8 months...2/3rds of the way to 1 year!

Alethea is 2/3 of a year old!  Wow how time flies when you are so blessed to have such a sweet little girl!  We have had so much fun watching her grow over the past month.  She is getting more and more of a personality each day.  And with that comes a lot of mischief. J  Her curiosity and determination to investigate things and do what she wants can make for one tired Mommy, but I love it.  She is into exploring everything!  Her stats (based on at home measurements) at the end of this month are 18lbs 3.2oz (50^th percentile) and 29 inches (97^th+ percentile).  I can’t believe how tall she keeps getting! She only grew a ½ inch over the past month, but it feels like she got so much taller.  Maybe that is because she is up on her feet so much (or often even the very tips of her toes) to reach what she wants.

Love this pic but for whatever reason it is one of the images 

that decided to upload sideways, but I wanted it  in the post anyway. :-)

                There is nothing stop Alethea from getting to what she wants for the most part now.  She can pull up on basically anything and she crawls like speedy gonzalez.  I turn around for a second and it seems like she magically appears on the other side of the room!  She pulls up and walks along things like a pro, transferring from one thing to the other, and even letting go for a few seconds at a time to just chill out and stand.  I have a feeling we are in for an early walker.  She even started using her walking toy today to walk around the living room.  I know I think she keeps me on my toes now, but I can only imagine what it will be like over the next few months as she starts walking. J

Boxes make great toys

and so does the fridge :-)

standing up at her learn and groove

the balancing act

so proud of herself

Got herself in quite the predicament going after Mommy's purse

She loves playing at the dishwasher

We let her explore the pots and pans. So fun!

Her favorite mischief...dog bowls

"helping" with laundry

"folding" Daddy's socks

                 She is doing awesome with her eating.  She loves her solid foods (most of the time) and thankfully still loves to nurse so she is getting all the nutrition she needs.  Foods she has tried this month are: carrots, mangos, nectarines (loves these!), peaches, peas, yellow squash, zucchini, chicken, and cheerios and kiwi chunks.  I am so thankful that I make my own baby food because I have been able to get her to eat everything I make.  Sometimes that means mixing fruits and veggies, but at least she is getting the nutrients and different tastes.  Some of her favorite combos are 3 cubes of sweet potatoes with a cube of peaches and 3 cubes of green beans/peas with a cube of banana and a bit of rice/oatmeal.  They may sound like weird combos but they are actually quite good. (I have tried them all)  At the end of the month we gave rice cereal another go and she didn’t break out in a rash so I am thankful to report that it looks like she either had no previous allergy or just outgrew it.  She has also taken to finger foods quite a lot over the past couple of days so I am thinking purees may be getting less and less.

Enjoying cheerios, again sideways due to the uploading issues

Apples make great teethers :-)

                Some fun things about this past month are that she got to finger paint and color with crayons for the first time.  She is quite the pro with the paint and loves to slap the paper.  We have made cards for family and decorations for the house.  So fun!  The crayons will take a while I am sure, but she enjoys playing with them (occasionally trying to eat them) and she is able to make a few strokes on her own here and there.  I am looking forward to introducing more art projects over the next month.  It’s never too early to have fun with art!

finger painting action

her first work of art

crayon fun!

                She also has a toy corner now that she is a huge fan of.  She will just sit there for a good while playing by herself (though she does love company too).  We set up all her toys to climb up on as well as a few buckets full of her toys to play with.  So exciting to see her enjoy it so much!  Toward the end of the month she got to go to her first race, her daddy’s mud run.  She loved it!  She is such an outdoors baby and she loved seeing all of what was going on while chilling in her stroller. (and while playing in the dirt, even if she was a hot mess afterward)

Enjoying herself in her toy corner

so excited!

Chillin' out at Daddy's race

                Some of my favorite things over the past month have been playing games of peek-a-boo and tickles. She is quite the giggler and it is so cute to see her anticipate the games now.  We have also had some dance parties, rockin’ out to some music from Glee.  Yes I am raising her to love Glee! J  And my all time favorite thing is to watch her reaction when her daddy gets home from work.  Her face lights up when she sees him and she has even started crawling to the door to greet him when she hears his key in the lock.  So precious!  I love it!

She loves her Daddy

                I thought I would include a day in the life of Alethea schedule this month since I made one up for Ben so he could know what goes on every day with Alethea/what to expect next when he gets home from work (since it varies so much).  Here it is:

6:30/7:30ish        Wake-up, diaper change, nurse

8:30/9ish              Eat Solid Breakfast (fruit with oatmeal)

10/10:30ish         Nap 1

10:30/11ish         Nurse

12:30/1ish           Eat Solid Lunch (veggie and fruit with oatmeal)

2/2:30ish              Nap 2

3/3:30ish              Nurse

5:00/5:30ish        Eat Solid Dinner (veggie and fruit with oatmeal)

7ish                        Bath (every other day)

7:30/7:45ish        Nurse/Bedtime (usually asleep by 8/8:15ish)

This works great for us and she seems to be such a happy baby, even though she usually doesn’t take much more than an hour of naps total most days.  She just loves to be up and playing.  all the times that are unaccounted for are full of playtime and outings with Mommy.  It’s so much fun to see how much her schedule has changed from basically eating and sleeping all the time when she was first born. J

                So yet another month has gone by and we love her even more than the last (if that is even possible).  It has been so much fun to be a family of three and we look forward to many more adventures as we watch our sweet little girl grow.

loves books

and running with Mommy (even if it doesn't look like it here)