8 Months

Dear Lucy,
You're becoming quite the biggie girl! Every week you bust out some new tricks to surprise me. You are an unassisted sitting pro now! You want to crawl so bad but all you have been doing the past few weeks is rocking on all fours. Also in gross motor skill news, your pincher grasp seems pretty good for an 8 month old. You love to babble and say things like dada, blah, abah, and when you're upset you say "M" sounds so I think you're trying to call me Mama. 

You wrapped up your first extracurricular activity -- swim class! It was a fun Saturday morning tradition, but I think you're on to better things, like outside swimming pools. Maybe soon you'll graduate from the laundry basket in the tub to just the tub. :) You can now sit in restaurant high chairs and grocery carts. But you're super chatty and loud in restaurants, so we've been scaling back our dining out recently. 

Your favorite things to grab are remote controls and our iPhones. You adore bouncing in your bounceroos and always laugh when we kiss your belly and make weird sounds. Your sleep is still about the same.You can sometimes lie down without crying, but often you'll rotate yourself to face the door, rock on all fours and cry. I think you're just really nosy and don't want to miss anything. 

You continue to amaze me, and I love you more just a bit more than the previous day which I didn't think was possible. If it continues at this rate, my heart will collapse from all the pressure by the time you're 5. You're simply the best baby anyone could ever ask for. I know I'm incredibly blessed. 

Love, Mommy

Lucy at 36 Weeks

Weight:  Somewhere between 17 and 18 lbs I'm guessing.

Medical Issues: Nothing really. I'm happy to report (and hopefully not jinxing us) that ever since summer started and we switched daycare, she's been really healthy. 

Sleep:  The past four days naps have been pretty decent in length, but that could be because she's been at home (4th of July vacation). The past few weeks it would take about 20 minutes of crying and rocking on all fours before she would finally submit to sleep, but now it's taking about 3 minutes after I turn on her sleep sheep. Therefore, the sleep sheep is my new old favorite baby gadget. :) 

Clothes: Getting more into the 6-9 months stuff, though some of it is too big, especially in the shoulder/arm area. I put her in onesies and cotton pants to go to daycare, and at home she lounges in onesies. Weekends are dresses and rompers. 

Social:  Taking her to restaurants is getting a lot more challenging. She doesn't cry; she'll just yell. I thought with her being able to hang out in her highchair and nibble on food, she'd be distracted, but I fear our days of eating out are coming to an end for a while. She's still a social butterfly and loves smiling and "talking" to any stranger that looks at her. She's never developed the fear of other people yet. If that's supposed to happen by now, I think she skipped it. She loves people. 

Food: She likes fruit purees after all! I've been getting more adventurous with other non puree food. This week she's had puffs, watermelon, and pancakes. She's really getting the hang of it. I've also started giving her "breakfast" before school.

Crying: Same

Play: She's still in love with her Fisher Price Remote Control. Also Sophie. Blows raspberries like it's her job. 

Milestones: First Fourth of July! 

Lucy at 35 Weeks

Weight:  Somewhere between 17 and 18 lbs I'm guessing.

Medical Issues: None!

Sleep:  We had one night where she woke at 11 am and had a hard time lying back down. She's been a little clingy, wanting to be rocked to sleep and hating to be put down. Naps at daycare at pretty inconsistent, so she takes about 4-5 naps a day. She'll take on in the evening too unless we have company. 

And her new favorite sleeping position. She usually gets into this position after rocking on all fours crying toward the corner of her crib closest to the door. 

Clothes: Getting more into the 6-9 months stuff. She's a lot more tall than she is wide. I just love little rompers on her. Wish they'd be half as cute on adults. 

Social:  Got to visit with her cousins from NC. It's so cute to watch her interact with other babies. 

Food: Stage 2 purees with oatmeal. This week I gave her a banana to see what she'd do with it. It was messy, but I think she got a few bites into her tummy.

Crying: Same

Play: Her new Fisher-Price Remote Control! Still the bounceroo. And when we play in her room, we play with the Zany Zoo Activity Cube. 

Milestones: Just more summer adventures. 

Lucy at 32 Weeks

Weight:  Somewhere between 17 and 18 lbs I'm guessing.

Medical Issues: Her bottom two teeth have popped through the gumline! There were a few rough days where she just wasn't herself (yet not chewing on her hand or teething toys) and lo and behold, the teeth emerged. I can't believe she has teeth now!! Her nose has been a little snotty too, which I attribute to the teething. Still as drooly as ever of course. 

