EIGHT

Another four weeks have flown by and our girl is 8 months old! And for some reason, hitting 8 months is freaking this mama out. I shared my (albeit, crazy) thought process with Greg on a family walk the other day: Eight months is almost 9 months, which is almost a year! Ack! Why is time going by so fast?! I know, I know, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself and yet this baby of mine is growing up far too quickly for my liking. I want her to stay small and snugly and easy to contain, haha. 

Seriously though, our sweet little bird is much more spirited these days. Just this past month Delilah has gotten a lot stronger and much more active, and she definitely has opinions. Oh, does this girl have opinions. She wants things and will let you know how she feels if you are too slow or say no — not that she understands the word “no,” but she does understand when she doesn’t get what she wants (i.e., our phones, the TV remote control, the eye glasses on my face… basically anything within arm’s reach). Nevertheless, this not-yet crawling or standing baby will attempt (and half-succeed) to lunge out of our arms to grab something, and she’s been honing her army-crawling skills, though a lot of the time she’s just face down in the blanket, rubbing her nose in the floor in frustration. Our former tummy-time hater can, however, do a fast and mean PIVOT! 

Despite all this growth and newfound strength, Delilah is still a sensitive and delicate flower at times. We often sing “Twinkle Twinkle” to soothe her during diaper changes, outfit changes, mealtime cleanup, etc. And our gal is still very observant and detail-oriented, which can make her seem like a very serious baby but she’s just taking it all in and figuring out the world around her.

Side note: The dress Delilah is wearing in these photos is the one Greg and I picked out at a cute local boutique the day we learned we were having a girl! So sweet to finally see her in it.

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Other news and accomplishments this past month:

Sitting up! Just a week after turning 7 months old, Delilah sat up on her own for the first time. Several weeks of sitting practice and leg stretching, especially, paid off and Delilah’s balance and flexibility has continued to improve in the last three weeks. In fact, in just the past two days she has started to prop herself with her hands while leaning forward to reach things and she is using her arms to catch herself (sometimes) from tipping over sideways. She also is slowly becoming more graceful at getting out of the sitting position and onto her belly, a move that is almost always done in an effort to reach Cali or, secondarily, to see the TV.

Just a couple days before that big milestone, we hit another one: transitioning Delilah to her crib. We did it on a whim, cold turkey. No practice napping in the crib or anything. Daddy just decided he wanted our bedroom back — he was tired of tip-toeing in at night — and he put her in the crib that night. She actually took to it well all things considered, though she was waking up at least once in the middle of the night for weeks, which mama had to deal with since Dada is a heavy, deep sleeper. There were many times it took an hour or more to get her back to bed but its getting better. The last week or so there have been several nights with no wakings, and the nights that she does happen to wake up I can sometimes just slip her Wubba and quickly retreat. We’ve also transitioned Delilah out of her puffy Merlin Magic Sleep Suit and into a thinner, lighter sleep sack — a change that did not go well the first time we tried it! We waited a few weeks and tried again and now baby girl seems very comfortable because she can sleep on her side (either one), which she prefers.

We don’t have a well visit for another month but we weighed Delilah at home and she’s clocking in at a little over 17 lbs now! She’s in size 3 diapers and starting to wear 6-9 month clothes but can still fit her 3-6 month onesies and shirts.

As to be expected with a teething baby, playtime is often more about “what can I put in my mouth?” than actual play. Delilah just wants to grab and chew everything. You can tell her gums are sore because of the sort of crooked way she holds her mouth when she cries or when she rubs her tongue over them, but still no teeth breaking through!

Our little bird isn’t babbling yet (no matter how much we try to get her to say “mama” or “dada” or “baba”) but still lots of cooing and gurgling when she’s happy. And nothing guarantees a smile more lately than Mickey Mouse! She gets so excited whenever Mickey comes on and she loves all the clubhouse songs, especially the Hot Dog Dance. I swear she wants to get up and boogie! She stretches out her arms, wiggles her legs and feet, and grunts and squeals in delight.

Delilah also still loves turning the pages of books, to the point of obsession. She goes lightening speed, clearly not caring about the story or the pictures but simply the act (and accomplishment) of page turning. She actually gets mad if I try to slow her down and read! As much as I may want to read her the book, I try to follow her lead and let the girl do what she wants to do. Her dexterity is getting better every day and she is able to turn the pages of some of her board books on her own!

I should have mentioned last month that she was already much more skilled at manipulating objects with her hands, especially at mealtimes. She would often pass the spoon or piece of food from one hand to another to get a better grip (or, to turn the spoon the right way). Practice makes progress so she continues to improve and is able to pick up smaller pieces of food now, such as half a raspberry — though puffs still evade her grasp and frustrate her completely.

Delilah can also put her beloved Wubba back in her own mouth now, though many times (especially if she is half asleep!) she is lazy and opens her mouth waiting for us to do it.

She’s begun to bang her hands on things, mostly the highchair tray. But (as of this writing) she’s also learned to bang toys together, too. While she can’t clap, she is absolutely fascinated when mama claps a rhythm. She’s enjoying her light-up musical drumming toy even more now that she can effectively hit the buttons! (Similarly, baby girl has also gotten good at actually shaking her rattles.)

I’ve started implementing a few Montessori techniques at home such as presenting like toys and materials in a “treasure basket” for Delilah to explore, and she really seems to love taking items out of the baskets, examining each one and, of course, figuring out which fits best in her mouth :)