Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Milestones: Eight Months

Oh my goodness. My daughter cannot be 8 months old already. Most of the time, I still look at her in awe, wondering where on earth this amazing little girl came from and how I got to be so blessed with the opportunity of being her mom.

Mom. Yep, it still sounds funny.

As she nears her first birthday, the milestones are flying faster than I can keep up. I'm trying so hard not to get so busy that I miss out on my baby growing from infant to toddler.

She is so smart. To the point that she can already untie knots and bows. I read on my bump updates and in my "what to expect" books that babies should be in the process of mastering that thumb-pointer finger grasp. Um, in the process? Try mastered... like, months ago. This girl definitely has her papa's brain. Yesterday (which doesn't exactly count as an 8 month milestones because I'm so late in writing this blog) I started singing to her:

I went to the animal fair.
The birds and the bees were there.
The big baboon, by the light of the moon, was combing his auburn hair.

She looked up at me and smiled, that adorable, goofy grin that I love so much. Then she went directly to her toy bin and grabbed the one toy that plays that song. Then turned it on, and bounced to the beat. I was amazed... yet again! I love that she can identify a song and match it to its toy. 

The toy that she grabbed out of her bin? It's her new favorite. I call it her bookworm, and the cover of the book? It's orange. That kid LOVES the color orange. She also loves her fruit and veggie baskets that came from Ikea. They're literally stuffed fruits and veggies and we have a basket full of each! She loves to dump the baskets out and fill them up again. The grapes are covered in spit-up and love.

She's so determined. I can sit her in the middle of the room and she will scoot or roll where she wants to go. If she wants something that I have, there's no distracting her. She's locked on until she gets it. She loves books and I always keep them lined up in her toy bin. She goes knows exactly where they are and doesn't stop until she's pulled every last one out. She pulls receipts and sharpies out of Christopher's chef coat pockets. She attacks any and all cups with fervor. Oh, my sweet little squirtopotamus who wants to grow up so fast. She loves drinking out of "big girl" cups.

She's so exploratory. Last month, she was scooting across the floor. This month, she steamrolls. She steam rolls across the floor at home, at daycare, at her Mimi's house and it's much, much faster than the scoot. I crack up watching her move and I keep telling myself it's time to babyproof, even though I keep putting it off. She's always on the move, testing her limits and learning why things work the way they do. She plays with her toys by thoroughly examining them to figure out what makes certain songs play or what triggers specific sounds. Her Nana and Flash got a toy for their house that she has mastered. It's one of those ball-popper toys that turns into a walker at some point. She sits in front of it with her hand down the chute, pushing the button that makes it sing. She also picks it up, puts it in her lap, flips it over, feels the back, puts it back down and starts all over. She's way too smart to put the balls in the hole!
She's cranky. On my 32 week bump e-mail, it said that most babies from week 32 to week 37 go through a fussy period. We were right on schedule with Evey. She's started getting two teeth this month, her two front bottom teeth, which have been going for a month and still aren't fully grown in yet. I keep thinking that one day she might have a full mouth of baby teeth, but at the rate we're going, she may just have little white icebergs protruding from her gums! So, fussy period? Check. I suppose it was time for Christopher to have to "work" at parenting. After all, we've had it easy thus far.
Even though she's fussier than normal, she's still so full of joy. When I see pictures of Evey, I can see the joy emanating from her eyes, and her smile.  My favorite time of the day is when I wake her up in the mornings. She groggily opens those sweet eyes and when she gains her focus and registers that I'm there, I get the BIGGEST grin in the world. When I pick her up from daycare, I get one of two reactions. Of course I love the smiles and the arm flapping that comes when she's in one of her crazy moods, but I also love the immediate cries that I get sometimes when she just can't wait to get into my arms. It always makes my heart smile.

She's a bookworm, she's a fish, she's a momma's girl, she's curious and spunky and we call her our koala bear because she clings on tightly every time she gets picked up.

1 comment:

  1. So precious, Jenni. Sooooo happy for you two!!!

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