Rosie's 8-Month Update
My chunky monkey is 8-months old!! This girl is getting more rolls by the day and I love them. She's squishy, smiley and lights up every room. Her smile couldn't get any bigger, so now she also crinkles her nose to show you how happy she is. I love her expressions, how she loves to pinch and grab my cheeks and how she says "dadada" all the time. Her tongue is still usually out, her mouth always open and her right hand is always "waving" with excitement.
She's still pretty lazy, rarely rolls over, isn't crawling at all and doesn't even like too much tummy time. She does like to stand though if you hold her hands, and loves jumping around in her jumperoo. I have a feeling she's going to go from lounging to walking. Or just more lounging, we'll see. Everly still loves being near her, giving her toys (and then taking them away), talking to her and more recently scaring her with loud noises. Rosie either laughs at it or cries, depending on her mood. It's so fun to watch them together and Ev likes being as close as she can, often even sitting on her lap.
She also went on her third flight this month to Buffalo, NY for our friends wedding. She did so great, and is such an easy going baby. She either slept or laughed and played the whole flight. She even did great in the hotel, especially considering we all had to share a room. The girls somehow fell asleep at the same time, and Ev never woke up if Rosie made any noise which was so nice. They even had a babysitter the night of the wedding and somehow both fell asleep in the same room for her with no issues! It was an answer to prayer. The weekend was so much fun, and I think Rosie is finally getting over making strange. She basically goes to anyone now, but if I'm in the room and she hears or sees me she'd rather I take her, which I'm totally okay with because I can't seem to get enough cuddles from her!
Sleep
She goes down around 7-7:30pm and wakes up around 6:30-7am. If we are somewhere new, she'll still wake up sometimes around 3am. If the situation permits, I let her cry for 5 minutes and she falls back asleep. When we were in the hotel in Buffalo though I just fed her quickly so she wouldn't wake Everly up, and she fell right back to sleep. She usually has a short morning nap around 10, and then a longer afternoon nap around 1. It's nice because her second nap lines up with Everly's so I can usually get some time to get stuff done! She falls asleep so easy for her naps and nighttime. I just put her in her sleep sack and give her a soother and she rolls onto her side and falls asleep. I've also started using the Relax Melodies app on our ipad as her sound machine. I thought about buying one, but if we move around again this year I didn't want to have to take another bulky electronic along. Having it on the ipad is so easy to take with us and I love all of the sound options! It's great for creating white noise and she seems to like it. It's also another "consistent" thing for her as we move around.
Eating
Nursing is still her main source of food, and I feed her about every 3 hours. She feeds great and really quick. She's having more solids now and has tried salmon, pickerel, potatoes, tomatoes, sweet potato puree and pickles this month. So far she likes everything we have given her, which is nice. I'm not doing as many pureed foods with her, but instead just cutting up tiny bits of soft food. It's a lot quicker and easier and she seems to be fine with it. She also likes mum mums, I buy her the plain or veggie flavor because they're the only ones without sugar. She definitely loves her food though and gets so excited when it's time to eat!
Daily Life
In summer we spend a lot of time outside which she has been loving. When we're at the lake she loves sitting in the water or in the sand. Her new favorite thing is eating handfuls of sand, so I have to be watching her 24/7 when we're there. She also loves any pools that we go to, or being in the bath. She's basically a water baby. We also always go for a walk in the stroller, and now she has her toddler seat so she can sit up and see everything. She loves it so much more now, and I can still recline it back if she gets tired and wants to sleep. We often walk to the park and she loves going on the swing with me in her carrier or by herself. Then she'll spend time in her jumperoo each day, bouncing around, laughing and playing with all of the toys on it. It keeps her occupied for quite a bit of time which is really nice. She also likes sitting with all of her toys so she can grab them, eat them and throw them around. She still won't crawl to anything and rarely likes being on her tummy. The only movement she'll do on her tummy she can turn herself around, but that's it. In the evenings she likes being held, so we get our cuddles in. My mom also realized that she loves books. She'll read to her and Rosie will just get so excited and grab at all of the pages. I need to remember to make time to read to her! It's hard when I'm always chasing Ev around. The days have been great and this month has been a lot of fun. Summer has got to be the best season with kids!
Giggles
This girl is always smiling or laughing. I literally just look at her and she starts laughing. I used to think Ev laughed a lot at this age, and she did, but Rosie has taken it to a whole new level. It's honestly so enjoyable having a baby like this and I treasure every minute of it! Sometimes I look at her and wonder how her jaw doesn't hurt because her mouth is always open and her smile is so wide. I hope she always stays so joyful!
Grumpy
She will get grumpy if she's away from me too long, or if she's hungry or tired. Basically if she isn't in a good mood it's really easy to fix it. She rarely needs her soother when she's awake because she's so content.
Milestones/Firsts/Events
She started crinkling her nose when she smiles, went to her first wedding, visited Buffalo, got more photos taken for her Canadian citizenship and went to her first birthday party!
Tips
She loves food and is always reaching for what we have, so I often give her some sort of vegetable (carrot, bell pepper, celery) that is long so she can hold it and she'll chew on it for so long. It's a nice distraction for her and she gets some flavor from the juices! Just make sure you're watching your baby because sometimes chunks start coming off if they've been chewing long enough, and they could swallow it.
Best,
Stacey