8 months

Hallie is 8 months old...2/3rds of a year...and I basically just have to come to terms with how fast she is growing up.  There is simply no time to waste contemplating it because then it just goes by even faster!  

She gives kisses and they are the sweetest, slobberiest, open mouth kisses.  She plants them right on your mouth or nose, most often right when you pick her up from her crib after she's been asleep and is so happy to see someone. Sometimes she will give kisses when asked and it is just too cute.

She fell asleep in her crib with a pacifier for the first time this month, basically by accident because I laid her down and had to go grab it, and then got distracted with hudson's nap time and before I remembered, she was asleep. We are now working toward not being so dependent on it and for the most part I leave it in her crib when I get her up from bed.  She mostly just has it when she sleep and when we leave the house.  Heaven forbid we leave to house somewhere without it!  Also, if she is fussy, I don't resit going and getting it for her.  This all started when she started scooting and I hated it being clipped to her and dragging across the floor.  Yuck. We have ended up away from home without it probably 3 times this past month and after I had a brief panic attack, I realized we were just fine without it.  She is enough interested in other things that we can distract her with toys, etc to keep her happy.

Went her first night sans dream feed on Mother's day (she was 7.5 months) and it was the best mothers day gift ever for me. :) She occasionally wakes in the night still and sometimes needs to nurse at those points, but for the most part doesn't eat at all during the night.  She nurses 4 times a day.

Her schedule is still a basic 4 hour schedule (and so I remember later...)

• Awake 7-7:30 and nurse
• eat 4 oz pureed fruit and cereal then playtime
• nap from 9-11
• Nurse
• lunch- typically 3 oz pureed vegetables mixed with 1 oz pureed chicken or beef
• nap from 1-3/3:30
• nurse
• occasional catnap in the evening for 45 min
• dinner- 4 oz pureed veggies and cereal
• nurse and bed around 7:30

She has started eating puffs this month. She picks them up but can't quite find her mouth all the time.  We find a nice stash in her lap, on the floor, or in the seat of her carseat when she's done eating. I think she would eat the whole container of them at once if we let her. I now make sure to take a small container of these with me when we head out and when she's fussy, these are guaranteed to make her happy.

She also has started eating meats (pureed chicken and beef) and doesn't seem to notice anything different.  we mix them with her veggies.

She is really getting quick with her scooting!  despite my predictions based on how fast she is scooting and how she gets up on her knees, she still isn't technically crawling by 8 months, but she's close.

She is mostly a solid sitter now, but won't sit with a straight back.  She is always in position to most easily transition to a scooting position, because she would much rather be on the go than sitting still.

While Hudson had 6 teeth by 8 months, Hallie still has a cute toothless smile.  Apparently the later teeth come in the less prone they are to cavities, so I'm good with that.