Princess, do you remember when I used to post your month recaps on your actual month birthday? No? Well, the first couple of months I did! It's a bit harder now that you're mobile and don't want to sit still for photos or while I blog.
You are SO much fun, Olivia! Oh my goodness. I can honestly say - without the slightest exaggeration - that sometimes it overwhelms me how much I love you and how much joy you bring to your daddy's and my life! It is my sincerest wish that everyone can experience being a parent, because there is just no greater gift from the Lord, truly.
You're definitely coming into your personality and you crack me up. Recently, you've become more and more giggly. Your laugh sounds like heaven! After hearing you laugh, Lolly said, "You can understand why J.M. Barrie wrote that fairies are born from baby laughs". Yes, completely! Nothing cracks you up more than the dogs. But, you also have "found" yourself in the mirror this month and just laugh and laugh and laugh at your reflection. You also think mommy is hilarious when I put one of your toy links or paci in my mouth. You laugh and then remove it and then try and put it back in my mouth. Turning on and off the xbox is also a favorite of yours. You think the light turning on and off and the little noise it makes is great.
I may have also accidentally taught you to grab people's noses. I made the mistake of honking once when you grabbed my nose and you may have the expectation that people honk when you grab their noses now... oops.
Anything that rattles is a win in your book too. You particularly love your monkey rattle and the top ring of your ring tower thing. You sometimes crawl around with one of the baby links in your mouth, and it cracks me up and I think it's pretty cute. We've started keeping some little lovies in your crib too, that you seem to love. You're usually holding one when I go pick you up out of your crib.
You're interacting with books more and more. You can turn the pages, open the flaps, and you reach out for all the textures. Your favorite books seem to be That's Not My Bunny, Peek-a-who, and Peek-a-boo Farm. I love reading to you, mostly because I love you curling up in my lap and cuddling with me while I read to you.
We go to story time each week and you're really getting more and more into it. You like to dance and shake the egg shakers and "sing" along in your baby babble way.
You're crawling like a rockstar! You are super fast! We've had to install a lot of baby gates and each morning I have to push furniture around to baby-proof the room now that you're on the move. You've mastered pulling up and can walk yourself around furniture. You can also stand on your own for a considerable amount of time. I think you'll be walking soon. Daddy and I walk you around each day and you squeal with excitement. You're also quite proud of yourself when we let you climb the stairs (mommy and daddy are spotting you of course). You also try to climb out of your bath now, so bath time is definitely an adventure.
You've tried more solids this month. In all you've eaten bananas, carrots, sweet potatoes, zucchini, peas, avocado, and kale. Recently, you have become distracted while nursing and very busy. You flip back and forth and take breaks to look at things. We've gone back to see the lactation consultant and we're trying some new techniques, but I'm a little nervous that we may be coming to the end of our nursing days, and it breaks my heart. However, we weighed you and you're just over 17 pounds, so it's not like the doctor is worried about your growth, but we're still nursing about every 2-3 hours and still getting up to feed multiple times a night.
You seem so biggie to me and it just blows my mind. We put you in the church nursery for the first time last weekend, and though mommy was super nervous to leave you, you did really well. You're busy, busy now and dislike taking breaks for such silly things as diaper changes... and taking photos for blogs (see below) ;) Too many things to explore. Never stop being curious little one.
Munchkin, you are SO loved. Thank you for the best 8 months of our lives.
