Kathryn Reese: 8 Months

Weight: 16.8 pounds (our scale)

Height: 28 inches (my guess)

Clothes: 6-9 months/6-12 months

Diapers: Size 3

Chickadee, one more month has passed in your sweet little life. You are such a little firecracker - dramatic, persistent, stubborn, loud...eerily like your mother. (Yikes!) You are truly growing into a little girl and becoming less and less of a baby each day. You desperately want to GO and move all the time, but poor thing, you just can't figure it out yet. You still scoot around in circles when on your tummy, but you still haven't found your knees or all fours yet, so you can't crawl despite your desire. We are meeting again with your physical therapist, Ellen, this week just to be sure there's nothing holding you back physically. I think you're just a little slower than most on the gross motor skills, but she's going to help us play a little catch up so you don't get behind. You also love to stand and hold onto furniture, toys, etc. but haven't taken any cruising steps yet.

On the schedule front, you are FINALLY consistent in your schedule. You drink 6-7 ounces at 7am, 11am, 3pm, and 7pm, eat solids at 8am, noon(ish), and 6pm, and nap from 9-10:30am and 1-2:30pm. Bedtime is between 7 and 7:30pm, and you wake for the day around 7am. It's AMAZING to finally have predictability in your sleeping patterns. I feel like we finally have the freedom to make plans! Along those lines, we typically get out and about for a play date or something around 11 and then spend the late afternoons going for walks, to the park, or playing outside now that the weather is so nice. You LOVE being outside and going for walks in the stroller. You will tolerate a shopping cart when we go run errands, and you are OVER the car seat. We will more than likely move you to a big girl car seat soon - you are getting awfully heavy to carry in your infant seat!

As far as food goes, we had an interesting month as you battled some serious digestive issues this month. I'd say the low point was the stool study. One day, when you are about 13 and tell me you hate me, I'm going to remind you that when you were 7 months old, I had to collect your poop and put it into cups for testing. That, my dear child, is LOVE. :/ Fortunately, you didn't have any kind of intestinal infection or parasite, so we are being very careful with your diet and have taken you off of dairy entirely. You are now on soy formula and limited solids and doing wonderfully. Thank goodness!

You are cutting at least one top tooth right now, and I can't wait to see your little smile with those top teeth in! You are also making all kinds of noise - squealing, cooing, giggling, and attempting to make vowel sounds. Some of your other favorite things this month were splashing in the bath tub with your brother, ripping my glasses off of my face in the mornings, studying our watches, and feeding yourself puffs and Cheerios. You are a sweetheart little lady, and we love you!