Juliet 8 Months!

JuJu! You are 8 months! WHAT?! So biggie!! I am loving this stage with you!! You are happy and loving life and are so easy! I feel like you're really coming into your personality and are becoming more and more expressive. 

We spent some extended time with both sides of the family recently, and you're visibly much more comfortable around everyone. You give more smiles and giggles now that you previously reserved mostly for mommy, daddy, and Olivia. 

Physically you're growin' growin' growin'! You've moved up to size 3 diapers and are almost out of 6-9 month clothes. You have plenty of hair (much more than your sister did at your age) and your eyes are still such a strikingly beautiful shade of blue. Strangers often comment on how pretty your eyes are. 

You are on the move! I wouldn't say you're technically crawling just yet, because you haven't figured out how to get those knees up under you and move forward. You have, however, pretty much mastered the army crawl and are fast! Just yesterday I set you down in the living room, ran to the garage to grab something, and when I came back you were already two rooms over and by the front door. You looked pretty pleased with yourself when I scooped you up. 

Your teeth have finally popped through your gums and you have two tiny bottom front teeth. With the appearance of teeth we've started giving you banana and sweet potato teethers, puffs, and yogurt bites. You're a big fan of food and I love watching you attempt to grab puffs and put them in your mouth. Gah, you're stinkin' cute, baby girl! This month we added butternut squash, apples, pears, and purple sweet potato to your diet. You weren't a fan of apples or pears (just like Olivia!) until we mixed them with banana and then you didn't seem to mind in the least!

You've started to make more intentional sounds. You can make a pffffffft noise with your lips and you  crack yourself up. Recently you've also started to say, "dada" and "mama". 

When I was pregnant with you I had so many people and strangers "warn" me about how "dangerous" it was to have a toddler around a baby. I grew increasingly worried about how Olivia and you would get along. However, it is one of my biggest joys in life to watch how well you and Olivia interact together. You adore Olivia and she loves you so much. Olivia lights up when she greets you in the morning and will often give you hugs and kisses and tell you "I love you, JuJu" out of nowhere.  Now that you're sitting up and can move on your own and now that your motor skills are getting better and better, you two can play together more effectively. I love watching y'all play together. Oh em gee. My heart. 

You're still a great napper (hooray!) and give me good morning and afternoon naps, usually an hour and half to two hours long each. We had you sleeping through the night, but that kind of got reset on our Leeper family vacation. The past week you've been determined to get up between 5:30am-6:30am and I'm not appreciating that so much. But you generally wake up so happy and chatty that I can't help but happily scoop you up. 

We took you to Hilton Head Island for the first time this past month. Mommy has been vacationing there since she was a baby and I love that you got to experience it too! (Thanks for the vacay and continuing traditions, Lolly and G-Daddy!!)

Sweet girlie girl, these have been the best 8 months with you. Daddy, Olivia, and I are so happy you're part of the family. Thank you for enriching our lives and bringing so much sweetness and joy with you wherever you go. Happy 8 Months munchkin!! 

Olivia 8 Months!

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.