8. months. old.

Yes, I'm aware that this post is late. It's probably because I'm in denial that Ryleigh is somehow already 8 months old...or now actually closer to 9 months...how? how? how?

I've always heard parent friends talk about how all of a sudden, their child seems to have aged a tremendous amount all at once.  Like you turn around and all of a sudden they're 5 years older.  I feel that way about month 8 for Ryleigh.  All of a sudden she's made so many developmental achievements and grown into an almost-toddler.  She's definitely not our infant anymore, and she's always on the move (although that's been since day 1).

 Weight:  18lbs 12oz.

EATING
Drinking 6oz bottles of breastmilk.  I think because of teething, she's eating about 1 less bottle a day, getting around 30oz instead of 36oz.  She seems fine and isn't waking up hungry in the middle of the night (her evening bottle is the one she's skipping) so we don't worry about it too much. 

She's still getting 4oz of baby food a day, although for the last couple weeks that hasn't been on the normal schedule because she's been congested and sick, so I haven't offered food every day because it's more important to make sure she fills up on breastmilk (a lot more calories). 

 

TEETHING
 Check 'em out, yall!  Two little pearly whites :) They came in 3 days apart. That was fun. Not. 

SLEEPING
Still great! Although some congestion over the past week has had her a little off the norm.  She's getting very attached to a couple of her little blankeys--especially the green one above because she loves the silk tags.  She also loves a silky one with a baby doll attached to it from her Grandma & Grandpa.  She rubs the silk on her nose as she sucks her thumb.  We don't let her sleep with one in her crib, but whenever she's napping she's usually in her bouncy seat or stroller and we let her have it.

ACTIVITY
We have a crawler! 

She is loving language.  She will give us the biggest smiles when we ask her to say things.  Lots of times she just smiles and you can tell she's thinking or she wants to say it.  Sometimes she will repeat it after us, and then other times she'll finally blurt something out at a random time like when she's in her jumperoo or when we're driving in the car and she's chatting with herself in the mirror.  She also figured out how to click her tongue this month and she loves to do it and smiles so big to hear the noise, especially if we click our tongues with her.

She now says/has said:
 "Dada"
"Mama"
"Papa" (my father-in-law)
"Kk" referring to Kona
 "Ssssssssssssss"
"Thhhhhhhh"
"Kkkkkk"
"Ba ba ba ba"
"Ta ta ta ta"
"Guh"

She also has said her first phrase, "Hi Dada!" although I think in her mind it's "Hidada" (one word) that you tell everyone, because she'll say "Hi Dada" to anyone and everyone.  We usually say it when Jake gets home from work, so even though she knows he's Dada, she doesn't get it that you need to say a different name for other people.  It's adorable though.  It's almost always accompanied by the cutest little wrist wave. 

She's learning to wave Hi and Bye Bye.

She now claps and does Patty-cake.
  

DIAPERING
Size 3...I feel like we'll be here for a while.

 CLOTHES
 Slowly moving into 12 month for length.



 SPECIAL FIRSTS 
--phrase, Saying "hi da da "
--teeth!!

--crawling

--waving hi

--waving bye bye (different wave than hi)

--new words

--firepit experience and taste of chocolate

--Disney on Ice!!!!!

--sitting up in a highchair at a restaurant