Elyse Love ~ 8 Months

Yeah, so you know how last month I said we had officially entered the "i have better things to do with my time than have a photo shoot" phase...yeah, we're still there.  She's way more interested in the pattern on the chair, the stuffed animals in the floor, the books on the table, the bow on her head...yeah, anything except for the big black camera in front of momma's face!  ha! 

Weight/Height: No official size stats from this month either...she's still growing like a weed and still has her adorable little thigh rolls and chubby cheeks!  Hubby tried to weigh her the other day, but it seemed really off from what we were guessing.  Ehh...it doesn't really matter, as long as she's growing that's all we care about!   

Clothes: We've moved into mainly all 6-9 month clothing at this point and anything new that we look at for the fall we're trying to buy one size bigger.  Some clothing comes in size 6-12 months which seems ridiculous and those things are all too wide for her but fit in the length.  We've moved her into 12 month onesies for sleeping just because it gives her more room to kick her legs and move around.  It makes me sad to know that she's already outgrown some of her cutest outfits, but it's also so exciting to watch her grow. She's still wearing size 3 diapers and this should probably be the case for quite awhile longer.   

Food: Nothing has really changed in the food department this month.  She is still nursing/taking a bottle 4 times a day and having solids at lunch & dinner with the rest of us.  She LOVES to eat solid food and I've actually started cutting her off some so she'll still eat plenty of milk.  In some combination she is eating sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans (still not her favorite but she tolerates them), avocado, peas, yellow squash, oatmeal, bananas, pears, apples, peaches, & nectarines.  Bananas are probably her favorite fruit and she seems to love all her veggies except for green beans.  I've been giving her little bites of bread or mashed potatoes when we eat them at dinner as well.  My hope is that when we see the pediatrician for her 9 month appointment that we will be given the go-ahead to feed her almost anything and then we'll move into meats, yogurt, and other fruits/veggies. 

Sleep: Sleep has greatly improved over the past month.  While every night isn't perfect (which isn't what I would expect from any human being), she's doing much better at sleeping through the night or only waking once.  She now offically has 6 teeth, yeah 5 came in all in one weekend, and during that time sleep was definitely rough...but we all came out alive on the other side & she's been doing much better.  We live in a fairly small house & I can easily hear her cry from her nursery when I'm asleep in bed...so, we made the decision a few weeks ago to turn off the monitor during the night.  Call us bad parents if you want, but it's been working great so far & I know that I'm getting much more sleep since I can't hear her every little noise. 

Activity:  We've definitely got a mover on our hands!  While she still hasn't completely mastered the traditional crawling movements, she does this adorable little inch worm movement and can get wherever she wants/needs to be in no time flat!  Just last night she took 3-4 "steps" forward while moving both her hands & feet together...momma better work on getting the house a little more baby-proofed!  My good friend also sold us her walker & Elyse LOVES her walker!  She can follow me or her daddy around the house so easily & is actually pretty good at steering herself through door ways.  In the beginning she pretty much only moved backwards, but now that she's figured things out she's moving like crazy!  And another reason why I need to get on that babyproofing!  ha! 

Personality: I LOVE HER PERSONALITY!!  It is starting to shine through so much and I love it!  She will jabber back & forth with us and just seems to love life.  As a typical first-born, I think she's going to be pretty independent because for the most part she doesn't seem to midn to sit in the floor and play by herself...as long as someone is within sight.  She giggles and laughs and sometimes it even seems like she's mocking us!  ha! 

Likes:
~Her Fisher Price Poppity Pop Dino

~Small hand-held toys that she can bang on the floor or together or put in her mouth

~Puppies...of all shapes & sizes! 

~Momma & Daddy...her face has started to light up when we pick her up from work and it melts my heart! 

~Susan Boynton Books...especially Moo, Baa, La La La...she starts giggling and waving her arms before I even finish the first page. 

~Pictures...I put up a new picture collage in our dining room and she loves to stare at all the pictures, which are mainly of her! 

~Mesh Feeder...She loves ice cubes in that thing! 

Dislikes:
~We have a pretty happy girl on our hands...she really only seems to get fussy if she's tired, hungry, or fighting those stinkin' teeth! 

8 Month Milestones:

~First Day with Mamaw & Pappy as Babysitters:  July 20

~5 More Teeth:  Weekend of August 4-5..She now has 4 on top and 2 on bottom!

~Crawling:  An all month process!

~1st trip to Branson Landing:  August 11