Eight Months Old

Happy 8 month birthday, baby girl! You are getting so big and less and less baby like lately. Crawling is still a little ways off, you are very good at rolling everywhere, pushing up, and you just learned how to get on your knees and rock back and forth for a few seconds. Dexter is your favorite playmate and I wouldn't be surprised if you became mobile trying to chase him around. You love standing and holding onto things, especially the sliding glass door downstairs. Six teeth are now through your gums, two more not very far behind. The ability to assert yourself has been emerging more and more--you now push things away that you don't want and shriek if we take something away from you or don't give you what you want. Anything that is not a designated baby toy hold the most fascination--magazines (so fun to tear up!), daddy's watch, pens, cd's, etc.





Mama and Daddy are so proud that you are a good sleeper and love to sneak in your room while you are sleeping and watch. Recently you decided that you are a side sleeper and usually are in that position, although we never really know where we will find you in your crib, you love to travel while sleeping. One thing though, where did you get the idea that it is fun to get up really early in the morning?!? Mama and Daddy are not morning people and it is just so hard for them to have tons of energy to play at 6am.



We love your sense of humor and like to find new ways to make you laugh. You already are so ticklish; and love physical comedy. Daddy pretending to fall over or putting a toy on his head produces gales of laughter. Eating is always a treat for you, especially fruits. You have recently learned to chew on rice crackers and Gerber puffs and are developing that pincer grasp. It won't be too long now before you are sampling all the foods off everyone's plates, but for now Mama is glad that she can feed you lots of healthy fruits and veggies. We are excited to see how you grow this next month. Love you lots!

xoxoxo,
Mama

I slept in my own bed last night. I missed it! For the past four nights I have stayed with Aubrey in her room because she came down with a case of croup. It has been a pretty miserable and sometimes scary experience. We had to leave from our visit with Bill's family in Pennsylvania early and sadly missed seeing many of them. Poor little baby, every time she coughed she would cry because it hurt. We spent lots of time in the bathroom with the shower running breathing in the steam. The nights were the worst, she couldn't lay down without coughing so Bill and I took turns holding her upright in the rocking chair trying to help her sleep.

Between lack of sleep and feeling sick, Aubrey has been so very cranky and needy. It was a lot easier to hold her 20 hours a day when she was 9 lbs. Now that she is 21 lbs. my back and arms are really hurting!

We are on the mend now. She still has a cough, but it is not the barking cough of croup, just a congested cough of a bad cold. I hope she continues to mend quickly--she has a friend's first birthday party to attend this weekend!

Pictures from Easter in Pennsylvania

First Easter morning with her first Easter basket.

Playing with her cousin.

Aubrey's favorite part of a present

Girly Purple Playtime

Happy St. Patrick's Day

from two (part) Irish Lasses

Aubrey's new game

Aubrey thinks it is so fun to pick up toys that previously she just played with on the floor. It is like all of a sudden she figured out that they actually can be picked up, chewed on, and smacked. She does it while making a mmmm, mmm, mmmm, sound which is so cute.

I'm a cool kid

If you watch LOST this will be funny...

If I was part of the Dharma Initiative, this is where I would be stationed.

Any of my blog reader friends LOST fans? How are you enjoying this season? So far I like the bit of a change up with the flash forwards mixed in with the flashbacks. You never know what you will get. I think that I would be in Locke's camp though--I don't trust the new boat people. I have a great theory on who Ben's spy on the freighter is, I thought of it a couple episodes ago and last night's show made me believe it even more. Wait for it.....

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Michael!

I know the actor did sign on for this season, and Ben sent him off in that motor boat with a bearing that could have put him on a course to intercept the boat. Considering the weird time warp the island puts people in, it might just work. I may be way off though. Usually I am properly shocked and amazed by all twists and surprises in shows; I tend to be on the more gullible end of the spectrum. Makes watching them with me fun for Bill with all the gasping and "what?!?!"s going on. :)

Other uses for homemade baby food

"This seriously could be a pie filling, it smells so good."

~Bill while feeding Aubrey her dinner last night. She was eating a blend of apples and bananas. The apples were Braeburn which are fairly sweet, so I guess that is why Bill thought it smelled like a pie. :)

Happy Spring!

Mmmmm....Peas!

Bag of Organic Peas from Trader Joes: $2

Time to cook and put through food mill: 20 minutes

The look on Aubrey's face upon first tasting peas: Priceless!

One of the things I would say when I was pregnant was that I couldn't wait until I wasn't pregnant anymore so I could take medicine for the minor illnesses that people come down with. Colds basically. So one thing you don't find out until later is that you can't really take drugs while you are breastfeeding either. Especially ones that dry up runny noses because that can dry up milk too. Here I sit with a faucet for a nose longing for some Tylenol Cold...

Aubrey has been having increasing separation anxiety. One of her main play areas is on the living room floor and she is fine just sitting there banging her toys together if I am in the room. But if I might step out into the kitchen, or horrors, try to go to the bathroom--instant shrieking. This weekend she even was doing it if Bill was sitting right with her and I walked out of the room. No Mommy! You must be in attendance at all times! So now the Bumbo seat is set up in the bathroom and I dangle TP in front of her to keep her amused as I try to go to the bathroom and I play peekaboo around the shower door when I am trying to wash. Everything else I do is now done while holding her. It is amazing what I can accomplish with one hand while balancing a 20 pound baby on my hip.

This is Aubrey playing in the living room. The bow on her head was just me being silly--it was off of a Valentine's day gift.