8-month update

Mia is a hot mess 8 months old!

I am not even kidding when I say that these are the best shots from our photo shoot, this girl would not sit still!

She also could not decide if she wanted the elephant on the chair or not...

Here is what Mia has been up to these days...

Her 8-month stats: no doctor visit until she is 9 months old

Eating

Mia is breastfed and nurses every 2-3 hours during the day 

Mia finally started to like solids this past month! She actually opens her mouth and enjoys eating solids. She will even take pureeds from a spoon as well as feed herself. I guess she just was not ready until she was 7 months old. 

Cheerios are her favorite thing to eat. She also loves to drink water from a glass, she just teethes on sippy cups.  

Foods she has eaten
Sweet potatoes (pureed, in her teething feeder, and large chunks)
Pears (pureed)
Oatmeal
Butternut squash (pureed)
Bananas (in the teething feeder, pureed, and large chunks)
Plums (in the teething feeder and large chunks)
Apple puffs
Cheerios
Peaches (pureed)
Apples (pureed and large chunks)
Cucumber (large chunks)
Mangoes (pureed and large chunks)
Mandarin orange (large chunks)
Aronia berries (pureed)
Carrots (pureed)
Peas (pureed)
Avocado (pureed)
Spanish rice
Turkey (pureed)

Sleeping

Mia's sleep has been hit or miss again this month. She has 2 teeth cutting through (one of them has a tip sticking out so far) and that has led to several nighttime awakenings. Too bad she has 18 more to go...

Favorite activities

• Yelling/babbling
• Eating people's faces/giving kisses
• Exploring her room/crawling around
• Pulling up onto objects and bouncing
• Bath-time and splashing around
• Classical music 

Not so favorite things

• The bulb syringe/Nosefrida
• Motrin (she hates the strong berry flavor)
• The car seat (playing classical music seems to help)

Milestones this month

• She is crawling like a pro (she even crawls with toys in her hand)
• She pulls to stand on everything
• She cruises on furniture and transfers from one piece of furniture to another
• She says "Mama" and "Dada"
• She has object permanence down and looks for things that I try to hide
• She can sign "milk" and "eat"
• She rakes her cheerios and uses her pincer grasp
• She reaches her hands out when she wants to be picked up

Personality

Mia is very curious and is into everything. She has been exploring her room and all that it has to offer. She pulls the "drawers" out of her cubicles and pulls the objects out. It took 2 hours to put all of her new clothes away because she kept pulling everything out of her closet while I was trying to hang the clothes up. For the most part, she is very happy and cracks herself up frequently throughout the day.    

This month was another busy one:

Mia went to her first museum. We went to the George W. Bush Presidential Center to see the Oscar de la Renta exhibit

We went to 4 different nurseries to find all of the plants we wanted to plant in the front yard

The biggest news of this month was that baby Amelia was born! 

We packed our bags to go spend the night at my brother's house to help out with my nieces

My brother and SIL were scheduled to go the hospital to have their baby early in the morning, so Mia and I stayed over the night before.  In the morning, I had a small taste of what it would be like to have 3 children. I got my nieces ready and rushed them off to school. Thankfully, Mia slept while I got them ready.  

Allison helping Annabelle get her shoes on

My backseat was packed tight with 2 car seats, but Mia loved having her cousins in the backseat with her

Mia got to meet her new cousin, Amelia, a couple of days later once she came home from the hospital. So sweet!

Amelia was so tiny and precious

You quickly forget just how tiny a newborn is, Mike would have never held a baby this tiny before becoming a dad

We also have some changes at our house as well, Mike's sister, Samirah, is now living with us, yay!  We are so excited to have her staying with us and Mia absolutely adores her. They are best buds.  Mike is also transitioning careers and is back in school for real estate. We are excited to see what is in store for our little family during this transition.  

Okay back to pictures...

Mia playing with her Aunt Samirah's computer. I love that Mia gets to have a close relationship with her Aunt, since she now lives with us. I lived with my oldest niece when she was about Mia's age and I loved it!

I also got to stock Mia's closet for Fall/Winter at the Just between Friends sale. If you have not been to one of these sales, you should definitely check one out!

Mia stayed with her Grandpa J while I shopped

Always getting into something

Look ma, one hand!

Tupperware has become her new favorite toy

Daddy and Mia

Chowing down on some sweet potato

I am so excited for Fall and some cooler weather!  I am one of those people who love pumpkin, so I am really enjoying all of the yummy treats available right now.  We will be taking Mia to her first pumpkin patch next weekend.  I also really want to go to the arboretum and the fair, but we will see.  Have a great week!