8 months, 1 week!

We are having so much fun this summer that I got behind on my monthly post!! 

In Avery's 8th month she has become a pulling up champ! She pulls up on any and everything and has fallen and bruised her poor little noggin twice. She is now terrified of falling and although she has great balance, she is so unsure of standing unsupported that when I let go she freaks out and either sits down or screams and claws at me for support. This month she has also become very vocal! She has stopped even attempting to say "mama" but she does say "Dada" all the time now and pretty consistently saying "baba" or "bob" for bottle. She also tries to say Hi, Yeah, bye-bye ad Abby. She loves waving and does this new thing when she's excited where she wrinkles her nose and pants while flailing her arms and "jumping". It's so funny!! She tries to clap but it's more like just throwing her arms around excitedly. She can clap 2 toys or puzzle pieces together though an loves to hear the sound. Another new thing she can do is reach to be picked up from her crib or the floor. When we get her from bed in the morning she crawls as fast as she can to the edge of her crib and either pulls up on the railing or just sits up and reaches her hands above her head for us to grab her. It's so sweet! And she gives real hugs and kisses too! This age is so much fun. 

Some things Avery is loving at 8 months:

Swimming!! 

Books!

Table foods!

Holding her cup and stealing sips of whatever mommy is drinking!! Little straw ninja took over my iced tea at La Madeline! 

 

Playing outside!

Making silly faces! 

Kissing and laughing at that baby in the mirror!

"Dancing"

Petting her Abby

Sleeping with her blankie and lovie which is soooo cute!! She loves the thin little Adin and Anais swaddle blankets to cuddle with and loves her soft silky blanket when it's not too hot. 

Other babies at play dates and Mother Goose time at the library!!!

And early morning snuggles and tv with mommy! 

I'm going to miss these special moments sooo much when I go back to work!! :-(

Some things A doesn't like very much at 8 months: laying still for any amount of time to get her diaper or clothes changed, being spoonfed... She will eat the pouches of baby food but has started refusing all the puréed food I made and feed to her. The taste is fine but she wants to do it herself and it's way too messy! Lol she also still hates being wiped down after eating, being strapped into her carseat, nose drops and clearing her nose with the bulb, and now has starting going through major separation anxiety. We left her overnight for the first time this past month and it made her so clingy for the next couple of weeks, but honestly it was nice because she isn't typically cuddly like that at all. She used to so happily put herself to sleep, but is now wanting to be rocked to sleep which I secretly love doing!! It's probably not a good habit to start but it's such a special time to bond and she won't be my little baby forever, so I am soaking it all up while I can!! 

7 Months

This is the best picture I could get of her sitting still

Hugging her pal, Violet.

Another month has passed and our sweet babe has learned so much!! She has gone from army crawling  the week she turned 6 months, to full-on hands and knees crawling, to beginning to stand up! She hasn't quite figured out how to pull up on the furniture yet, but she is very close. She can pull up to standing by just holding on to my fingers though, and she balances very well, even with just one hand. I'm betting that by the end of this month she'll be able to stand unsupported, but we'll see! She has also started to eat some finger foods and is learning to wave. She mainly waves with her hand facing herself and occasionally waves by joining both hands and flapping both arms, but she's catching on. It is so neat to see her little brain making connections! She waves "night-night" to Daddy when I'm carrying her to bed, and it's just amazing to see their sweet bond.

Being so silly.

This month we have introduced the sippy cup, but she hasn't been that interested until the past week. She seems to really like the straw cup now, and is loving when I give her a bit of diluted apple juice. She also loves feeding herself the little baby puffs snacks! She gets so mad when they are gone, she starts slamming her hand on the tray and screaming, so I'm trying to start some baby sign language to nicely ask for "more". She is so smart though. She seems to really understand a lot of words now. She definitely knows and responds to her name. She knows when I say "bottle" and has started to say "BOB" or "Bababababa", when she is hungry and for going bye-bye, but also when she is just talking to herself. For a few days she was very close to saying "Mama" but kind of stopped for now. When she is really sleepy or sad that I walked away, she will make the "Mahhh-ma" sound while in the middle of crying. It totally breaks my heart. Especially when I am trying to leave for work in the morning. Which luckily, there's only 2 weeks of school left until all summer with my baby!! This month we have officially switched over to completely drinking formula. This was a very bittersweet decision, but now that it has been a month, it's much less stressful and actually very relieving. Nursing had become a battle. She was preferring bottles and my supply was dwindling to virtually nothing. I was eating and drinking  crazy stuff said to increase milk production, as well as trying all the supplements I could, but it just wasn't enough. School has been very stressful lately and teaching does not allow enough time to pump as frequently as you really would be feeding your baby, which is what you really have to do in order to keep up. So I threw in the towel, which I was very emotional about. Society kind of makes formula feeding out to be less than sub par, like your child won't be as smart or healthy, but I kept with it for as long as my body would allow and I don't think her college applications are going to ask how she was fed as an infant. It is so much easier to go out and about with formula, and I can drink as much caffeine as I want or take allergy medicine without having to worry about how it will effect her too. 

Big Girl!!

We have also officially started baby proofing, which I feel like is an endless cycle from here until the next 4 years or so. There is no way to keep your child from every danger, because they find the most random things to get into. We have the outlets plugged, exposed wires hidden, crib mattress lowered, and a baby gate between the playroom and kitchen, where Avery discovered Abby's food and water dish so far though. We never leave her unattended, even for a second though, because this little stinker is fast, and reaches top speeds as soon as your back is turned! Before she was mobile, I could unload the dishwasher, or run to use the bathroom, with her playing on the floor in the next room, but those days are long gone!! I carry her to every room with me to sit in front of me and I have to sing to her, or bring her a toy to keep her entertained while I change the laundry, go to the bathroom, or make a bottle. 

