Eight Months Old. We’re 2/3 of the way to a whole year – the best year of my life so far! This is my favorite photo of you right now. You are too much, too happy, too beautiful, too sweet, too silly. I can hardly bear it. It makes me want to go wake you up right now and tickle your tummy.

So, what’s different this month? Our typical day has changed quite a bit in past 6 weeks or so. You are metamorphosing from a baby into a little girl who is very actively engaged in her world. No longer are you content to sit around and watch me. Observation has lost its thrill. It’s all about participation these days. You are usually involved in one of four activities these days. Here’s the breakdown.

Activity #1 = PLAYING

That’s right, you play! And we play with you. I am constantly having to stretch my creative imagination to keep you entertained. You want to touch, taste, experience everything. Last month I was feeling overwhelmed trying to figure out how to transition from having a baby who would lay on my bed and watch me fold laundry or sit in the Bumbo and watch me cook to a baby who needs to be involved in everything. Thankfully, I feel like your Daddy and I have figured you out again and our days are once again manageable…just in time for you to learn how to crawl or walk so we have to re-learn everything again. Hehe. You are so much fun. 🙂

So, how do we play with you? We start off our mornings, after you’ve eaten your fill, like this…

.…, on the floor. I sit next to you (and Daddy usually  joins us if he’s home) and we play with a couple toys at a time and as you grow tired of each one, I add a couple more, and then a couple more, until our living room looks like a toy store after an earthquake. You stare at them, touch them, turn them around and around in your hands, pass them from one hand to the other, put them in your month, drop them, pick up something else, repeat.  You sit completely unassisted now pretty much indefinitely. You only ever fall over if you’re reaching for something reeeeally far away or behind you.

One of your favorite games is something Mima came up with. I take one of your big blocks or a bowl and put 5 or 6 toys in it, including one I know to be a favorite (sometimes a binky works best) at the bottom. And you look for it. You take one toy out at a time and drop them on the floor until you find what you want. You’ll play that game several times before you get bored. Some of your favorites are laying on the floor in front of you, like that purple and orange rattle that you’re reaching for in the picture. You love to chew on that one because you can chew and spin the little wheels with your fingers at the same time. Also, Mr. Monkey, who was your first favorite and still holds your attention. And also that musical dragon at the top of the picture. He has a music box, chewy feet, rings with smaller spinny rings to spin and chew, lots of soft fabric and different textures and a mirror on his underside where a baby who looks just like you likes to hide.

Another favorite toy…

…, kitchen utensils. Your favorite? Wooden spoons. You suck and bang and chew and bang and turn them around and around and bang and suck some more. The is one of the last times you got to sit in your Bumbo. It was a very sad day for me when I finally put it away so that I would no longer be tempted to take the easy – but increasingly dangerous – route. It’s just not safe for you anymore. You have almost popped yourself out of it several times. So regardless of how convenient it is, the Bumbo has been retired. I now strap you in your high chair when we’re in the kitchen. You don’t seem to mind and it only takes a few seconds more to get you settled in.

After you get tired of floor time and utensil time we spend some time STANDING, which you love. I usually prop you up against the ottoman with a few toys in front of you.

You pick them up and drop them over the side then look down at the floor and wonder, “Did I do that?”

I sit behind you or keep a hand at the ready in case you topple over, but it happens less and less frequently. When you have something to hold on to your balance is quite excellent, and you get bored before your legs get tired. I can also turn you around and lean you against the ottoman facing me (with your back resting against the ottoman) and you will stand there and look at me and do a little squat and stand, oopma loompa dance until you eventually lose your balance. You want very badly to step out on your own, but you still haven’t mustered the courage. You will, however, take deliberate steps between two people if we provide supporting balance and there is something you want (jewelry works best) in front of your face.

You will still sit on the couch with me and entertain yourself, but only for a few minutes. You prefer the floor.

Activity #2 = EATING

If you’re not playing, you’re eating. We have a loose routine we follow. When you wake up in the morning, you get Num Nums first thing. Then, we play for a little while followed by breakfast. Breakfast consists of one of your cereals (usually rice or oatmeal) mixed with one of my freezer cubes of something home prepared, usually pears. I know I’m not supposed to sweeten your cereal. Oh well. You truly haven’t given me a hard time about ANYTHING I’ve tried to feed you. You eat green beans, chicken, cheese. Whatever. So, I’m not worried about it. Besides the one freezer cube only very mildly sweetens it. It’s still pretty bland. So, you have a bowl of that (maybe 6 Tablespoons, sometimes less). Then you get fresh fruit. I either make you a smoothie – yesterday I made you a banana/mango/blueberry one – or I strip you down and let you suck on a big hunk of fruit, usually one of the pitted varieties – peaches, nectarines, mangos, plums – or bananas. I cut up a chunk and shove it in your little mesh thingy and let you have at it. You either sit in your high chair or I bring you upstairs and sit you on top of a receiving blanket (so glad I found another use for the 100 or so receiving blankets you have) in your diapers. You have totally figured out how suck all the juice out of whatever I give you, and you enjoy the process immensely. Bathing is required after these events.

