8 Months Old

Camilla Marie is 8 months old!  Whoa, Nelly...

one-week old:

one-month old:

two-months old:

three-months old:

four-months old:

five-months old:

six-months old:

seven-months old:

eight-months old:

 so many good shots to choose from this month...

 checkin' out the owl

 love this look

Dear Camilla,

It seems like you have started doing so many more physical things this month.  You can get up on one knee to do a sort of half-standing pose so that you can have leverage to push your blue dino.  The pushing thing is very big...you also like to push your play table away from you when sitting in your chair, and I also saw you pushing Cayden in the back last week.  Yikes, let's hope that doesn't become a habit.  You can stand all on your own now at your play table or other big toys/furniture.  You are still very wobbly, so I'm always right there to keep a hand on you when you need help.  You are starting to try to pull up on stuff, but we haven't seen you do it successfully yet.  Same story with crawling...you are great at going from a sitting position to lunging forward on your belly when you want something, but then you get stuck (and angry).  We have seen you push yourself backwards and in a circle while on your belly, but no real crawling yet.  I imagine you'll be crawling and/or pulling up to standing within a month or two, which is why we lowered your crib mattress this weekend.  We seriously need to get in gear with babyproofing the house!

You love to eat your solids.  Love. It.  You make all sorts of sounds while we are feeding you, and you get very impatient if we make you wait while we fix your meal.  You have the same reaction to all food, so I don't really know what you like and don't like yet.  Let's hope your tolerance of all foods continues.  New foods this month: spinach, green beans, cinnamon, blueberries, strawberries, pumpkin.  The mesh feeder is still a huge hit, as well as a huge mess.  Bananas are the worst to clean up, but they are your favorite to eat (they produce the loudest moans).  Blueberries have also been a big hit in the mesh feeder.  We did let you gum a Baby Mum Mum cracker this week, but it was too hard and you couldn't figure out how to chew it.  You aren't ready for those yet, plus it scared mom and dad, so we are going to wait another month for biter biscuits and puffs.  This month we are going to work on making your food chunkier.

You're hair is getting longer (it even hangs over your ears now), and I'm trying to train it to go to the side.  It has sort of a peninsula shape to it at the moment; lots in the middle but sparse on the sides.  I can get bows in it now, but we rarely dress up enough to warrant a bow. ;)  You're eyelashes  are also growing longer.  And, oh my, those eyebrows are so expressive!  Your weight has stayed right at 16 lbs, which is where you were at your dr. appt. two months ago.  The nurse assures me that it is okay that you haven't gained any weight in two months; you're still at the 50th percentile.  I assume a growth spurt should be coming soon...I'm soooo ready to retire your 3-6 month size clothes!

We are still working on sleeping through the night.  Some nights you do great: 7:30pm - 6am...other nights, you are up once or twice during the night.  We know it isn't hunger, but we haven't figured out what exactly is causing you to wake up.  You are such a light sleeper, so really it could be the tiniest of noises (the pets shorten your naps daily).  Most of the time, we can put your pacifier back in and you'll go right back to sleep.  Unfortunately, that 4am waking can still be pretty hard on us; you don't want to go back to sleep in your crib (you'd prefer our arms).  Like I said, we're still working on it...progress has been made, at least.  This month of sleep training has helped us get into a better daytime routine, which I'm really enjoying.  You go 4 hours between nursing and 3 hours between naps.  You take 2, sometimes 3, naps per day (usually 30-45 min each) and then go down for bed by 7:30 every night.  You have 4 breastfeedings/bottles and eat 2 solid meals (breakfast and dinner), plus a little snack of fruits or veggies at lunchtime.  You're pretty easy to please if you're well-rested. 

New this month is the little temper tantrum you throw when we try to change your diaper or clothes.  There is some serious back-arching with stiff legs and a whole lot of whining.  It makes it very hard to get a diaper on you, so I'm just waiting for the day when it gets off-center and it leaks all over you (or us).  Also new this month...car seat tolerance!  Not sure what changed your attitude towards the car seat, but we're all pretty happy about it.  I wouldn't say you like it, but you definitely don't melt down like you used to.  You just stare out the window and enjoy the view.  Finally...thank you.

You still enjoy the jumperoo once or twice a day, but you are kind of bored with it.   Most of the time, you start whining immediately when we begin to lower you into it.  You are enjoying the walker and getting around great these days!  Poor Beansie has her legs taken out from under her daily, and poor Buddy is terrorized on his carrier in the corner of the kitchen.  Amanda had the great idea to bring your walker over to their house last week so you and Cayden could zoom around.  He zoomed, and you just kind of strolled. ;)  You and I are both enjoying this playdate business!

Our little Millie Bear...8 months old already!  We love you tons sweet girl, and, of course, we're so glad you're ours!