8 months and 3 weeks

Winky Wormy,

Today I was looking at pictures of you and I realized just how quickly you are growing up. Suddenly you look like a little girl . . .

At 8 months you weighed in at the 50th percentile for height, 75th for weight (18 lbs 13 oz), and 90th for head. I guess you just have too many brains cramed into that little head.

I want to record the following, just so that we can all remember (some year down the road when you ask me), I will be able to tell you tell you that these are were the things that you were up to when you were 8 months and 3 weeks old. . .

You cut your first two teeth near Thanksgiving time. I have a hunch (perhaps because you have been drooling, chewing, and are much crankier than normal--that is to say that you are now occaisionally cranky and no longer sleeping through the night) that a couple more teeth will shortly be joining the first two in that gummy grin. I think that I can finally officially say that you are crawling, and once again your Wormy girl nickname is very appropriate--this time, because when you crawl, you look like a little inch worm--not very efficient, but affective none the less. Your first real efforts at crawling you made a few weeks ago on our cream shag rug. You would grab two handfuls of rug, bury your face, and do a little baby pull-up, pushing your bum into the air and moving yourself forward an inch or two. I often expected you to look up with a rug burn on your face. You can now perform the manuever without a shag carpet, but your mechanics remain much the same. In addition to your inching, you pivet like a top and roll to make your way around a room. You also just learned to wave (your whole arm gets in on the action), but you only show off this trick when you really want to, so you often have loving family members waving to you enthusiastically, receiving nothing but a stare or mischevious grin in return. You have become somewhat of a picky eater (mostly you don't like anything green or those meat and veggie mixes--but it's okay--they are gross to me too). You DEFINETLY let me know when you are not happy about the food that I put in your mouth; not only do you refuse to swallow, but you actually start gagging and look at me with a how could you do this to me kind of stare.

You are still such a smiley and happy baby, returning my smile each time I grin at you. Your Grandma Manning is always saying how funny/amazing/awesome it is, that when you start smiling, the smile just kind of stays on your face. You laugh really easily (water fountains make you giggle everytime) and quickly get people wrapped around your little finger because you are so sweet. Your Grandma Manning has been literally wrapped around your finger as we are in Idaho visiting right now, and she will let you walk and walk around her house while holding your little fingers. I think that if you could just keep walking that you might actually never cry (although you just made one of your first attempts at a tantrum when I tried to sit you down today after a walk down the hallway). A couple of weeks ago you learned how to pull yourself to you feet in your crib if you start in a sitting position, and you were SO proud of yourself. You still love going to new places and doing new things. When you enter a room or place that you have never been before, you look around and around until you have thoroughly examined your new surroundings. The first time you rode sitting in a cart at a supermarket you smiled at every person you passed, as if to say look at how much fun I am having! You have such an expressive little face; your eyebrows alone can tell your mood. My favorite eyebrow expression is one in which you raise one eyebrow with a little twinkle in your eyes. This expression says to me that you are in on the joke, whatever it is.

You have recently started to enjoy playing with other children. Your friendliness started when we traveled up to Utah and Idaho to visit your cousins. At church last Sunday, you got into an active game of tug-a-war with another baby, and prevented the entire back row of Sunday school from learning anything . . . we were too busy laughing at your antics. I do have to watch you when you are with other children because you sure like to pull hair. . . babies, kids, adults, dogs . . . you are non-discriminatory. If a being has hair, you will find a way to pull it.

You are a little bundle of sunshine to your Daddy and I. There truly is no sound sweeter than your laugh and nothing better to cuddle than your warm, soft, squishy little body.

I love you so much. Thanks for letting me be your mommy.