This is something new you’ve been doing – raising your arms up above your ears and sucking in your stomach. I’m not sure what it means. Maybe it just feels good. And it’s cute.

Then, for lunch you usually try something new so that we can add to your ever-increasing repertoire of safe foods (one new food usually every 2 or 3 days), and you have some combination of veggies and meat. Lately you’ve been having a chicken stew I made for you out of a couple of chicken thighs, peas, carrots, broccoli, celery, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, rosemary, thyme and sage. I took all the meat off the bone and pureed it with all the veggies cooked in broth and froze it in cubes. I also have the broth separately frozen in cubes to add a little flavor and protein to whatever I happen to be feeding you.

Dinner is usually whatever I have opened in the fridge that I need to use up and can be any combination of homemade, store-bought, fruit, meat, and veggies.

Lately, I’ve been introducing you to dairy (not milk) slowly. You tried a little cottage cheese today, but I think it was too salty for you. I have some baby yogurt in the pantry I’m going to give you next. And you’ve had several kinds of cheese in very small amounts.

All meals are preceded by Num Nums. I nurse you before meals just to make sure that you get the milk you need when you’re hungry enough to work for it. That’s right! We’re still breast-feeding. Miraculously. You still haven’t had any formula. Things have gotten much better since last month when our Num Num Wars reached their most dramatic level yet. I have been extremely careful with my caloric intake and my milk supply is back to normal. I’ve also been drinking Mother’s Milk tea daily, and paying more attention to routine when I feed you. I try to feed you in the same places, in the same way. I hum or sing to help us relax. I pray. There is still drama, but no more nursing strikes. Thank God.

Activity #3 = SLEEPING

If you’re not playing or eating, you’re sleeping. And that has become my “me” time. I shove all my cleaning, cooking, laundry, yard work, blogging, reading, photo editing into the blocks of time you are dozing away in your crib. I have had to relearn my life. I no longer have a “house-cleaning day.” I clean in snipits whenever I can get it in. I dust during one nap, I clean a bathroom during the second nap. A couple days later I sweep the floors, etc. It’s different, and kind of hard to get used to since I like having the whole house clean at one time. But I’m not complaining. You are still a complete angel when it comes to sleeping. I’m very grateful. You are actually beginning to sleep through the night!

You go to bed around 6pm like clockwork after I read you a story from your Tiny Bear Bible or another boardbook. If you will tolerate it, I rock you for a couple minutes and sing you a song. Then, in to bed you go. If you resist, it is always becuase either you didn’t get fed recently enough or you have a dirty diaper. Otherwise you go down like warm butter on toast.  You wake up between 5:30am-7:00am, usually right in the middle around 6 something. And you are content to stay in your crib for quite a while, talking to yourself, playing with your blanky and your binky and your hands and a few little stuffed animals we put in your crib so you have something to look at. We rarely go to you before 6:30  or 7am anymore, unless you start crying which is extremely rare.

Your naps are almost always around 9am and 1pm. If I put you down earlier, even if you seem tired, your naps don’t last as long, so I try to get to bed at those times as best I can. Lately, you’ve decided that your second nap is a great time to fill your diapers. So, if I put you down and you’re still talking to yourself a half hour later, I check your diaper and sure enough, it’s usually poopy. After a quick change, it’s back to beddy-bye.

Let me just take a moment to stress how much you love your blanky. You have several, crocheted and knitted for you by various family members. But this one is your favorite.

 

When I put you to bed, at night or for a nap, I lay you down in your crib and the first thing you do is stare up at me with your arms in the air and your feet thumping on the mattress, waiting… for your blanky. I’m pretty convinced that you would never sleep if you didn’t have your blanky. It’s a profound attachment you have. You smile and make contended noises, grab it out of my hands, and rub it all over your face. When I come back to get you up it’s almost always bunched up on your face like this, or wrapped around and around your body, or under you if you’re sleeping on your tummy, or between your arms and legs if you’re on your side. You love your blanky. Love it.

Speaking of sleeping on your tummy, that’s become the norm these days. You roll right over as soon as I put you in there, and it’s all the way now with both arms straight out in front of you. Sometimes you forget how to get back on your back and you throw a little fit. This usually happens right after you wake up and you’re sleepy and confused. If it’s not time for you to get up yet, I usually let you sort it out yourself rather than rescuing you, but if you really start to cry I do intervene.

Activity #4 – OUTINGS

And if you’re not doing any of the above 3 activities, we’re probably out and about.

