Eight Months and Learning So Much

learning to feed myself

learning to crawl

learning about eco-friendly fashion

learning about things I don't like

teaching others about things I don't like

learning to clap my hands

learning to share

learning to wave

learning about first boo-boos

but still happy

Lily is now eight months old, and it seems that everyday she learns something new and exciting. In the past week she has learned to clap her hands and make a "yay" sound while doing it, mimic her dad's tongue clicking noise, and wave hello. Over the past few weeks she has gotten very mobile as well. As a result of her new agility she had her first encounter with rug burn. Thankfully, it wasn't a very serious accident, and she was happy and smiling within minutes, but her nose was a little worse for wear. In addition to all her new tricks, she had her first tooth come through on the bottom. We have really enjoyed experimenting with giving her new foods to try. She enjoys chewing on celery, cucumbers, dried apricots, crusty bread, and her favorite...pickles. She'll try anything we hand to her, and for the most part always makes some sort of dramatic, disgusted look, but she will continue to gnaw on it until it's soggy, taken away, dropped, or shared with her brothers. While at a restaurant, we happened upon one item that is now never shared or dropped...we allowed her to try a pickle spear, and we couldn't get it back. She loves pickles, which is not a surprise since they are one of her mother's favorite treats. We also learned this week that Lily does not like having stuffed toys place on her head. As seen in the pictures above, daddy was trying to be silly with her at the dinner table, and what started out as an innocent game turned into a traumatic experience. Lily's concerned look made dad think that not only should he remove the toy from her head, but he should show her it is OK by placing it on his own head. This decision was then met with a very red face and crocodile tears. Needless to say, we will not be putting anything on Lily's head or her dad's head for a very long time. We are also trying to instill at a young age the importance of taking care of our planet. This past weekend we visited our local farmer's market, where we purchased some local organic cheese from the Ropp Farm. We also visited Brown's Produce, and Lily picked out her first pumpkin. Lily is already personally contributing to the cause, via her Aunt Molly, by wearing eco-friendly and very chic soy fiber clothing from Babysoy.

The last eight months have gone by so fast, and we can't believe that our little baby is not so little anymore. It feels like I was pregnant just yesterday, and so many things have changed in my life since she was born. Eight months ago, while I would have said I'd try, I wouldn't have thought I'd still be nursing at this point...now I'm not really sure when I'll ween her. I would have never guessed that I would feel so terrible (and actually cry) when she got her first boo-boo. When she was first born, I had given up on the idea that I would ever sleep again. Now, for the most part, she sleeps through the night and so do I. I never thought that I would be more interested and excited about getting my Cookie and Parenting magazines than getting my Instyle. Before I was pregnant, I never really did much research on anything. Now I research everything...from bottles to clothes to toys to books to furniture and everything and anything that could potentially affect my child. Purchasing fun and new things for Lily is far more exciting than buying something for myself. She is pretty much all I think about and find myself talking about. Yes, I am one of those parents that loves to talk about her baby. Are there any that don't? No matter how many times someone tells you that having a child will completely change your life, there is no way to fully appreciate or understand it until you bring one home. I definitely knew my life would be different, but what I wasn't prepared for was how much I could love her. I miss her when I am at work, and I miss her when she goes to bed. Everything she does is entertaining and amazing to us, and we love taking her everywhere we go. I don't know how I could love anything more.