EIGHT.
this month tops the last that topped the month before that was even better than the previous. life with Baker Bree just keeps on getting better. I speak for everyone in this house when I say that we are over the moon on love with this little dolly. holy mobile she is all over the place and would climb the walls if she could. watching her grow and change and come into her very own personality has just been surreal for us. during my entire pregnancy everyone (including us) was wondering and imagining how she would look and how she would act..
this girl. enough personality for all of us.
I cant believe its been eight months!!
banner // hooray everyday
SO many changes this month. let me see if I can wrap this up into a summary:)
- crawling + moving + climbing. this girl is NONSTOP on the move.
- teeth! we have teeth! her two bottom teeth popped out at the same time and her random fevers this week must mean there are more on the way..
- sass. her sass meter is in the red. her daddy took a small toy out of her hands and she legit squawked at him for doing so. I couldn't help but giggle. he's got it in for him.
- she's becoming more vocal- making all kinds of noises and sounds. she talks to her toys and her little bunny in her crib when she's just woken from sleep. she's also started randomly growling and its the funniest thing EVER. Parker talks to her in a growling like tone when they are playing so I wonder if that has anything to do with it..
- we lowered her crib to the lowest level this month! She has become an expert at pulling up, so just in case and for piece of mind for her parents.
- she pulls up on nearly everything she can wrap her baby hands around.. and with that comes the tumbles and falls. we had our first goose egg after taking a tumble into the side of the bathtub after trying to pull up on my bathroom stool.
- cruising the furniture and taking assisted steps. I have a feeling she will take after her sisters in the walking department. They both were walking early at 9.5 and 10 months.
- she doesn't know what to think about hats. when someone holding her or close to her is wearing a hat she can focus on anything else but that thing on her head.
- she is a CHUNK. her wrist rolls. her baby thighs. those cheeks. goodness- I want to just eat her alive.
- she gives the best sugars.. and now on demand:) she grabs your face and leans in for a wet smooch!
- she adores her big sisters. they are THE BEST at including her in everything they do and I hope and pray that never changes.
- bath time in the big girl bath is her FAVORITE.
- she is excellent at self play. as long as she's right in the middle she is content with keeping herself busy for a good while.
- she's wearing size 3 diapers, 3-6 month sleepers + 6 month clothes (for the most part)
E A T
we are eating all kinds of things! no food is off limits! she's a pretty good eater for the most part, but occasionally she will have no interest at all whatsoever- which is okay by me. we have introduced her to lots of new things this month. I mentioned in a previous post about baby led weaning that we are not eating three meals a day right now. we really focus on that morning meal and an evening meal. lunch is the occasional snack- whether its snacking on whatever mama is eating or teething crackers or something like that. we are doing a combined approach method in feeding- I always start her with the table foods or whatever we are eating and then offer a fruit/veggie pouch for her to suck down. I usually make sure the pouch is at least a 'stage 2 baby food'.. but I don't think that matters much at her age. I really feel like this approach has been working the best for us versus strict blw or strict purees.
Baker still nurses several times a day. first thing in the morning and about every 3-4 hours in between. she went through a weird stage for about two weeks out of this month when she absolutely refused the bottle. I have been home a lot more lately and have been able to nurse her more frequently but I have no idea why, at 8 months, she was refusing the bottle. I have never heard of that happening before! the first day she did this was when she was with her BB and I had a full day of working away. the entire day she took just about 4 ounces in from her prepared bottles and then was up all night wanting to nurse. I was so confused! I became stressed out any time I left the house and didnt want to ever give her a bottle. and then.. one day it was like nothing had changed!
so many things could have been the culprit:
teeth/mouth pain.
too slow flow/ too fast flow.
our pediatrician said that she thinks she just didn't want the bottle.
sweet thing. I truly do cherish this time with my girl. it has been such a different experience with her than with the twins. not better- just different.
daily feeding/solids schedule:
6-6:30am: wake (nurse)
9:30am: nurse (bottle)
10am: yogurt + fruit
10:30am-1pm: nap
1pm: nurse (bottle)
4pm: nurse
6pm: dinner
7pm: bath
7:30pm: nurse/bed
its drastically improved over the last several weeks. after working through sleep training around 6.5 months Baker has been much more consistent in her night's rest. naps have never been a problem for us- and even when she misses a nap or her day sleep is interrupted she is a trooper. our sleep schedule with her is SO different than the strict schedule we had with the twins. its hard with the two different life stages between my girls and being so busy- especially in the afternoon! I always make a real effort to be home in the mornings for her to get a solid nap in so that in the afternoon if we must get out and about a cat nap in the car or in the solly wrap will suffice for making it through the afternoon.
