Dear Carolyn,
My goodness, you’re growing so quickly! I can’t believe that you’re already eight months old. I look back at the pictures from when you were born, and I can hardly believe that you’re the same little girl as that tiny little baby.
You’re very confident about pulling up on things now. You can even stand on your own for a moment or two – until you realize that you’re not holding on to anything, and then you plop back down on your butt. You’ve started taking steps holding onto hands or furniture, too.
We’ve added a few new foods to your diet since last month: oatmeal, green beans, peaches, squash, barley and plums. We tried out yogurt for a few days, but even though you absolutely love how it tastes it didn’t agree with you so well – not an allergic reaction or anything, just tummy troubles – so we’ll wait and try it again in another month or two. You’re also learning how to pick up food and feed yourself. In fact, just today you figured out how to consistently get puffed rice cereal off your tray and into your mouth.
The LeapFrog learning table is still your favorite toy. You walk around it now and play with all the different buttons and spinning things. A new thing this month is that you’ve figured out different things to do with your toys besides chew on them! You bang blocks together, turn the pages of books, and shake rattling things. You’ve discovered that cars have wheels, and the one we have that you can pull back and release and watch it move forward is one of the first toys you go for when it’s time to play.
You consistently wave “bye-bye”, although generally about 30 seconds after the person going away has actually left. You clap your hands when asked to, and sometimes just when you’re really happy about something. You’ve figured out how to point, and you’re really starting to enjoy the touch-and-feel books we have. I’m starting to show you signs for some words, “more”, “eat” and “milk”, and there are times when you bang your fists together in your high chair and I really think you might be trying to sign “more”.
Still no teeth in sight. There are nights when I’m sure we’re going to wake up and you’ll have a whole mouthful of them, but they’re never there. You’ve been drooling so much, though, that I’m sure one of these mornings we’ll see a teeny-tiny pearly white or two. Nights, by the way, have become quite interesting. It’s a challenge to get you to sleep, and you generally don’t stay that way for long. Despite the fact that you fell out of the big bed a couple of weeks ago you end up there more nights than not now because I’m just too tired to drag myself out of bed so many times every night. Partly I think it’s because you’re much more interested in standing up than laying down – it’s like you’re on autopilot: there are times when I put you down – sound asleep! – on your back, and you roll over, push up on your hands and knees and sit up before your eyes are even open.
You’re not really babbling yet, either. No “ma-ma-ma” or “da-da-da”, but you’ve modulated your shrieking into something a bit more conversational. We have great fun repeating each other with “ahs” and raspberries. Sometimes when you shriek really loud now I say “scream with your inside voice, please” and say “aaaaahhh” really quiet, and you repeat it very quietly. People are very impressed that you know what I mean by an “inside voice”. And I’ll just let them be impressed, even if it is just a repetition thing. You do have a very cute voice, though, and I can’t wait until you start talking – even if it’s likely that we’ll never get a word in edgewise.
I’m so proud of everything you’re learning, but there are times when I look at you and realize I’m losing my baby. It’s not as sad as it sounds, because I adore the little girl I’m getting in her place, but sometimes I wish I could stop time for a minute or two just to catch my breath.
Love, Mommy
