Adventures in Baby Waiting: Your eighth month!

Dear Madelyn,

You, my dear, are going to crawl any day now! It is so exciting watching you pull up on furniture and your big toys. I have seen you pivot, pull to your knees and you even attempted to pull up to stand once! I caught it on tape and I also caught the fall on tape too! You were just fine. We have learned to laugh at falls instead of fretting over them! I am eager for you to start crawling and exploring your world but at the same time I am a little fearful of the new freedom you will have and what that will mean for your Daddy and me! You also started talking this month! It's been so exciting and I am still falling more and more in love with you and your cuteness. I am constantly cupping your little face and telling you how much I love you and how wonderful I think you are. You truly are amazing. You are going to do wonderful things in this world.

Here are your updates this month!

Teeth: Two! You are chewing on everything so we are expecting more any week now!

Sleep: Since we got back from Florida you have been an awesome sleeper. You are taking three naps a day.

Food: We are working on chunkier foods. I minced up some mixed veggies for you and mixed them with rice and you ate them all. They included carrots, green beans and corn. You are loving your fruits, especially peaches and apple sauce. I sent some extra apple sauce to your school this morning because your appetite has been so great I wanted to make sure you had more to eat if you wanted it. You love cheerios and we are trying to introduce you to the sippy cup which you don't understand at all yet. You think it's a toy and play with it and chew on the handles instead of the mouth piece.

Sitting Up: You are sitting and reaching and pivoting! You have started to pull up and crawling will be any day now. You love to sit in front of your mirror and look and talk at your self. You are seeing toys out of your reach and really reaching for them to the point we think you will fall but you usually catch yourself.

Crawling: Any day now you will be a crawler. Right now you army crawl backwards and fast too! I can set you down and you will army crawl backwards in no time at all! You are staying on your knees a little longer when we put you on all fours but you usually go to your belly and whine a little and even take little rest breaks putting your head down while army crawling.

Sign Language: We are working on "please" and "more" and "all done". Miss Judy is working on this with you at school too.

Talking: Okay, okay, I admit it. I wanted you to say "da-da" first because I thought it would be funny if in the mornings you yelled "da-da" and then I would be able to sleep in! I have been getting up close with you and saying "DA-DA" and it worked! You say "Da-Da" now...but, you don't know what it means! So that is next! I need to get you to know who "Da-Da" is! You have started combining consonants with vowels and talking as opposed to cooing and screaming.

Shoes: We got you a lot of shoes for the fall and winter. You didn't really wear shoes all summer long so now that we are putting little socks and shoes on your feet, you are not liking them. You know exactly how to rub your feet back and forth to get them off quickly! I even bought the shoes that supposedly stay on babies feet with no luck. I get to school every day and there you are with no shoes on. I pick them out of your cubby hole each afternoon. I was so excited to these shoes too! They are so cute!

We done some other shopping too. Here you are shopping on Main Street In St. Charles. It was chilly out and the shops are all little houses.

General Temperament: Fiesty and sweet all at the same time. You stand when I place you in your car seat, refusing to bend your legs and screaming. Then I give you a toy while I buckle you in and you are ready to ride!

Night time Routine: Easy Schmeezy. 7:15 - 7:45 at the latest. Lately, you have been taking a nap from 5:45 - 6:45 and still going to bed right on time!

Playtime: You have a lot of block toys and rings and balls you love to play with.

Weight:

At birth: 7lbs 1 oz

2 weeks: 7 lbs 9 oz.(25th percentile)

2 months: 11.14 lbs (79th percentile)

3 months: 13.15 lbs

6 months: 19 lbs (91st percentile)
7 months: 21 lbs
8 months: 21 lbs

Length:

At birth: 20.25 inches

2 weeks: 19 3/4 inches (26th percentile)

Not sure how you shrunk since birth!

2 months: 22.75 inches (67th percentile)

3 months: Not sure
6 months: 27.8 (94th percentile)

7 months: Not sure
8 months: XXX

Diaper Size:

Size 3/4 .

Clothes Size:

9 month outfits! Some 6-12 and some 12 month!

Hair Color:

At birth: dark brown

2 months: light brown

3 months: lighter brown
4 months: dirty blonde - so beautiful! Mommy is jealous!
6 months: Blonde
7 months: Blondy!
8 months: Blonde. Like gold strands. So pretty.

Eye color:

At birth: dark blue

2 months: blue

3 months: lighter blue
4 months: the prettiest blue I have ever seen. Your Daddy says your eyes are prettier than his! Now that's something!
6 months: Blue
7 months: Blue/gray
8 months: bright blue

Firsts-
Babbling and talking/immitating- You said "da-da". That was your first word! "Ma-ma" came later.

Pivoting while sitting.

Pulling up

Cheerios

Paying attention to books

First time in the sand/at the beach

First time at a biker bar

First time on a motor cycle

First beer?

The second half of your trip to Florida was fun.

You and GG Shirley had a great bond.

My favorite picture from the trip to Florida.

Your Daddy loves you so much!

Sand? You didn't like it...AT ALL. You cried and wanted to be picked up!

A special moment for us. Daddy and I were married here with GG Shirley as our only witness. Now, we have you!

Daddy took all of your baths with you since we didn't have a sink big enough and a tub small enough...

I LOVE keys!

Hanging out with GG Shirley...

After your 8 month birthday we went to Mimi and Markie's house. We celebrated by going to a biker bar called Buffalo Chips. Mark entertained us with beer bottle music...