8 Months

Well Little Squish, another month has come and gone! We have been busy celebrating fall and Halloween this month.

• No official weight this month, but we would guess you are close to 20 pounds now. You are still wearing size 3 diapers and size 6 and 9 month clothing.
• Your schedule hasn't changed month this past month. You still take a solid 2 (or more if we're lucky) in the late morning / early afternoon. Occasionally, you will squeeze in a second nap, but this is more of a catnap. You still aren't sleeping through the night and will wake for a quick 10-15 minute nursing. With the close of this eighth month, I do believe it's time to start transitioning to your own room. When you stopped sleeping through the night the first time, it was because you were too big for your rock-n-play. Once transitioned to your pack-n-play, you slept through the night again. So maybe, you need more space? Or maybe you just need to be in a room where when you wake you aren't staring at your food source and will put yourself back to sleep.
• You are still eating about every three hours, with some solids for breakfast and dinner. You love to eat your food now, especially when you can feed yourself. You like to pick up small pieces of bananas and cooked carrots to feed yourself. You do a pretty good job of it too!
• We have been introducing you to sign language too and this month you started to use it! You sign "all done" when you are finished eating your breakfast or dinner. You will also occasionally sign "more," when we ask you if you would like more.
• You are a cruising machine and incredibly confident in your abilities. You can now stand up without really pulling up on anything (you like to use the wall to guide you). You can also stand for more than 10 seconds at a time without holding on to any supports. You are even beginning to brave taking those first steps! This month, you have moved from coffee table to couch, letting go for just a moment to get to the next surface.
• You are still an adorable, toothless little girl.
• We love to listen to you babble, especially as you start imitating the sounds and inflections you hear around you.
• You are a clapping machine this month. Anytime you hear "yay," you grin and clap. 
• You love to play with your toys, as well as your brother's toys. You have learned the art of dumping out your toy bin, which seems to be one of your favorite games. You also like when Wy or Ry build block towers for you so that you can knock them down.
• Your sleep cue has stuck - you are officially an ear tickler! It used to be that you would tickle your ear while falling asleep, but like your brothers' sleep cues, it seems to be growing into more of a soothing pastime. I catch you tickling your ear when nursing now too.  

I say it every month, but I just don't know how we are here already! You are such a sweetheart and the four of us adore you more than we thought possible!