Sleep:  Naps are still short (worse at daycare than at home). Nighttime sleeping is generally okay, though she woke up during the night two nights in a row lately. She's still awakens with the dawn. It's funny to see her through the video monitor because she moves positions; she'll start the normal way and end up lying vertically at the top or bottom of her crib with her head almost smushed into the side. (Thank you, mesh bumpers.) 

Clothes: 3-6 months, though some 6-9 can fit her if it's cut smaller. Still crazy to me that she can fit into the 3-6. She's longer than she is wide. 

Social: Swimming classes, errands, dinners out (which are getting more challenging by the minute). She still loves strangers, but has some aversion to her grandfather. A 10 month old boy at her daycare and she talk and blow raspberries at each all day. It's the cutest thing. 

Food: We moved her to Stage 2 purees, which she likes better. Not a fan of peaches (or most fruits in general), but loves green beans and garden vegetable. I let her lick a soft pretzel and some frozen yogurt. Can I call that BLW? LOL

Crying: Teething. Hungry. The world has to come to an end when Lucy wants her bottle. 

Play: She loves her bouncers, stacking blocks, links, teething rings, and our iPhones. We just got her this cool wooden activity cube which should entertain her for awhile and promote her sitting skills. 

Milestones: First teeth! Sitting up like an expert these days. Rocking back and forth on hands and knees like she's gearing up to crawl. 

Lucy at 31 Weeks

Weight:  Guesstimating between 17-18 lbs. She went just through her usual month birthday growth spurt. 

Medical Issues: Running nose, teething pain.

Sleep:  Sleeping through the night in her crib -- has started tummy sleeping more. If we put her down awake, she may cry for a few minutes and 360 around on her belly before giving up the fight. Naps are generally 30-40 minutes; sometimes longer on the weekends. Wakeup time is 5:30 am for the most part. 

Clothes: 3-6 months, though some 6-9 can fit her if it's cut smaller. I finally get to break out the short sleeved onesies and cute little rompers and sundresses. :) 

Social:
Still my smiley girl and still portable when we have things to do.

Food: She's loving oatmeal and Stage 1 veggies like peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, carrots, and squash. Green beans seems to be favorite; not so hot on bananas.

Crying:
Hunger and overtiredness. Still frustrated when she's on her tummy, but now I think it's because she wants to be mobile and can't figure it out.

Milestones: First time at the riverlot and becoming a sitting champion! 

Lucy at 30 Weeks

Weight:  Guesstimating over 17 lbs. 

Medical Issues: Running nose, teething pain.

Sleep:  Sleeping through the night in her crib -- has started tummy sleeping more. If we put her down awake, she may cry for a few minutes and 360 around on her belly before giving up the fight. Naps are generally 30-40 minutes; sometimes longer on the weekends. Wakeup time is 5:30 am for the most part. 

Clothes: 3-6 months. I'm not so patiently waiting for her to get into the cute summer clothes! 

Social: This week we had our first family photo session (the session we won from Lucy getting the most votes in a baby contest from a local photographer). Lu did great! She's clearly had some practice in front of the camera. :) 

Food: Still on oatmeal and Stage 1 veggies.

Crying:
Hunger and overtiredness. Still frustrated when she's on her tummy, but now I think it's because she wants to be mobile and can't figure it out.

Milestones: Celebrated her daddy's birthday with a hibachi dinner (a little shocked at the big flames) and can sit in the grocery cart like a big girl! 

Lucy at 29 Weeks

Weight:  Guesstimating over 17 lbs. 

Medical Issues: Running nose, teething pain.

Sleep:  Sleeping through the night in her crib -- has started tummy sleeping more. If we put her down awake, she may cry for a few minutes and 360 around on her belly before giving up the fight. Naps are generally 30-40 minutes; sometimes longer on the weekends. Wakeup time is 5:30 am for the most part. 

Clothes: 3-6 months. I'm not so patiently waiting for her to get into the cute summer clothes! 

Social:  She's still doing great at her Water Babies class. She and my cousin's daughter enjoy the water, plus it gives us something cool to do on Saturday mornings. 

Food: Still on oatmeal and Stage 1 veggies.

Milestones: We walked a few laps at a local Relay for Life and practiced sitting up unassisted!