Brielle is 8 months old!

Today, Brielle is 8 months old!  Brielle, you continue to be an absolute joy and constant blessing to have around.  We love you!  Here's what you are into at 8 months:

-You're still in size 3 diapers.  Clothes-wise, you wear anywhere between 6 (a stretch!) and 12 months.  12 month pants seem to fit you fine.  I put a pair of shoes on you today for our outing to the playground and you were not a fan.

-Your hair is growing SO fast.  Your bangs totally cover your eyes and it's hard to keep them out of your face.  You have a lot of hair, but it's really fine, so it's hard to put up.  We usually put it in a ponytail on top of your head or two pigtails on top of your head.  Daddy got a headband to work the other day, and I got a headband to work for about 5 minutes on Monday.

-You LOVE squealing at the top of your lungs and are very loud when you do that!  You've started saying DADADADA and today I also heard MAMAMAMA.  You are not connecting the sounds to us, but I've at least heard you say both.

-It's very easy to make you smile... I just have to look at you and smile!  Happiest baby ever!

-You eat solid food for breakfast and dinner and today I also fed you at lunch time.  You really like trying to fit your thumb in your mouth in the middle of when we're feeding you, so we often have to hold your right hand.  Yesterday, you were doing that when I was feeding you a bottle, too.  You like most foods we give you.  I finally found time to start making you a bunch of food this week and found that you really liked the squash/carrot/parsnip food I made you!  Today, you surprised me by liking the green bean/squash/apple/pear combo.  You also enjoyed pumpkin for the first time tonight.  You definitely love your yogurt.  You're not too keen on finger foods yet.  We've tried peas, cheerios, pasta and puffs and you don't really like any of them.

-You are a crawling maniac!  You can make it places so quickly if you want to.  Your favorite places to hightail it to are the bathroom when you hear Eli go in there (you like going over to the bathtub to stand up) and the fridge when you hear me open it.  You also really like hanging out by the stove, by the front door (there is a wire there you like trying to get and there is the ever elusive kitty litter box you love), under the TV (bunch of wires), by the bookshelf (you like taking them off, one by one), behind the couch (where your brothers often play) and in front of mommy's closet (always something to get into).

-Your favorite toys continue to be matchbox cars and trains.  Your brothers have a little plastic ball you love chasing after.  You love chewing on Sophie, though you don't put as many toys into your mouth as your brothers did at this age.  You like standing at your music table and in the last few days, you've really been interested in your stacking cups.  You like to try to grab books that I'm reading to your brothers.

-You love going to the playground.  You LOVE the sandbox.  You could (and do) spend hours in there... crawling around, standing up at the edges, looking for leaves, smiling at other babies, doing faceplants.  You love standing up at the playground, holding on to bars.  You can go up single steps on the playground structures.  You like the slide but aren't crazy about it.  You used to not be so sure of the swings, but now you love them and laugh and laugh when I push you, especially if I kiss you (or air kiss you) every time you come close to me.  You LOVE looking for leaves at the playground and love crumbling them, putting them in your mouth and licking them.  You aren't too happy when I take them away from you and are always in search of another leaf.  You have many admirers when we hit the playgrounds.

-Your brothers ADORE you and now fight over who gets to hold/play with you more.  If one of them is over playing with you, the other one will come over and put up a fight, saying it's HIS turn to play with you.  They both really enjoy picking you up and putting you in their lap, over their bellies, etc, and you are such a great sport that you never complain, even if they are dragging you across the floor by a leg.

-You take two naps a day.  Your first nap is anywhere from 45 min to 90 minutes and this week, I had to wake you up twice so that we could go pick up Eli from school.  Your second nap has been longer this week... usually in the 2 hour range.  You're still an excellent sleeper at night and never wake up.  You're a very light sleeper in the morning and usually are awoken by daddy and/or your brothers between 6 and 6:30.

-You love when you get to "walk" around... when I hold onto your fingers and lead you around.  You are very unsteady on your feet.  You are an excellent stander, though, and even stood on your own for 5 seconds or so a few times this past week!

-You love when Daddy comes home from work and immediately start crawling over to him/squealing and laughing when you see him.  It's very cute.

8 months!!!