Wednesday, April 2, 2014

8 months.


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(forgot to post a bunch of these.  be prepared for a few 'avery grows up' posts)

oh wow, i'm not sure if i'm ready for this one yet kid.  8 months seems awfully close to 1 year.  but you're so much fun to watch and play with that i'll try and forgive you for growing up so fast.

you haven't hit any huge milestones yet this month and yet somehow you seem much more older and aware of things.  you've been pretty frustrated this month and i think a lot of that comes from the fact that you can't get yourself from where you are to where you want to be.  walking and crawling are both on your mind but you can't seem to figure them out.  you have greatly increased your range of motion which means that we have to put things we don't want you to get much further away from you now.  you can spin 360 degrees around on your belly and if you're sitting you can lunge forward to grab things, your current favorites are the cat's tail and our phones.  you love to stand although you can't really get yourself there yet.  if we put you sitting up in your crib you can pull yourself to standing although this is the only place you've figured out how to do that.  mostly you use us to stand up and get you where you want to go, but i can tell you're over asking for help.  i have a feeling that once you figure things out everything will come at once for you.  this may be the last month i can say we have a non-mobile baby.  if not i have a feeling you'll be really frustrated by month 9.

as far as eating goes you've gotten much better about eating solids this month.  you typically will take a few bites of my yogurt in the morning, eat some fruit for lunch, and then some veggies for dinner.  you're pretty independent and like to feed yourself.  i keep seeing other babies who are so neat and clean when they're eating, but not you.  you have to grab the spoon yourself for every bite which involves food all over your hands and face.  you're still nursing as often as you were before, which means you're pretty much eating all day long.  it can be a challenge to squeeze in other things.   

you're a vocal little lady, always talking to yourself.  you're actually pretty hilarious and keep your dad and i entertained just by watching you.  you're still babbling dada a lot although you've added a lot of other sounds.  still no mama and you still love to scream.  you're pretty good at letting us know what you're not happy with something.  in fact despite the fact that you're pretty happy and easy there are quite a few things that you don't like.  you hate when we take things away from you, when i leave the room, when we change your diaper, take you out of the bathtub or try to dress you in clothes.  you also do not like to fall asleep on your own but i'm resisting the topic of sleep because i could write an entire novel on that alone.  i suppose it's good that you know what you like.  we definitely try hard not to give into your demands, like returning the iphone we just took away, and luckily you haven't yet figured out that things exist once you can't see them which means you get over things pretty quickly.

you still don't have any teeth yet.  people, including me, have been saying that you've been teething for 3 months.  usually that's in reference to how terrible your sleep is. although we've made progress towards the end of this month.  i just hope that we keep moving forward in that area.

you love being outside, hanging out with the dogs, seeing us for the first time in the morning, sharing food with me, going for walks in the stroller, and running errands with me.  we still use the ergo when we're out shopping but you run out of patience if we're not constantly moving.  one of the reasons that i say that you've grown up so much is that i think you just 'get' things more.  we read this book usually once a day called 'where is your nose' that has those peek-a-boo flaps in it.  you love opening the flaps and know exactly which way to pull each of them.  it's pretty cute to watch you figure everything out.  you also love turning the pages to board books, sometimes a little too quickly, but since we read these books so often i pretty much have them memorized so it hasn't been too much of a problem.  you love playing with your daddy and peek-a-boo is still a favorite.  saying 'avery, avery where are you?' can snap you out of a bad mood pretty quickly.  

you had your first serious tumble this month.  it was hard for your dad and i too, both seeing you hurt (i think i may have relieved that moment for days and i can still see it happening if i close my eyes), and trying to make the best decisions for you.  thankfully you weren't seriously hurt.  i'm glad i trusted my gut on that one and didn't subject you to any testing just for my own peace of mind.  you slept with us for a few nights after this, or rather you slept and i watched you all night long, which made getting you back in your crib a little difficult although it didn't matter at all at the time.  you were a trooper during the whole thing and it definitely was a reminder about how tough you are.  

you still love the animals and i think the dogs have gotten more popular this month.  your dad is still worried that you might be a cat person since you love petting ollie.  i think the fact that he's so patient and tolerant with you has helped with this, too.  we took a video of you playing with him this month and you're grabbing his tail and shaking it all around and he's laying on the bed purring.  he seems to like all the attention and still jumps up to sit in your lap even though you pull his ears.  you like to climb on the dogs a bit and henry is much more patient than dunkin.  dunkin still makes me nervous as i can see him getting annoyed with the attention but henry could care less.  you lean on his back and smack his belly (i really think he likes this) and are happily entertained by his tail for 10 minutes at a time.  i think he secretly loves the attention.

i think we may be at the beginning stages of separation anxiety as you're starting to show a preference for having me hold you and be in the room with you at all times.  i'm sure this is partly due to the fact that we're almost never apart.  luckily your dad is pretty good at distracting you from the fact that i'm gone and once you've forgotten about me you have so much fun playing with him.  although you tolerate it, you look at strangers pretty funny when they try and touch you.  i do too, though.

avery, i say this every month but you are just so much fun.  i feel so blessed to have you in our lives and i'm thankful each and every day that you're a happy healthy baby girl.  i can't wait to watch you continue to grow throughout the years.  thanks for being such a wonderful part of our family.
firsts
drinking from a straw
taking steps with mom and dad
cheese
turning the pages in your board books
mimicing us: clapping hands, making indian sounds, sticking your tongue out.
trip to the reservoir

loves
ollie.  this is pretty standard.
standing.
walks in the stroller.
falling asleep while being held.
feeding yourself.
playing silly games with your dad.
peek a boo.
being with mom all the time.
sharing yogurt in the morning.
reading books.
watching other kids.
the where is your nose book

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