8 Month Update

Avery turned 8 months on April 28th - She is getting to be such a big girl! Here is what is happening as we start month 8:

• Wearing 9-12 month clothing. I think she is around 20 lbs or so and we'll get real measurements at her 9 month check-up
• Still just popped her fifth tooth - Top right. We brush her teeth every night and she loves it. I think she just likes eating the toothpaste!
• Getting more and more hair - and we discovered she has a double cowlick like her Dad!
• Avery loves to eat - She has tried lots of fruits and veggies. And she LOVES her Puffs - literally starts kicking her legs and grunting with excitement when the can comes out. The first time she had them she got so excited but didn't know how to use her hands so she had a puff stuck in both hands and then just put her head down on the high chair and tried to pick them up with her mouth and they got stuck on her lips - she just stared at us bewildered.
• We are also trying to get her to eat more true solids like avocado and banana in small bites - she is getting better and seems to favor her left hand when picking up foods (a southpaw like mom?). She is taking 6 oz. bottles at daycare and typically has 5 feedings a day and 3 solid meals (oatmeal and fruit at breakfast and then fruits/veggies for lunch and dinner)
• She became an expert crawler over the past week - has good form and can get anywhere she needs to get. Avery is also great at getting into a sitting position from crawling form and can also pull herself up to a standing position. I was out of town on business last week and Hung walked in to pick her up in the morning from her crib and she was standing there smiling at him, very proud of herself. His first task that day was lowering the crib....Quite a surprise and we are happy she didn't fall out!
• Avery still babbles a ton and says "dadada" the most but throws in other consonants like "baba", "nana" and "mama" - Only heard mama a few times....But whenever I say it to her she gives me a huge smile. I like to think it's cause she knows it's me but more likely it just sounds funny to her for some reason ;)
• Avery is still VERY busy - Always moving, crawling towards everything and putting anything she can in her mouth. Last month changing her diaper was a task because she always wanted to roll over - now it's even harder because she tries to crawl away from you on her changing table.
• She seems to favor laundry baskets, remotes, empty water bottles, computers, phones, etc. over actual toys. And she mostly just likes to crawl around and explore every inch of her surroundings. She still has fun with some toys like her musical play table - and she likes ones that make noise or ones that are good teethers.
• We switched Avery to a larger car seat - she was getting fussy in her "pumpkin seat" and seems to like being a bit more upright in a larger seat. And the portable one was just getting SO heavy - much easier now!
• The best news this month is that Avery finally learned how to sleep through the night and take naps. She no longer nurses in the night, goes down around 8 and gets up around 7. Sometimes she fusses a little in the night but not for long and we typically don't even need to go into the room to check on her. We also took some tricks from daycare and she is napping great at home on the weekends - usually almost a 2 hour nap late morning and a shorter one in the afternoon. Having actual sleep is AMAZING!! We are all much happier getting some real sleep every night.
• She is doing GREAT in daycare and really seems to have fun and enjoy the other babies and the activities with her teachers like taking buggy rides outside (although one day one of the Grandpas said "hi babies" during a buggy ride and Avery got spooked and needed to go back inside to be calmed down). Her daily sheet on April 26th read "Avery is such a good girl. She is a joy to have at Kindercare. She eats well, plays well and naps well". I was a proud mama that day!
• Avery is such a curious, busy and sweet 8 month old girl!! I can't say enough how lucky I am to have her.

It's getting hard to get her to sit still for a picture - But we did our best...Some are a little blurry.