8 Months Old!

Oh my goodness! How has 8 months gone by so quickly? You are becoming so grown up it's scary! The past month has flown by and you are just growing and learning new things so quickly I can't keep up!

You love playing with balls.  We show you how they roll and bounce and we toss them in the air or back and forth between our hands and you love it.

You've totally mastered sitting up and have been trying so hard to figure out how to get yourself in a seated position on your own without us having to place you there. You haven't quite figured it out yet, but I feel like you're close.

You are a rolling fool, wiggling and rolling about all over the place. You now love your tummy. You get up on your arms and scoot yourself all around. A couple of times I've watched you do a full 360 degree rotation in one spot, possibly just proud of the fact that you can.

When you hang out on your tummy you like to kick your feet back and forth and it makes me think of a teenager hanging out talking on the phone or doing homework. It's really cute, but it also freaks me out a little. Slow down, Honey, you've got all the time in the world.

You are becoming increasingly more interactive. You now let us know when you want to be picked up. When you're sitting you will raise your arms to us and if you are on your tummy you stick out your chest and put your arms out to your sides and slightly backwards, like you're trying to play airplane or something. Either way, that's you telling us, “hey, pick me up!”

You have become more and more ticklish and we have lots of fun making you laugh and laugh and laugh.

We had a fun, fun, fun Halloween! We went to a costume party at your friend Cameron's house and you had a blast! It took you a bit to warm up to the new environment, but by the end of the night you were playing and laughing and having a wonderful time! Then on Halloween day, we met some of your friends and went “trick or treating” on Montana Ave. in Santa Monica. It was really busy and I thought you might get scared, but you did great.

Even before you learned how to roll or scoot on your own, you started to understand physics. When playing on the floor, if there is a toy or something you want out of reach, you will pull on the blanket to bring the object closer to you. I've always been quite impressed with your resourcefulness. But I couldn't help laugh a few days ago when I'm pretty sure you were trying to pull me towards you. Sorry Sweetheart, but I think you're going to have to get a lot stronger before you can do that.

You are becoming more and more grown up in so many ways, big and small. As soon as you turned 7 months, you decided to be a big girl and stop fighting me when I give you your vitamins in the morning. It's a small thing, but sometimes those little things make a big difference. I'm pretty sure that every morning of the past month I've told you the same thing: “7 month olds take their vitamins like a champ.”

For a couple of weeks you were experiencing stranger anxiety. You would get upset when people tried to talk to you or even just made eye contact when we were out. It seems to have been pretty short lived, though. We've had you in several situations since then where you seemed to do just fine so we're hopeful that it was a short phase. I still think you are going to need some time to warm up to new people and places, but at least it seems promising that you will eventually come around.

Despite my greatest efforts, you sometimes roll onto your tummy in your sleep. It makes me a nervous wreck. Sometimes we try to roll you back over. You either (a) stay asleep and roll right back onto your tummy again, or (b) wake up immediately. Neither is what we're aiming for. I intend to ask Dr. Nourmand about this at your appointment next week. It's probably not a big deal, but I still can't help worrying.

The week of October 28 you found a new favorite sound: “mamamamam.” We don't think you actually know what mama means, but I love it anyway. You say it all the time and it's adorable.

On November 1 your first tooth broke through! It was your bottom left front tooth and the right one was not far behind, coming through just 3 days later on November 4. They aren't all the way in yet, but both continue to make their appearance more and more noticeable.

Last week you developed a really nasty diaper rash. I had noticed a little redness a few days earlier and thought I was staying on top of it and then BAM, out of nowhere it was bright red and looked terrible. You were in pain and Daddy and I were a mess trying to figure out how to help you. Finally we were able to provide you some relief with a soak in the tub and a good dose of powder. The next day I took you to the doctor and they confirmed that we were doing all the right things and told me how to move forward to clear it up as quickly as possible. It started looking much better in just a day or two and is still continuing to heal up. It didn't seem to bother you much after the first day or two and that's the most important part, but we've spent a lot of time hanging out diaper-free and loading you up with layers of creams and powders when we do have to put a diaper on. I hope it all clears up soon and that I am better able to prevent it in the future. The doctor says it's probably related to teething so I'm just going to have to be on high alert when the next tooth starts to come in.

Finally, today we are hosting our very own play date for all of your baby friends!  I love getting together with the other mommies and hope we can all stay in touch and watch all of you grow together.  You are becoming more interactive with the other babies and you are all so much fun!