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.

Sleep Regression

Well there hasn't been much sleeping going on in our house for about a month now.  Being that it is the week of Halloween, I feel like my husband and I could play the part of zombies perfectly.  Sleep regression has hit us hard.  Liv is clingy and cries every time I put her down unless a toy distracts her.  Her nap schedule is unpredictable or non-existent entirely.  A few days last week she gave up her morning nap but took a long 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon.  But more times than not, she just fights me on napping.  One would think if they aren't sleeping during the day, they will pass out and sleep through the night.  But that is not the case either. My girlfriend was up every hour last night from 1:30am on.

As I sit here yawning writing this post, I can only pray that we are almost done with this not so fun phase.  Everything I have read says sleep regression last about 4-6 weeks.  I feel like it has already been an eternity but that is probably b/c I am so sleep deprived and surviving on caffeine.  While I am thrilled she is practicing her new skills such as standing and taking steps or saying new words, this tired mama needs a good nights rest.