Saturday, February 5, 2011

Eight Months Old

Caitlin,
You turned 8 months old last Wednesday (Jan 26th).  I know I say it in some form every month, but I can't believe how fast you are growing up.  I've been working on some things for your first birthday lately, and I get so sentimental when I go back and look at the pictures of you from when you were first born!  I wish I could just stop time for a little bit because you are at such a fun age!  We don't know exactly how much you weigh, but you are definitely gaining weight and seem to be growing taller.  You are still wearing size 2 diapers and size 6 month clothes.  Once we use the last pack of size 2 diapers, we'll be moving up to size 3.  Your hair is still growing like crazy, and it's still light brown with blonde highlights.  We think that your beautiful eyes are a mix of green/gray.  You are definitely your daddy's daughter! 

You are eating like a champ.  You usually take 21-24 oz. of breastmilk in 4-5 bottles a day and you're currently eating 2 meals (of solids) a day, usually about 5-7 oz or more!  I am still pumping exclusively and some days, I want to throw the pump out the car window, but knowing that it's best for you keeps me going!  You like almost every food, but I'd say that your favorite foods this month were oatmeal, carrots, bananas, Cheerios, puffs, and apples.  We tried avocado again this month, and you wanted nothing to do with it.  I don't really blame you - Avocados are so much better when they're in guacamole, especially when it's Daddy's.  Some day, you'll get to have some of that goodness!  We are still working on the sippy cup, but you will at least drink your water from it.

What are you up to this month?  You are the raspberry queen.  You have realized that you can make lots of noises this month.  You are good at the "aaahhh" sound, and you've been starting to do consonants as well.  "B" is a favorite and sometimes an "H" comes out (and it sounds like you're saying "hi").  Every day, we try to get you to say "Mama" and "Dada", but you just laugh at us.  You have also starting making high pitched noises/squeals, and it is so cute.  When you think we aren't paying enough attention to you, you will starting "talking" to get us to look at you.  This month, you have started rolling around a lot.  You are a machine.  You are good at rolling to try to get to something you want, and sometimes you just keep rolling back and forth (front to back, back to front). As a result of this rolling around business, you are staring to sleep on your stomach more often. I think sometimes when you wake up on your belly it startles you because you'll cry a little bit and then go back to sleeping your belly.  You mostly suck your thumb when you sleep, but you have started doing it while you are playing as well.  I don't care what anyone says about thumb-sucking.  I think you look so darn cute.  You have started pulling up on things more often, and you love walking with our help and climbing all over Daddy and me. When we feed you, you hold your own bottle unless you are really tired (usually at bedtime).  You are a total busy body and are so interested in everything.  It sometimes takes quite a while to get you to eat your bottle because you have to take lots of breaks and sit up and look around at everything.  We've also noticed that when you pick up something new, you take some time to check it out and try to figure out what it is before you put it in your mouth.  You love when we read to you, and sometimes you will "talk" like you are reading to us when we're going through the books.  You also learned how to jump in the exersaucer, and it is so cute to watch you when you do it. When the music plays, you also will act like you are singing along and sometimes you dance along. You haven't started crawling yet, but you scoot backwards when you're on your belly.  Most of the time, you end up under something (the ottoman, the coffee table, the chair, your crib, the tv stand, etc.).   You enjoy playing in your walker, and so far, you really only go backwards, but you get so excited when this happens.  You still have 2 teeth (the bottom center ones), but I keep saying that the top 2 middle ones will be popping through any day now.  You love to pull your socks off and chew on them. You have also really started to play peek-a-boo this month and will even put Bunny over your face and wait for us to say "Where's Caitlin?" before you pull it down so you can hear us say "Boo!" or "There she is!".

There have been no big changes this month to your sleeping habits.  You are still sleeping really well and are taking 3 naps a day most days.  You absolutely love Bunny, and you're even starting to be more interested in the seahorse too.

Another amazing month with you has gone by way too quickly, and we could not be more proud of you.  You are the sweetest little girl, and we feel so honored to be your Mommy and Daddy.  We cannot wait to see what the next month brings!

Love you like no other,
Mommy

Here are your 8-month pictures with your bear (this month was challenging because you have decided not to sit still anymore):
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And, this post wouldn't be complete without some outtakes:
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For comparison, here you are at 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 and zero months:
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A few outtakes:
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Looking at Daddy. 

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Daddy thought it'd be fun to let you stand up.

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I love that you can see those beautiful eyelashes in this one!

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This is proof that you will lunge and grab for pretty much anything!



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Some 5 month outtakes (clearly Daddy had a hard time getting you to sit still for these pictures):

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Such a lady...  I think you've been spending a little too much quality time with Daddy! :)


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