8 months old!!

Dear Laurel,

On Saturday you turned 8 months old.  Daddy and I are shocked at how quickly the time is passing.  We have already begun discussions about your first birthday!!

There have been a few new developments since you turned 7 months old.  You started saying “mama”!!  You said it for the first time while daddy was out of town.  I knew he wouldn’t believe me, so I recorded it to have proof!  You still babble quite a bit, but have not said many other words besides dada and mama.

The other new development is that you are beginning to like food more and more.  I can actually get you to open your mouth for food now.  I am trying to get you to a solid 2 meals a day along with your milk.  You usually have oatmeal and fruit/veggies at daycare and then veggies or a “dinner” at home in the evenings.  Your favorite veggie so far seems to be squash and pears or apples are probably your favorite fruit.  We just started the “dinners” last week and you seem to love them!  You could not get enough of the chicken and rice dinner.  We also started green veggies.  Initially it seemed like you were not interested in the peas, but I think it was just a new taste for you.  When you taste something new, I usually smack my lips and say “mmmmm” and you smile and keep eating, but there is always that initial pause 🙂   You are a very messy eater.  You like to stick your fingers in your mouth while you are eating, so your hands and face get so messy.  Then the food on your hands gets all over your high chair try and then on your arms and sometimes your clothes.  But… that’s ok because you are eating and enjoying food!

You are still not crawling yet, but you can scoot to where you want to go very well.  Daddy and I think you have made a couple attempts to crawl, but you’re not quite there yet.  It doesn’t seem like it will be long now.  You still roll quite a bit also.  I thought you would have trouble adjusting to your cranial band, but it does not bother you one bit.  The one advantage of the cranial band is that your head it protected when you start rolling and hitting your head on things.  The helmet protects your head so you can’t feel it, which will be a problem when it comes off!  Speaking of your cranial band, you are getting it decorated in 2 weeks on Good Friday.  It will give it some personality instead of the plain white band.

You are making much more noise these days.  You like to scream and “sing in the car”, and you know how to get our attention when you are hungry or uncomfortable.  Much different than newborn Laurel that barely made a sound! 🙂

You are still not sleeping through the night. In fact, you tend to sleep a 4-5 hour stretch when you first go to sleep, but then you decide to wake up every 1 1/2 to 3 hours after that.  I am hoping it’s a teething phase or something and you go back to only waking up once during the night or making it all the way through!

Your favorite things at 8 months are:

• Jump and bounce in your jumper
• Chew on everything: pacifier, burp cloths, spoons, toys…
• Play with your stuffed elephant and chewing on his ears that make a crinkly noise
• Feel different textures (you like to touch faces, carpets, materials on couches and pillows, your crib)
• Take your socks off (and often sticking your feet in your mouth).

I love you and look forward to what month 8 has in store for us!

~Mommy

p.s.  I will work on getting some videos and pictures posted this week.