Month 8

my darling, 8-month-old baby girl, you make my world stand still.  each morning and after each nap, i cannot wait to go to your room, peek over your crib and meet your smiling eyes with mine.  you start shaking your whole body and reaching for me with your tiny, chubby arms.  your sassy is still in your mouth, but you are smiling behind it.  

you nurse when you wake up and about 4 more times during the day.  however, about 2 weeks ago, you suddenly stopped nursing before bed.  we still try, but most nights you would just rather go to bed.  so i kiss you, and pray for you, and lay you down, and watch your immediately switch out your sassy with whichever one you scooped up on your way down to your mattress.  then i turn off your light, close your door, and listen to you talk yourself to sleep.  my heart skips beats listening to you go to sleep so sweetly.  you are consistently sleeping through the night.  there are occasional wake-ups, but most nights, you are down for the count from 8pm-8(ish)am.  love it!

your nursing habits have changed some because about two weeks ago, you suddenly decided you like baby food, or big people food, or whatever you can get someone to put in your mouth.  you'll eat anything i try and give you now.  still no teeth, so that can get a bit tricky when you want a bite of pizza, but anything smashable is fair game.

i've started laying you on your stomach a lot more, you still have it.  rolling over comes more frequently.  you can also basically lay your tummy on your legs to reach a toy while you're sitting up.  just get on your belly and crawl, girl! you'll discover how much fun it is and then you won't stop, i know it!

i'm still your favorite person, but daddy is about the only one who can get you to sleep while he holds you.  you have started to give just a few kisses.  they are few and far between though, and open-mouthed and slobbery.  

the art of making noise is becoming quite the adventure for you.  you take two toys and bang them together and stare at them like you're solving a math equation.  it's funny.  and cute.  and loud.  

you cry when we leave the room and want to be around the action all the time.  but you are so, so happy.  you love to see uncle mattie and touch his face and your cousin ellie makes you smile and dance.

oh, dancing. you've just started a little bounce and sway thing while you're sitting down.  to.die.for.

you love your brother. he loves you even more. he cannot get enough of you.  he is the best brother and always wants to catch you, protect you, give you toys (so you're never gonna crawl), read to you, kiss you and hug you.  if it's sweet, he wants to do it for you.  i'm pretty fond of the way that guy loves you.  i hope you will be as close as i was with my brothers growing up.  if the light in your eyes when you look at him is any indication, i don't think we'll have a problem with that.

thank you for making our lives feel so wonderful and happy.  mama loves you.

today. 8:43am. exactly 40 mins after you were born,8 swift months ago.

camilla turns 7 months old

today you turned SEVEN months old, and what an amazing 7th month old you are.  :) you are so happy, all the time.  you talk and laugh out loud  and play with your toys. you love to sit up on the floor and watch michael david run around and try to take care of you.  he is a funny big brother.

you love to sleep in your room and have slept through the night a few times.  i mean like, 8pm-8am.  it's soooo incredible. thank you for that! of course, the first time you did it, about a month ago, i told someone about it and then you didn't do it again. you stinker! :) we have had curtains pinned up in your room to help keep it dark, i think one day i'll actually get a curtain rod and make it look pretty! :) you get ready for a nap after being awake for about 2 hours and lay down so easily.  you always have one sassy in your mouth (that you get right before you lay down) and start reaching for another sassy on the way down to your bed.  you switch out your sassy as soon as you lay down, even if you're crying hard.  it's so cute! your naps still last only about 45 mins to an hour but i've learned to accept it and be quite happy with it.  3 naps a day and a good nights sleep.  i love it! and i love you!

your changing table makes you very happy and it's where you do your most talking.  "dadadadada" and spitting bubbles with your tongue between your gums are your most favorite sounds.  you'll even repeat them when daddy or michael say them to you first. you keep us smiling with those sounds.

