8 months and growing!

Stella,

You have truly become quite the little handful this last month. You are a professional crawler, and quickly moving onto being a walker. You get into EVERYTHING now, opening cabinets, pulling out drawers, we need to do some serious baby proofing around our house ASAP! You've perfected standing, and hardly wobble at all anymore. You love to walk along the couch, usually to wherever Abby is sleeping. you also love to go up and down, across the room from couch to chair to ottoman, and back again, over, and over, and over. You are finally mastering how to sit back onto your bum from the crawling position, pushing with one hand and balancing with the other.  Daddy and I think you will be walking in a matter of weeks, most likely long before Christmas! And then were sure running wont be far behind. You've always been quite the mover! We just didn't think you would be this busy of a mover so early :)

You have also become quite the eater! You love trying new food, smelling it first then attempting to swallow our entire finger along with whatever we've offered you, it's pretty hilarious watching you eat! You chew very deliberately, mouth open, and staring at whomever gave you the food. You also clear your mouth, show us your done, and open for a new piece, sometimes we cant give you food fast enough. So far your favorite foods at Peas, beans (black and pinto so far) Organic Banana and Greens puffs (Happy Baby Organics), carrots, bananas (sometimes), Avocado's, Kiwi berries, and stone fruits. We always get that funny "what the heck is this?!?" face when we introduce something new to you, but within a bit or two, you're hooked. You're not a HUGE eater though, you like almost everything you've tasted, but after a dozen pieces or so, you're over it. I'm still nursing you several times a day baby girl, you love you some boobs, which is just fine by me, I love that something from my body can fill your tummy better than anything else, and that I can offer you all the nutrients you need to grow. I love how you touch my face while staring up at me with your big blueish eyes, How you curl into my chest, and bring your foot up over my shoulder, your my little nursing contortionist. We've had to start quieting the room and dimming the lights while you nurse, because you have become extremely distracted, you really don't want to miss anything. 

Little gremlin, you are so much fun right now! I love this stage of your life. I've loved every stage so far, but every day is a new adventure with you, we have so much fun playing together! It's getting very chilly outside now, the leaves are on the ground, daddy spends some time each night raking and filling bags, while you trail behind him, making sure no leaf is left behind, instead they all end up in your mouth, some even make it to your tummy... mmm, fiber. You are still very much an outdoor baby, as cold as it it, your little nose can be bright red, fingers like little ice cubes, but you'd still rather play outside, and sometimes even cry when we bring you in for the day, fighting the whole time. You are finding things to keep you occupied on your own, which is wonderful when mommy wants to do some laundry or make dinner (we've actually had a home made dinner every night for almost 2 weeks!!!), but most of the time you just follow me around, from room to room, all over the house. It's so fun that you can crawl and follow, I love when you finally catch up to me wherever I've gone, you always smile and look so proud of yourself! 

You certainly are also trouble for daddy and I, but we love it, and were ready for all you can dish out! Last week I caught you with Lilly in a headlock... literally. You had your arm around her neck and had her pinned to the floor, poor cat! She was so good to you though, and just let you do it, your animals love you so much. Yesterday you learned how to pull the Velcro off your diaper, or how to just take it off in general... which scares my quite a lot actually... I love when your naked and let you be naked all the time... but what scares me is the one time you poop and decide to take the diaper off yourself... oh man does that scare me! I'm sure it's going to happen though... maybe we'll just stick to snaps for awhile. You also had your first bloody and fat lip!! A casualty of crawling and taking a faceplant without stopping yourself, it was the saddest thing ever to see the blood pouring out of your mouth, not knowing quite where it was coming from, and you sobbing in my arms, so scared from the pain and unsure of what was happening. You were a trooper though, and still nursed like a champ, even with a top lip twice the size of the bottom. It ended up being more of a scrape on your lip than a cut, and you were back to normal in only 2 days thankfully, your such a tough little girl! 

I'd love to tell you what a good sleeper you are also... but we struggle with that one. You have a high need to sleep with someone, or near someone, which is wonderful most of the time. I absolutely love sleeping with you, and could not imagine any other sleeping arrangements. The only thing is naps, which have gotten better, but still don't last much longer than an hour to maybe an hour and a half if were lucky. Night time is hit or miss. You usually are in bed and asleep between 7:30 and 8, but have been waking up within an hour or so. I think it might be too warm for you sometimes, so were going to see how you do sleeping in just a diaper for a few nights, it's too chilly to have no heat, and we don't turn the heat up that much, but I think your body is just so warm naturally, that when you're up against me sleeping, our bed turns into a little oven. I guess you might be like your daddy in that sense, he radiates heat when it's barely 10 degrees out! 

Stella Jean, Daddy and I are so thankful to have such a smart, curious, and energetic little girl! We thank God every single day for you, and could not imagine out lives without you in them! I cannot wait to see what this month brings, i'm sure many new things are going to happen, some wonderful, some spills, some possibly yummy and yucky food adventure... All of which will bring smiles to our faces i'm sure. We love you so much baby girl! Happy 8 months of life :)

Love, Mommy and Daddy