My Sweet Pea is Eight Months Old

 8th Month Milestones

I can't believe it!  Maybe it's because I haven't done one of these posts in a couple of months but regardless here we are at eight months already.

HEIGHT/WEIGHT

At your last doctors appointment which was actually closer to your 7 month birthday than your 8th month you were weighing in at 6.72 kg and 65.5 cm.  My only frustration is they weigh you so quickly that the weight is still wiggling back and forth when they pull you off so I'm not sure just how accurate it is.  Regardless you are now at about the 15th percentile for height and weight down quite a bit from the last time we weighed you.  The doctors aren't worried and honestly I'm not really either, here's why.  I was much bigger than you were when I was born and I simply stopped growing until I was at my perfect little petite size and then I started growing again. I soon became the smallest in my class where I stayed until I graduated from high school and had my "BIG" growth spurt putting me in at 5'3" which is still below average.  Well, although you aren't being as dramatic as your mommy (thank God) you are following the same trend of wanting to be on the more petite side.  You still have your oh so adorable rolls and double chin so like I said, I'm not too worried.

SLEEPING

This last month has been quite interesting.  It was REALLY hard for both of us to get re-acclimated to the time zone change from the States to Germany making our first week back a very sleepy one.  We were both taking VERY long naps in the afternoon and then not sleeping a wink at night.  You were even going 5 hour stretches at night without sleeping which is very strange because even during the day when you aren't all messed up you nap more frequently than that.  I finally had to just suck it up and not take any naps so that I was exhausted enough that I slept at night.  Once that happened you decided to follow suit.

You've been on a pretty good routine as far as nap/bed time goes.  You let me know when you're sleepy by getting louder and starting to rub your eyes and yawn.  I put you down and you "play" in bed for a bit until you fall asleep.  Sometimes you fuss and those times are hard because all you want is for me to hold you. I don't want you to need that from me to fall asleep so I just lean over the edge of your crib and cuddle with you for a little bit.

You are down to just about two naps a day one at about 10:00 a.m. (for about two hours) and the other at about 2:30 to 3:00 (for about an hour to an hour and a half).  On the days when you do have a third nap it's usually only for about 30 to 45 minutes around 6:00 p.m.  After your night time routine of eating dinner, and getting ready for bed, you nurse for a little bit and then snuggle until you're sleepy.  Then you're down for about six hours before you want to nurse again (yes, you're still not sleeping all the way through the night yet).  When you wake up to nurse I bring you to bed with us and we all still really like the snuggle time.  You are usually up smiling and cooing, ready for the day at 8:00 a.m.

EATING

When we got back from the States we started you on solids, and boy oh boy was that funny.  You were not a fan.  It's not your favorite thing but your starting to enjoy your solids much more.  So far you've had carrots, potatoes, avocados, tomatoes, apples, pears, nectarines and some cereal that's a mixture of oatmeal and cornmeal.  Whenever we give you a new flavor you make some of the most hilarious faces, but then you settle into it.  Your favorite flavor right now is nectarine.  You did go through a two day period where you didn't swallow a single bit because you spit it out everywhere (I am so glad you stopped doing that.)  Your food routine is as follows.  You nurse at 8:00 a.m. when you wake up, after your morning nap you nurse again and have some fruits and veggies, after your afternoon nap you nurse again.  At 7:00 p.m. you eat your dinner of cereal and fruit and at 8:00 you nurse before you head off to bed.  You enjoy tea or water at every meal and you love drinking out of your new sippy cup.

PLAYTIME

Your new favorite toys are the cups that your Uncle Jeremy gave you from Good Times, your moose, "Mortimore Monroe Morison", your pink spoon from Twists, and your Sophie the Giraffe.  You haven't started to crawl yet although you are definitely trying.  While you are sitting you'll lunge forward onto all fours and rock your hips back and forth.  Then you get mad that you're not actually moving and you plop down on your belly.

Because of our weekly Baby Schwimmen Unterricht you've been able to hang out with your best friend Sofia a lot which we all love!!!  Speaking of Baby Schwimmen, you love the water and I'm so glad you do.  Every time we get in, you start squealing with delight and splashing all around.  You already "dive" in and go under without a second thought.

WHAT'S NEW

Your two front teeth on the bottom (they actually came in during your seventh month but I didn't do a post so I'm letting you know now) are what's new.  They are so cute, and white, and shiny, and your Daddy is always telling you so.  You have also grown a little bit of an attitude and have figured out just how you think everything should be done.  When things aren't done that way, well, how should I say this, you "let us know".  ;o)  The thing that get's your diapey in the biggest wad is when your Daddy demands to give you kisses even when you've told him you don't want any.  This is especially true when he hasn't shaved for a few days.  It's actually pretty funny, but we do our best not to laugh in the moment because we REALLY don't want to encourage the behavior.

You are still the sweetest little girl though and you still love, Love, LOVE spending time with people.  In fact, whenever I need to redirect your attention while we're out and about, any kiddo under 4 feet tall will do the trick.  You are still a talker and this month your words of choice have been dadda, thatha, ja ja, and nein, nein.  And yes your Daddy and I are pretty sure you are using "nein" correctly (which I didn't think I had to look forward to until you were two.)


Just remember we love you.  We love your toothy grin and stink face.  We love your giggle and your scream.  We love you more than you will ever know and we can't believe you are already 8 months old!!!

Happy 8 month birthday Sweet Pea!!

Love,
Mommy & Dad