She loves the self camera on my phone.

We are having so much fun though. We are so blessed to have such an easy going, smart, and funny girl. At 7 months, Avery loves anything that makes noise or plays music. Her favorite toys are Baby Tad and Violet the Dog, both made by Leap Frog. She loves to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider, Pat-a-cake, If You're Happy and You Know It and Wheels on the Bus. She loves to try to do the motions too. She is still mesmerized by Abby, and cracks up every time she gets to pet her or when she gets licked. Avery actually loves all dogs. She just lights up and giggles when she sees one. She's also learning how to bounce and is loving her Jumperoo. We have been putting her in there for the past couple of months, and she has lightly bounced, but now she really knows how to spring up and down and it's so funny to watch her go.

The things Avery does not like at 7 months are pretty much the same as before…when Mama leaves, getting her face washed, getting in the carseat, cuddling, and now that we are introducing meat--chicken puree.

This past month I got to enjoy my first official Mother's Day. We went to the lakehouse for the first time as a family and had a blast. Jon, and my in-laws really made my day special too. I am so grateful to be the mother of this sweet, sweet child. She has brought a new meaning to my life, and is the best gift I could ever receive. She is my stress reliever at the end of a tough day, and spending time with her is what I look forward to and live for the most.

We went to the lakehouse again for memorial weekend, but it did not go at all as planned. It was less than ideal, but more on that later! 

Not amused by fitting in my coffee cup.

But I was cracking up!

Baby Model!

Already loving lipgloss, just like Mama!

Family Selfies at the lake.

Daddy's girl

We love going on walks to the park.

She tries to escape at every diaper change.

And Abby is starting to like her, now that she shares food…LOL

6 months!!

It's hard to believe its already been half of a year since our little pumpkin got here!! I just love watching her grow and change but hate how fast it's all passing us by. I am not sure of her 6 month stats yet because her check up isn't until Friday, but I am guessing she is right around 14 lbs. I know she is tiny because I can't go a day without someone, including strangers telling me about how small she is. It kind of makes me feel bad, like I'm not feeding her well, but trust me, she eats a ton! She is just going to just be skinny. I think shes perfect just how she is, and don't understand why people obsess over chubby babies so much like its the standard.

I want so badly for the last 7 weeks of this crazy school year to go by quickly so that I can soak up the summer with my little angel, but at the same time I want to be able to enjoy and remember this very fun stage she is at right now. This 6th month has been a month of tremendous growth and excitement!

Avery got her bottom, front two teeth this this month and is working on more. She was a trooper through the teething process too. She had about 2 days of fussiness and fever per tooth but it wasn't nearly as bad as everyone makes teething sound at all! I actually got more cuddles than usual since she is usually a little squirmy worm trying to get into everything. I haven't been able to capture a photo of her teeth yet because her big lips hide them plus she is very dramatic about anyone looking in her mouth, so it just makes her too mad. I'll get a picture once they grow in a little more though!

This month Avery has pretty much mastered sitting up completely unsupported and for longer periods of time. She is even working on getting from tummy time to the sitting position all on her own. She's amazing! She's started getting on all fours and attempting to crawl too. She gets to rocking back and forth, but when she takes a "step" or two she splats and gets back up to try again. The last three days however, she has figured out that she can get going where she wants pretty quickly by army crawling on her elbows! It's so fun to watch her but her little elbows and knees are taking a beating! My bet this whole month has been that by May 1st she will crawling all over the place. She's already so close and definitely has the strength, just lacking a bit of coordination!

Each day she gets more and more vocal, talking, babbling and singing but is still pretty calm and quiet most of the time. She does most of her talking to herself as she winds down in her crib to go to sleep. We just watch her on the monitor and listen. :-) Her latest noises are blowing raspberries, and doing an excited panting sound. She is laughing and giggling so much more now too. It's still our favorite thing ever!! We live for those moments.

At six months Avery's favorite things are:

PEEK-a-BOO! So much fun for both of us!
She laughs so hard!

CHEWING on EVERYTHING in sight! Gotta test out those chompers and they are sharp!!

DINNER TIME! She loves sitting with us at the table and trying new foods and can even sit in the wooden highchairs at restaurants, which for some reason is a milestone in my book. It just seems like such a big girl step!

ANYTHING WITH BUTTONS! Her favorite toys are the remote, PS controller, and my phone right now. We're in trouble with this one!!

THE MIRROR! Just like her mom.. LOL for those that don't know, I was obsessed with mirrors as a kid. I got a full length mirror for my 5th birthday so I could perform dances for myself instead of using the glass of our home stereo and it was my favorite thing in the world.. Haha!! Anyway, she just cracks up at herself in the mirror and if course it's adorable!

EXPLORING THE WORLD! Everything is new and exciting to a 6 month old, and Avery loves to see and touch and chew on it all. She loves listening to people talk and watching everything around her, as long as she's in a safe proximity to Mama and Daddy. :)

Some things Avery doesn't like at 6 months:
Getting dressed, changing her diaper or putting on lotion.. She's too busy for that! It's like trying to wrestle and and dress a fish! We pretty much have given up on the changing table because she's going to flip right off while trying to wriggle away.

Washing her face after dinner...she loves the washcloth but if I take it from her while she's chewing on it so I can wipe her face and hands she flips out. She wants to do it herself. Miss independent!

The carseat.. Still. She hates getting in and being strapped down but once we get moving she's ok. Now that she's a little bigger though, it's that much harder to get her in because she fights it so hard. :-(

We love this little girl so much! She is the light of our lives and can turn the worst days around for me with her contagious smile. We are having so much fun being her parents. Now time to start baby proofing because this baby is about to be unstoppable!