We spend some time outside every day. You love to be outside. Either we go to the park (every Friday at least) and sit on a blanket in the grass, or I take a blanket into our front yard and we sit under our olive tree, or – most usually – we go out on our second story porch with our beautiful wisteria-covered, wrought-iron railing and enjoy our view of Yucca Valley and the desert. It’s probably my favorite place in our house, when it’s not too hot out. So we do it early in the morning usually.

Sometimes I’ll bring my laptop with us and we’ll listen to some music or an online Beth Moore Bible Study. I’m enjoying this activity while I can because I have no idea how we’re going to make this area safe for you when your little feet get walking. The slats could fit two of you through them. If we can’t afford to fix it we might just have to take a break from enjoying this part of the house for a year or two. I guess there’s always chicken wire. Hehe. Oh dear. I hope we can come up with a better solution than that. Here you are enjoying the porch with Tia Carmen, playing Kitty-Bing, a little game where you ride a bouncing foot up and down.

You and I also usually get out of the house to run errands, do groceries, grab a Starbucks or visit a friend once per day. Our excursions only last about 60-90 minutes, which is mostly what you can handle before you get tired and clingy. But those little breaks from our domicile keep us both sane.

And in the evenings we go for a walk around our neighborhood, up many hills, almost every day. We’ve been really consistent about going, even in the heat. I usually put you in the Baby Bjorn and lug you around rather than using the stroller. You have more fun that way, and I burn extra calories since I’m still trying to get rid of those last 7 post-pregnancy pounds. Daddy goes with us or, if he’s working, Mima comes over and joins in our daily excercise.

Actually, Mima is almost like a whole other activity. She comes over to see you at least 3 or 4 times per week and you have all kinds of fun with her. You completely know who she is now and have huge smiles whenever you hear her voice or see her face. It’s obvious you love her.

Other random and fun stuff…

• I no longer triple check to make sure I have a binky when we run out of the house. You rarely want it anymore. The exception is when it’s time for bed. You still need it to fall asleep. But as a general wakeful time comfort, you no longer need it. You’re growing up!
• The cutest thing you’ve done this month so far is discover how to say, “Lalala.” For some reason, this sound is so much more grown up than the other ones you’ve said thus far. You usually say it in three syllables like that. La-la-la. It’s beyond adorable. It sounds like you’re happily singing away, your little tongue  curled and bouncing off your toothless gums.
• You genuinely babble now. You’ve been “talking” for a long time, but now you have enough consonant sounds that it actually sounds like a language. You “Wah” and “La” and “Yaw yaw yaw.” You “thhhhhh” and “vuh” and “teh” and “tuh.” You “Bababa” and “Muh” and “Nah” and “ffffff” and “Ma” and “Kuh.” You are becoming quite the orator.
• You love to scratch your fingernails on anything with texture.
• You no longer like car rides much. You get bored about 15 minutes in. It’s very difficult to go further than that without someone in the backseat to keep you entertained. And you are NOT a car sleeper. You don’t want to miss anything.
• You do this sniffing thing, breathing in and out through your nose really quickly, along with your scrunch nose smile when you’re excited. Cute.
• You are in love with straws. I gave you a sip of ice water from the bottom end of my straw (plugging the top with my finger) once about a month ago, and now every time you see one you fuss and strain until I let you have some. You’ll let me drop small amounts in your mouth over and over again until you start grabbing at the straw and trying to give yourself a tosilectomy so much that I have to stop.
• The words I’m sure you comprehend thus far… “Adela,” “Waywee,” “Num Nums,” “Momma,” “Daddy,” “All Done,” “More,” “Up,” “Sit,” and “Water.” Pretty sure you also understand “Mima,” “Binky,” “Blanky,” “Bath,” “Outside,” “Sleepies,” and “Getchyou” with some level of understanding.  Of course I’m conjecturing, but I think I’m close.
• Everytime we come home, you push the doorbell. Well, you don’t actually push it, but you try. I push it for you and we listen to the pretty circa 1977 doorbell chimes. You practically jump out of my arms every time we approach our front door.

• And maybe one thing that’s kind of cute now, but won’t be cute for long. You have a temper. You are very effective at expressing your irritation when you don’t immediately get whatever it is you get in your mind that you want… immediately. You yell, and hit things, and turn red. It’s kind of frightening. It’s early, but I’m getting glimpses of those poor clueless moms in the grocery store who cannot handle their own wild progeny and flee to the parking lots with sweat dripping down their face and a screaming children under their arms. Please don’t make me one of those moms. Hehe. I better get out the “discipline” books soon I guess. Not one of the aspects of parenting I’m looking particularly forward to. Enjoy your right to inappropriate outbursts of emotion while you can, little one. 🙂

Phew! Well, that’s what I’ve got so far. But the month is early. We’ll see what else comes up.

Love you, ‘Dela, sweet baby girl.