8 Months Old

Lilly is eight months old today. Here's what she's been up to lately.

Food: Lilly has tried several kinds of food (carrots, peas, rice/oatmeal cereal, sweet potatoes, and baked apples. I've made all the baby food so far, with the exception of the cereal. Usually, she spits all of the food out. When she actually does swallow it, she has to gag/choke it down. She loves to put her fingers in the food, eat the spoon, and make a mess. A couple of weeks ago, Lilly had a mouthful of peas. She sneezed and the bright, green pea puree went all over Al's gray sweater. Pretty funny to me. I'm not that worried, but I do wish she'd eat a little bit more food. After all, the milk factory has to shut down sometime! Tonight I gave her a few gerber star puffs. She stopped crying when I put one in her mouth then ate a few more. So much for the healthy home made baby food! A little bit later, I put a slice of peach in one of those feeders with a mesh bag on one side, plastic handle on the other. The idea is you can put real fruit in there and the mesh prevents big pieces from getting into the baby's mouth. At first, she seemed to like it. I looked away, and then she was chewing in the plastic handle. I tried to encourage her to eat the part with the fruit in it....she only wanted the handle. It seems that she wants to eat everything except food. Oh well, she'll eat when she's ready.

Teeth--She just has the bottom two, but they're in far enough to show when she smiles. I tell people when the want to hold her, "Watch out, she bites!" Really, she does, and it really does hurt, even though she doesn't have any teeth at the top yet. If you don't believe me, put your finger in her mouth and see what happens. We've had several conversations that end with "Don't bite the boob that feeds you." One night she was especially bad for biting and I had a dream there were teeth marks on my nipple. I'm glad that's better, for now at least

Shoes--There's the ongoing battle of trying to keep her socks on so her feet stay warm. She still loves to pull on the end of her sock until the sock comes off, look at it, then pop it back into her mouth. If I'm ambitious, I try to get to it sooner than later, otherwise when I put it the sock back onto her feet, the toes are all wet. I've tried several brands of socks, slippers, shoes, boots, booties, you name it. I finally broke down and bough $40 little Robeez boots. It seems so silly, but I am tired of trying to keep her socks on and don't want her feet to be cold this winter.

Crawling?--Not yet. A few weeks ago, I was laying in front of the fire at about 11:00. I had given up on trying to put her to sleep. Al was sleeping on the couch. I was half asleep, opened my eyes, and saw Lilly pulling herself with her arms. I didn't know she could do that. Note to self: have lots of fires now, before we can't anymore! Last night, Lilly was sitting up playing with her toys. In less than five minutes, she had moved a couple feet and was by the drawer under the TV and reached up for it. Note to self: get the drawer locks. Little Houdini usually moves when I'm not looking so I'm not exactly how she does it. I think she's sitting up, falls to the side, rolls onto her belly and then pulls with her arms.

Giggles--Lilly is still easily entertained most of the time. She loves silly noises, bouncing, peek a boo, playing with her hands, any version of the near/far game (close by her face, move it away, repeat) There's nothing better than baby giggles! She gets excited and starts boucing now.

Swimming--Lilly wasn't sure about swimming at first. She didn't get super excited and was calm to start with. The first swimming class, she played with her feet and my necklace. She liked the class where she could float in the life jacket. She started to kick a little bit. She seems to like it more each time and doesn't get scared when she puts her face in the water anymore.

Toys--Lilly likes playing with toys. One of her favorites is a stuffed lamb that has a squeaker and a rattle in it. She also likes the tiny blanket with the ribbons around it, a plastic jeep 4 x 4, and the old tupperware ball with the different shapes that go in it, crinkle books, and most recently, board books. The best toys of all are things she isn't supposed to have. She loves the laptop, remotes, and cell phones. Oh, I forgot, when we were shopping a few weeks ago, she pulled of a tag from a shirt and ate part of the paper. I'm glad she liked the paper end, because the other end was a tiny opened safety pin. She also was chewing on a board book and ate off some of the velvety words. Again, eating things that aren't food (while turning her nose up at things that are food).

Lilly just went to "help" Al get some "daddy milk" aka beer from the fridge. Now she's playing with Daddy's toes. Don't try to eat those, Lilly.

Eight months old. This Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for many things, but my sweet baby girl is at the top of the list. Happy first Thanksgiving, Lilly.