8 Months

 Hey there, Sweet Cheeks! (not you.... Eliana:)I had a little panic attack today when I realized that there are only 4 months til you turn one. It hurts my heart to say that!

You are growing before our very eyes it seems. You are such a doll, a light and a joy to all 4 of us! Samuel has renewed his great love for you lately and wants to hold you ALL the time! He even said at dinner tonight that he wished he had four arms so he could hold you and eat dinner at the same time.

But daddy said I get first dibs on having four arms:)

At 8 months you are:

*Waving!! It started out as this nifty wrist movement that even you think is pretty cool but now when we say "Hi!" to you, you start waving your wrists all around and say "Ah" in a really soft voice. It is absolutely adorable!

*A soft, chunky-monkey! Most people agree that your cheeks are highly kissable, especially the one with the dimple. That dimple is one of the cutest things I've ever seen!

*Still in 3-6 months clothes and very happy in them but today I pulled out all your 6-9 month summer clothes because I'm afraid the summer will pass by without you wearing them! You are so dainty (and yet so chunky....). You are in size 3 diapers now.

*Trying SOOO hard to crawl! You get up on your hands and knees really quickly now and rock back and forth, sometimes so hard that you propel forward and land on your face! It's not going to be long before you get the hang of it.

*Spin in circles trying to get toys. You never stay in the same place and are getting pretty creative with your toy-searching abilities:)

*Enjoying more and more foods! I finally have time to introduce more foods now that school is out. You have had oatmeal, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, peas (your favorite!), applesauce, pears, sw. potato puffs, cheerios (the jury is still out on those), and today little pieces of wheat bread, which you loved! I'm hoping to find a good produce market and get lots of good green things for you to try. Since I know that kids LOVE anything green......(snicker!)

*Really close to getting your bottom teeth. I fully expect them to pop through anytime now and can't wait to see what you will look like! But please, no biting....

*Such a joy-baby. You are so happy most of the time and so content when you can just be with your family. It's so easy to take you places and you'll work with us when we mess with your schedule a little (to a certain point!). You LOVE to take walks and just look up at us and smile and look around at the big sky.

*Really blond! It's not the light blond that Z was but a golden blond color. Your hair, which always gets admired, is so shiny, silky and beautiful. It curls up a bit when it's wet or when you get hot and is always a wild mess when you wake up in the mornings.

*Adore your paci, once again. We reintroduced it in May when mommy got desperate for you to get back to the wonderful sleeping you were doing before vacation. You find it in your sleep and usually put it in upside down or sideways. Once again: adorable:) But we take it out as soon as you wake up so hopefully it won't be a hard habit to break...the second time around;)

Happy 8 months of love, sweet girl!