
parents have these qualities as well.
P loves the animals in our home, and they tolerate her. She
loves to sit on the floor next to the cat and pet (pull) Finder's hair. Finder is the sweetest animal alive and I do not worry
that she will claw P—despite the fact that P does everything in her power to
make Finder want to. P loves to pull the cat’s tail to her mouth and tries to
bite it. She loves to pet her furry back. She squeals with delight when Finder
walks by her. Then there is our dog, Callie. Callie dislikes Piper pretty strongly. She
does not shy away from showing her lack of affection. If Callie is on the couch
and we sit on that couch with P, then she will move to another couch or the
floor. She only wants to have anything to do with P when she is eating solids and
Callie can lick her pear covered fingers.
I am not sure that there has ever been a happier baby than
mine. P is all smiles and giggles for 95% of her day. It is very rare
for her to throw a tantrum or to act up at all. Yes, I am knocking on wood at
the moment. In the last week she has learned how to clap her hands and she does
it incessantly. Everything in the house these days is worthy of a round of
applause coupled with a huge gummy grin. You cannot help but smile and break
out into laughter when she does it. She is just so smart and I love her so
much.
Speaking of smart, baby P said her first word in her eight
month of life. That word is….Doggy. I know—sad, right? The dog hates her, but
she loves the dog. She smiles, points, and says, “goggy.” We were shocked and
thought that she was surely too young to have said her first real word—but no.
She knows that that is the doggy. Of course, I cried.
For many of you that follow my blogs, you are aware that we
have been struggling with night time sleep for the last two months. TWO. LONG.
MONTHS. I am happy to say that things are a little better, and I feel like we
are turning a corner in the sleep department. We seem to have finally reached a
point where P will eat enough calories to sustain herself throughout the night.
P has decided that bottles are just not her favorite anymore. She prefers to
eat a lot of solid foods. Yes, I know that breastmilk is supposed to be her
main source of nutrition until age 1. What do you want me to say? She won’t
take it. I have had too many days of crying over un-eaten milk—and decided that
if she will eat the solids, then that will have to be good enough. Instead, I
mix my breastmilk into just about everything that she eats. Yeah, I’m a ninja
like that. Mommy –1, P—0. Cue my best evil laugh. She will also take milk out
of a cup with a straw. That is something else she has learned this month. P is
a true southern girl—preferring to drink out of a pink bendy straw. My little P
will eat 9 servings a day of solids, and take anywhere from 15-20 ounces of
milk. Usually a third of that milk is mixed into her food. In the last 7 days she has slept through the
night 5 times. I’m knocking on wood again.
Teething—we STILL don’t have any teeth over here. BUT we are
very close. P is beside herself at bedtime with the pain, and is taking Tylenol
to cope. She is sticking her entire fist in her mouth throughout the day. She
loves to chew on everything and is drooling like crazy. Hopefully those two
bottom teeth will be making their appearance soon so that she can get a little
relief until the top ones make their way in.
Piper loves her Pack N Play. Seriously—she loves it. She
loves to put her face and hands up against the mesh sides. She licks it over
and over. It is quite funny! She still loves the bath. We try to stretch it out
and let her splash for a while. Her favorite toy is still Sophie the Giraffe.
She smiles whenever she squeaks. P has become quite the avid reader. She loves
to try to chew the pages as I read to her. She also loves to watch videos of herself on
the iPad—she’s vain like that. I wonder where she gets it?
We have finally dropped the swaddle and Halo sleeper
completely! YAY! 8 months is a little long by most standards. We had to take
her out of the sleeper because she had ripped a tiny hole at the end and her
toes were getting stuck in it—affecting her sleep. So we have moved to just
footie pajamas at night and onesies during the day for naps. It is going GREAT
so far. Fingers crossed it continues.
So here’s to another
month baby girl! I thank my lucky stars every day that I get to be your mommy,
and that I get to be home with you to enjoy all your pretty smiles. I can’t
imagine what I did all day before I had you to take care of. I enjoy every
first day’s smile and every last kiss goodnight. You are what I always dreamed
you would be and so much more. I can’t believe I am so lucky. I love you
endlessly, forever and ever. As the line from our favorite bedtime story reads,
“Heaven blew every trumpet and played every horn on the wonderful, marvelous,
night you were born.” Happy Birthday sweet P!
Love,
Mommy
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