Dear Ellen,
Happy New Year! You are now eight months old… two thirds of a year! The past month continued to be busy as we went through Advent, Christmas, and the celebration of the New Year. You are such a joy to have around and I am already looking forward to celebrating the holidays with you as a toddler next year.
My Favorite Thing: You are very happy and smiley right now. It doesn’t take much to get you to light up. You also started DANCING when you hear music and it is so cute. Your eyes are always shining and I can tell that you very curious about the world around you. I can’t wait to hear what you will have to say about everything.
Daily Activities and Playing: After about 5 weeks of watching you work through yoga poses (plank, downward facing dog, low cobra), we were glad to see you finally REALLY crawling on December 27! Throughout the month you have been able to move around, but it was a bit haphazard and you weren’t able to efficiently get to where you wanted to go until after Christmas. Your crawl is very amusing – you push up into a crawl and use your toes, instead of your knees, to propel you forward. You play by yourself very well, staying entertained with whatever toy is nearby, but you are also starting to explore more and are even starting to pull up on the fireplace, ottoman, and play piano. You moved into the older baby section of the infant room at school and seem to enjoy being with the more mobile babies and having lots of room to explore.
Sibling: This is when the real fun begins. Now that you are mobile, you are starting to chase after Ian constantly! Usually he doesn’t mind, but he is certainly getting more possessive of HIS things, especially toys. Ian has become a little more daring with you as you have started crawling, sometimes picking you up (!!) and moving you away from his toys. You are just pleased as punch to be near him and you laugh just hearing him laugh! You took your first bath together in the big bathtub (goodbye baby tub!) and you both loved splashing and playing together. Ian wants to take turns pouring water on you and himself. My favorite times are when you are smiling and laughing together in the car.
Eating: You always nurse in the morning and have two bottles of formula or breastmilk (6 oz) during the day. On weekdays you get an additional “dinner” bottle, and on the weekends I generally nurse you again for the fourth feeding of the day. Three or four “meals” of solid food are offered each day (breakfast, afternoon snack, dinner), but eating was hit or miss for most of the month. Due to some mild sickness and traveling, your appetite was reduced for a while, but once we got home and back in a routine, you started eating up a storm! Right now banana, pear, and avocado are our “go to” foods, but you also REALLY love winter squash and sweet potato. You really like to self feed, so we are looking for more finger foods to satisfy you. Rice puffs and rice rusks (“Baby Mum-Mum”) are also favorite finger foods.
Sleeping: Night time sleep is generally good and you consistently sleep through the night from about 8 pm to 6:30 or 7 am. A combination of growth spurt/low milk supply caused you to wake up in the middle of the night multiple times this month, but once we worked out a bottle/nursing schedule to keep your belly full and happy, you started sleeping just fine. During the week you really only nap once per day, right after lunch, with the rest of the group, and then again on both our morning and evening commutes. On the weekends, you still consistently take a mid morning nap and a late evening nap, mimicking the timing of our weekday commute.
Special Events: Christmas was fun this year! You and Ian looked really cute in your matching dancing reindeer pajamas. Although you were too young to get into the fun of opening presents and stockings, Ian had fun being the elf (distributing presents) and helping you with your new things. You received a new baby doll from Santa, a shape sorter from Ian (he showed you how to do it), and two books from Mama and Daddy. Mimi and Grandpa also got you lots of new books. Mimi and Grandpa, Aunt Bonnie, Aunt Brooke, and Aunt Jesse all got you new clothes! The Lewickis got you a stack and roll ball, and Gram and Pops got you a red stuffed elephant, a soft doggie book, and little slippers. You were a great traveler to Rowena, sleeping most of the way, and you also slept most of the Christmas Eve church service!
{Bath Time @ 12/19/11}
{Waiting for Santa @ 12/22/11}
{Opening Presents, Family Christmas @ 12/22/11}
{"Ooh I am unwrapping a present!" @ 12/22/11}
{"Gee, Thanks Mom, you shouldn't have." @ 12/22/11}
She actually loves this toy. And so does Ian.
{Big Brother Instructs @ 12/22/11}
{Ellen @ 12/22/11}
There's the happy baby!
{Mama and Ellen in Rowena @ 12/24/11}
{Dierschke Family at Christmas Eve @ 12/24/11}
This is the result of no napping for Ian. Depression sets in.
{Grandpa Ray and Ellen in Rowena @ 12/25/11}
8 month photo shoot: Please excuse the poorly chosen outfit and also enjoy the out takes (after the first two pictures). Ellen was difficult to pose this month as she is always on the move!
{Ellen @ 1/14/12}
{Ellen @ 1/14/12}
{Ellen @ 1/14/12}
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