some nights she will sleep all the way through until 7am and others she will wake once or even twice fussing and searching for her pacifier to fall back asleep. I have like eleven pacis strategically placed around her head at night.. okay not really, but I think there is at least three in her crib at all times. we are just working through all this as the night comes. I know right now she is teething (those two blasted teeth!! killers!) and working through her every changing developmental milestones. she's hit so many this month so her sporadic sleep habits have been expected. annoying, but expected:)
bow / sleeper
bow / sleeper
typical sleep routine
wake: 6:30am (nurse) and then back to sleep until 7:30-8am
nap #1: 10:30am-12:30-1pm
nap #2: 3pm-4:30-5pm
bedtime: 7:30pm
this routine has been pretty consistent BUT this last week she has been waking up at that 6-6:30am time and refusing to go back to sleep! which means her morning nap happens around 9am instead of 10:30am..
like I said before.. we are basically all over the place.
P L A Y / D E V E L O P M E N T
bunny pajamas / wool rug
bunny pajamas / wool rug
this girl is a mover and shaker all over the place and we've learned a whole new meaning to 'baby proofing'. This girl has seemed to find every little outlet, hole, cord, knob..anything and everything. I feeling like I follow behind her with bubble wrap and safety plugs to make sure I haven't missed anything she could get into and hurt herself with. Baker is very skilled at getting around now, cruising around the furniture and pulling up onto anything and everything she can get a grip on.
trying to keep up with her big sisters is her little life's goal. she will literally stand at the edge of the couch and screech at the top of her lungs trying to get to where the big girls are. she keeps up pretty well, if I say so myself. her crawling has become more efficient this month- last month she was more rocking and scooting on all fours and now this month she is here one minute and gone the next! a little speed racer and can crawl so quickly across the room- before you realize it, she's gone. I have become much more aware of all the tiny toys we had freely laying around before now and I feel like I'm just so hyperactive about getting those out of her eye's view- for good reason.
she's started in with the 'separation anxiety' - fussing here and there if myself or her BB leaves the room. its short lived but very real!
she recognizes herself in the mirror and loves to play peek-a-boo with her sisters and daddy! her mood can swing from very happy to very irritated but thankfully she's all smiles about 95% of the time. I am so thankful for a cheerful little bit.
her favorites toys include anything that her sisters are playing with- her walker activity toy (oh my goodness she loves that thing!) and she loves anything she can put her mouth on. everything goes in her mouth these days- the floor, the wall, toys, paper, my necklaces.. anything you can think of and of course she always finds the smallest speck on the floor to stick into her mouth.
B A K E R
you are like a revolving door of change baby girl. it is SO hard to believe how much you've grown and evolved- even in just the last couple months! I have caught myself on more than one occasion calling you Baker Bear, BB (much to your big sister's confusion), little sister, crazy train, baby beauty..
your eyes and smile are contagious and I absolutely adore that you don't have bursts of laughter just yet, but you can basically hear the joy just by seeing the happy look beaming from your eyes. You are so silly and literally have us in giggles most of the day. If there is a toy, book, paci, food.. and if you decide you want it- well, you will stop at nothing to get it. my sassy, silly, crazy haired little girl- I cannot get enough of you. this last month has proven to be a big one for you and your independence. you have gotten so much better at playing solo and especially well with your big sisters or while mom and dad play with you on the floor. and let me tell you how proud I am of your sleep habits! you have learned to self-soothe and in the morning when it isn't quiet time to get up yet you will lay in your crib and quietly play with your rabbit or babble and eventually fall back asleep. I love to watch you on the monitor in the mornings I have to get ready for work- these small successes make your mama oh-so-proud of you. when it is time to wake up you are so giggly and SO happy to see momma and dad. I LOVE going to get you out of your crib in the morning. screeching and laughter fills the room the moment you hear the door click open. my heart swells and overflows with emotion and desire to just scoop you up and squeeze you tight. it is always too long since I had see you the night before. you are hilarious, uber adorable and simply beautiful, my sweet baby girl. 8 months. time is flying and I'm trying to soak up every little bit of it.
happy eight months my tiny beauty!