i'm your favorite person.  i'm not gonna lie, i love it.  if someone else is holding you and you see me, you stare hard at me and whine or cry until i take you.  you like other people too, like daddy and mamo and pa, but you love me the most. thanks for that, btw. 

your hair is starting to come back in.  seems like it's gonna be a light brown.  i don't know if it's gonna curl or not, but you maintain the top poof and the two curly tendrils on either side of your face.  can anyone say UH-dorable?! goodness sakes, i die!

you sit up in the bath (your all time fav activity) sometimes.  but the majority of your baths are still conducted with you in your lounger.  i don't have to worry about you falling face first that way.  plus, you seem super comfortable.

we just celebrated your first christmas.  it was fun! santa brought you a little musical guitar. you love to push the buttons.  you're a natural! other gifts were: clothes, sassies, books, an activity cube from mamo.  the best part of christmas for you, was the paper! hurray for noise!

you make us infinitely happy, mills-tills.  thank you for being such an amazing part of our family! we love you!

half a year!

HOLD THE PHONE! how can you be six months old?! whether i believe it or not, it's true.  you are six months old! congratulations for making it this far! :)

your stats:

18 lbs 12 oz - 89%

27.5" - 93%

18" head - 98%

(you got a lotta brains to hold in that head!)

your doctor's appointment went well this month.  you got your usual shots and also a flu shot.  you're the first one in our family to ever have one of those.  dr. sawyer really thought you should get one though, and daddy was there to agree with him.  sorry about that! i think it probably hurt the worst.  you only cry a few seconds though and as soon as i hold you, you start to calm down.  i cry longer than you do.  whew. that wears me out.  you're such a good girl.  this past month, you were pretty sick and when we finally got to the doctor, you were diagnosed with bronchialitis.  you had to have an antibiotic and breathing treatments for about 5 days.  you took those like a champ.  you even got to where you would fall asleep with that mask on your face.  sorry you were so sick (brother was too:walking pneumonia).  i am glad that is over!

you started sitting up really well just after you turned 5 months old.  i'm so impressed! especially since you sort of moved right past rolling over.  oh, don't be fooled, you CAN roll over...you just won't.  aren't you the particular type.  :) doc says as long as you're sitting as well as you are, there isn't a single reason to worry.  lazy bones.

we just celebrated thanksgiving.  that means nothing really to you cause you didn't get to eat any of the yummy goodness this year.  but you were pretty high on everyone's list of what they were thankful for.  especially mine.  

you still love to nurse and that's about it as far as food goes.  it doesn't really matter cause you've put on some good weight with just milk.  we tried rice cereal and you didn't really care for it.  nor have you liked green beans, carrots or sweet potatoes.  you ate just a few bites of each (with quite the funny face) before totally refusing any more.  i guess we'll try again in the future, but i'm not worried about your health right now.

you love to chew on your "africa" teether from aunt sarah.  toys are special and picking them up and looking at them is very interesting.  you also babble all the time and have started blowing raspberries with your tongue between your gums.  this sound makes your eyes light up! such a fun talent! your favorite word is, "nnnga".  i'm not certain, but i think it means, "i love you, mama. you are so pretty!"

one night this month, you slept. like...all.night. it was the best thing that's happened to me since you were born.  however, you're normal night isn't too bad either.  after a bath and  your night-time-nursing, you lay down in your bed and fall asleep around 8pm.  you wake up to nurse around 2am and then again around 5:30am.  you eat really fast and then go straight back to sleep.  you stay asleep until around 8:00am. way to go, champ! your naps are taking me some getting used to.  seems like they should be longer than 45 mins. but that's your usual. :)

your first halloween you were a ballerina. a cute one. with a gigantic pink flower-bow. cutie-patootie. we went to rock the pumpkin at church. you didn't get any candy. sorry 'bout-cha.

the most awesome thing about your half-year birthday? it was your mere-mere's birthday.  every nov 29th will now be twice as special to your daddy. :)

we're so proud of you and love you so much!