Quiet time with Daddy

My nighttime routine starts with quiet time with Daddy. He reads me books and we rock-a-bye in our rocker. Sometimes I really like reading with Daddy, and sometimes I'm a little too squirmy to pay much attention to what he is reading. And sometimes I just want to eat the book.

Eight Months Old!

Health and Growth

Elsie now weighs 15lbs, 6oz (8%) and stretches to 27.5 inches (59%!).

Elsie consistently sleeps 2-3 hours at a time at night, with a few 4-hour chunks thrown in, too. She usually takes two naps a day, one lasting 30 minutes and one lasting 45 minutes.

Her hair continues to grow in slowly, and appears to be a curly, auburn brown. Her first tooth came in shortly after her 7-month birthday, but no others have come to join it so far.

Communication

Elsie now signs "milk" with some regularity, plus recognizes the signs for "all done" and "more". She waves "good-bye" and "hello", and also shakes her head "no!" on a daily basis.

Activities

Elsie eats three solid food meals a day, a combination of baby purees and whatever Mama happens to be eating. She has tasted almost everything her parents eat, and seems to like just about everything she tries!

Now that the weather is getting nicer, Elsie and I have really enjoyed taking long walks in the afternoon. She also enjoys "walking" on her own- we spend hours every day scooting around the house, me bending over and Elsie holding onto my fingers.

Comparison Photos:
One Week


One Month


Two Months


Three Months


Four Months


Five Months


Six Months


Seven Months


Eight Months

I'm learning to walk!

Mama took this video of me over a week ago- I'm much more stable now! No tipping!

Elsie progresses in her jumping- Elsie dancing!

Snow day!

With the 14" or so of snow that rolled in this week, Mama and I spent a great deal of time outside enjoying the crazy weather.



Mama bundles me up really warm (two snowsuits- I can't put my arms down!), and lets me play in the snow. I like to sit in it and kick.



I also like to practice my standing. It's the perfect time, since the plethora of snow in combination with all my extra snowsuit padding makes for easy falls!

Tooth, tooth, where is the tooth?

Elsie is really proud of her first tooth. She likes banging it on spoons and sippy cups every time she eats, and she REALLY likes brushing it (well, chewing on her toothbrush, anyway). The only thing she DOESN'T like is letting us actually look at her tooth. Can you find the tooth in the following series of pictures? It only appears once, and it is camouflaged by a string of drool...

Reading (and chewing on) books

With all the cold weather and blizzard activity outside, Elsie has been enjoying reading in her sunny nursery more than ever.



She especially likes her Christmas present books (thanks, Uncles Matt and Adam, and Aunts Manda and Ellen), though sometimes she spends more time trying to open them and chew on them than she spends actually reading them.



Elmo's googly eyes and his ability to move his arms (he's a puppet book) confounds Elsie daily. The teething pretzel that came with E and A's book is really getting a workout, though I am concerned that the copious amounts of drool that the pretzel chewing produces will seriously decrease the lifespan of the book...

Bouncing!

Elsie now likes to jump a bit- especially when mom or dad jump with her! 

Thursday play date!

Some pictures of my playdate with Noah, Adah, and Henry!

Playing in the snow with Mama!

On Monday a snowstorm came to town, so Mama and I went for a walk, then played in the backyard. I LOVE snow, especially when it is still falling and I can watch the flakes drop.



After practicing sitting in a big kid chair and doing some tummy time in the snow, Mama had a new project for me.



It was time to learn how to make snow angels! I am a natural, and Mama only had to show me once before I was flapping my arms and legs on my own. Scroll down fast to see me "in motion"!







Every once in a while a would get snow in my face, which I didn't like, but overall I though snow angel making was great fun. Here's a picture of my snow angel, right next to Mama's big one!

Seven months old!

Health and Growth

Elsie now weighs 14 lbs, 11 oz (8%) and stretches to 27 inches (62%!). She is finally consistent in her weight growth, and is gaining percentiles for height. Hooray! We attribute this to her mom's dairy-, soy-, and gluten-free diet. In other weight news, Elsie is no longer the smallest person in the house- Elsie's new growth and Ping's new diet mean that Elsie finally outweighs Ping! It will be quite a while before Elsie catches up to Pongo, though :)

Elsie consistently sleeps 2-3 hours at a time at night, with a few 4-hour chunks thrown in, too. She usually takes two naps a day, one lasting 30 minutes and one lasting 45 minutes.

Her hair is starting to really grow in, and appears to be a curly, coppery light brown. Her teeth also seem to be coming in- nothing official to report yet, but she has started rubbing her gums on anything she can get her hands on, so we don't think it will be long before the first one erupts.

Activities

Elsie's days consist of something like this:
Wake up between 7 and 9
Play with mom and listen to music
Jump in the jumperoo
Play with friends, go to baby class, or go to storytime at the library
First nap (25-60 minutes)
First meal
Go for a walk with mom
Second nap (25-60 minutes)
Second meal
Play with mom downstairs
Practice crawling on the bed upstairs
Play with dad when he gets home
Go to bed between 7 and 10

We sometimes mix it up with cooking in the kitchen, a third meal, chasing/petting cats, or playing outside in the snow. Not a bad life, huh?

Playing

Elsie's favorite thing to do these days is...whatever mom is doing. If mom is eating bread, she cries until she gets some, too. If mom is drinking coffee, she wants to drink out of her sippy cup. When mom talks on her cell phone, Elsie wants it on the speaker setting so that she can "talk" and listen, too. When mom brushes her teeth at night, Elsie wants to chew on her baby toothbrush. Mom and dad are getting very good at hiding the consumption of any food that Elsie can't have. They are also getting good at distracting Elsie while they use the computer, read big people books, and do other things babies can't participate in (Elsie has, however, figured out how to "pause" and "play" videos on the laptop already).

Other things Elsie enjoys are stacking toys, stuffed animals, mirrors, Tupperware, and Sophie the Giraffe. She loves dancing to music (Raffi and Jason Mraz are her favorites), and watching short clips of Sesame Street music videos when she gets fussy. She will spend hours pulling toys out of a basket (as long as mom keeps refilling it), and she is becoming an advanced peek-a-boo player, pulling the blanket off her head herself. Elsie also enjoys working on "walking" while holding mom or dad's hands. It won't be long now until she can chase the cats herself!


Comparison Photos:
One Week


One Month


Two Months


Three Months


Four Months


Five Months


Six Months


Seven Months

Uncle Gbert

This is a picture of me with my Uncle Gbert. I don't remember seeing him much when I was little, but he's been hanging around a lot lately. Daddy explained that that's because he used to be a Southerner and drink Sweet Tea and only run outside when it was above 50 degrees. Now he lives close by because he moved to Madison. I guess that makes sense. Anyway, he's a lot of fun, so I am happy that he likes to come over and play with me!

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