Intrepid Murmurings

8 Months Old
Dear Emma Rae,
You are 8 months old today! It is hard to believe you are such a big girl these days....it seems like just yesterday you were my tiny baby who nursed all day long! Now you are moving all over the place and getting stronger and bigger every day (and you still love to nurse, just not all day long anymore. Whew!).
The week after Christmas, less than a month ago, you started crawling. Not just army crawls and scootches anymore, but real up on the hands and knees crawling. At first you did a lot of nosedives, tripping on toys and faceplanting on the floor, but in just a few weeks you are an old pro and getting really fast (when you want to...sometimes you just sit and cry pathetically for us to come pick you up). In bed, you love to crawl all over me, trying to get to the bedside table and the cd player and clock. I have to hold you back with all my strength as you kick and claw your way to it. You are so strong for such a tiny body!
As soon as you were crawling you also started pulling up on things. It took you a few weeks to get steady on your feet, and you did a lot of falling and head bonking as you figured it out. I hate to see your precious head hitting the hard floor! And so do you! But now, you are really getting good at it and are trying to pull up on everything! You have tried the coffee table, the TV stand, the chair and the couch, the desk, the table with a plant, the dishwasher, the walls, the baby gate, your toy basket, the kitchen chair, the laundry baskets, the garbage can. Sometimes the thing you try to pull on is too light and it falls over, and you go over too. But you are determined, and are soon back at it again!
Just in the past three days, you've also started to cruise! You stand at one piece of furniture, and look determinedly at another nearby. Then you slide, and step, or lean and reach to get over to it. Sometimes you make yourself nervous and you let out a concerned cry, your hands clinging tightly to whatever it is you are on. Sometimes you get stuck and forget how to get down. You lean over, one arm reaching down, and then you decide its just too far and go back up again. Sometimes you whine and whine for me to come rescue you. Soon, you won't need me for that, and will be able to get anywhere you want to. Yikes!
You are also starting to eat new things, and are really enjoying it. At first you really didn't like eating all that much, and thought it was weird to have stuff in your mouth. You would make awful faces when you tasted something new. But now, we have figured out you like to feed yourself, and you are loving it! Yesterday you squealed and laughed all through lunch, having a grand time. You love eating a whole pear, or slices of it. You love avocado, and we give you a quarter of one that you squish up in your hand, and cram bits in your mouth. You are starting to get the hang of the spoon, though you'd rather do it yourself so I fill it up and hand it to you most of the time. You like applesauce a lot, and today you tried mango and blueberries. You love the rice & apricot congee I made for you, and eat it for breakfast every day, but you hate the baby cereal out of a box (I agree with you, it tastes nasty). Your daddy likes that you like beets, and boy do you get messy when you eat that!
You are really starting to become a little person now, and are doing so many new things each day that just amaze us. You are starting to interact with us in ways that are so fun! One thing you have started to do is to hold up toys, or food, for me to put in my mouth. You think it is just hilarious when I bite on your toy. Ha ha! I love that you are trying to share with me, or are trying to get me to play with you. Yesterday, we played a game with blocks where I made a tower and you knocked it over. We did it again and again and again. You definitely enjoy that one!
Today, I really think you figured out how to wave, and did it to me with the biggest smile on your face! You also waved to Aiko the dog and the TV, too....hmmmm... We have been teaching you sign language and you definitely know the sign for milk, though I don't think you've made it yourself yet...at least not intentionally. But you are so very close! You are also using your voice a lot, and making all sorts of sounds, squeals, and screeches. You are getting to be rather chatty, it seems! You even like to hum when you are falling asleep!
One thing that you have not grown out of is your opinion of sleep. You have always hated it, and avoid it whenever you can! You hate to miss out on anything, I think, and you want to be right in the middle of it all, not tucked away in a quiet bedroom. When you are really sleepy, you can fall asleep with Mama, and sometimes with Daddy, but you really hate sleeping by yourself. We are trying to teach you that your crib is a place for sleeping, but you don't really agree. You do like napping in the sling, carrier or wrap, just like when you were a little baby. But you are getting a little heavier now, and sometimes I wish I could put you down! My aching shoulders and back! You still sleep in the bed with us at night, and we both love when you reach out, with your little hands, to make sure we are still there.
It is only 4 months until you will be one year old! I think, by then, you will be walking, and maybe even saying a few words. I can't wait! But I also want to remember exactly what you are like right now, my 8 month old baby, because you are so sweet and funny and perfect just as you are now.
Love, Mama