Happy 8 Months...A Little Late

Liv: 8 Month Update

Normally she wouldn't have had an 8 month doctor's appointment but we needed to get the flu booster and have her eye checked out.  So, I can confirm Liv weighs 19 lbs 9 oz. 

Diapers: She is wearing size 3 diapers but I just recently bought size 4, so when we run out we are moving on up. 

Clothes: Most of her closet is comprised of Carter's outfits which are currently 9 months.  But she also wears Circo from Target in 12 months.  Circo has such adorable outfits and for cheap just make sure you size up.

Food:  Apparently this weekend Liv decided she was done with baby food after having real table food.  She turns her head away from me each time I try baby teething wafers, which she use to love, or any pureed food.  So she has been eating bite-sized portions of whatever we are eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  In addition, she is still taking a bottle throughout the day.

Words:  Mom & Ba are her only decipherable words as of now.  She babbles alot all day long too.

Movement: She is getting very efficient at walking with her walker.  Constantly standing.  Prior to 8 months, she would kneel on one knee and put her hands up to be picked up like a prairie dog.  Now, she will climb up your legs to stand.  She will wave at family in response to a wave or when you say hello or goodbye.  The crab crawl seems to be phasing out b/c she can crawl normally much faster.  She will clap her hands when happy, music is playing or is excited about something she did and just started blowing kisses.

Play:  Anything musical still excites her.  We keep toddler tunes on the TV all day long.  She is fascinated with baby faces. Anything she should not have, seems to have a magnetic attraction for her. Who needs toys when you have empty boxes, shoes, belts & exercise rollers?

Teeth:  I would say 2.5 teeth.  The top tooth has poked through but not dropped yet.  I can only see a small white portion sticking out of her gum.

Sleep:  Ever since I started putting one of my worn t-shirts in her crib, she has begun sleeping again.  Some nights she wakes up for a 4:30am feeding and others she will sleep until 7am.  Either way I am a happy mama yet again.  Anything is better than up 4x a night.  Nap time is either one 2H+ nap or a morning & afternoon 45 min snooze.

Baby Sleep Tricks

In comparison to my last post, finally we have a better sleeping baby. Notice I used the word better b/c honestly it changes from night to night .  But overall in the grand scheme of things, we made light-years worth of progress all thanks to a t-shirt.  I think my father could tell I was hitting rock bottom with both my patience and overall outlook due to sleep exhaustion, so he got on the computer and googled some tricks of the trade. He suggested I put an unwashed t-shirt in the crib at night to provide a sense of comfort from my scent.  Well don't you know, it worked like a charm.  That first night she only woke up at 4:30am to nurse.  I don't know why I didn't think of this myself b/c previously she would immediately go right back to sleep the minute I picked her up and brought her to my chest. Obviously, she associated my smell with a sense of security. 

Not only is she sleeping better at night, she has begun to transition to one nap a day.  It seems her morning and afternoon naps are phasing out and being replaced with approximately a two hour nap right around noon.  I am hoping this continues as it will greatly free up our schedule.

So far, eight months old is pretty fantastic.