Happy 8 months, Olive!

Age: 8 months

Weight: 20 lbs. 10 oz. (80th percentile)

Height: 27 1/2 inches (59th percentile)
Clothing: sizes 6, 9 & 12 months.

Head circumference: ~17 inches (33rd percentile)

Sleeping: Many nights this month were spent on the glider, but for the most part she wakes once a night. Sometimes I'm able to put her back in her crib without her crying and other times I find myself co-sleeping on the glider the next morning. We're still battling nap time. She still sleeps on me. :-/ She wakes and screams a lot as soon as I put her in her crib or PNP for nap time. And once she is awake and screaming there is no calming her without picking her up. So I either hold her and have nap or attempt to put her in her crib for naps and she wakes up and is missing her nap time. Ugh. I've tried to let her CIO (cry it out) for nap time, but it didn't work for either of us.

Eating habits: Nursing. Sometimes she has milk from a bottle when I'm away or we are out and about (we don't NIP). She is eating solids once a day. I'm thinking about offering her solids twice a day.

Favorite activity: She is a chatty one...just like Papa. She enjoys bath time and playing with her toys and wash cloths. She likes her stackable cups, reading her books and chewing on about every hard object she can find.

Cutest Moment of the Month: "Riding" the horse at the store, Mimicking when I scratched and tapped the block and trying to put a shape in her shape sorter.

Milestones:

Sits well without support

Bears weight on legs and may stand holding on to furniture

Adjusts posture to reach an object

Picks up objects using index, fourth, and fifth finger against thumb

Able to release objects

Pulls string to obtain object

Reaches for toys that are out of reach

Listens selectively to familiar words

Begins combining syllables like "mama" and "dada" but does not attach a meaning

Understands the word no (but does not always obey it!)

Dislikes diaper change and being dressed

Firsts: She enjoyed her first dip in Nana & PohPoh's pool. She has waved. She says "Mama" more, "Da" and "BahBah" when she sees Baby Dan or Sissy (we call Baby Dan "Bubba"). She began mimicking me with action and words. She enjoyed her first "pony ride" on a quarter machine at the store. :)

Updates: She sits better unassisted, but I'm still not comfortable leaving her by herself. She has been standing unassisted and loves to "walk". She holds onto our fingers or we hold onto her and she takes steps. Now that she knows she can get around with our assistance she doesn't want to sit for long. She has found a way to get off the couch. She'll sit on my lap, lean her body forward until she is facing the couch and slide down. She is easily frustrated like her Papa and she is stubborn like her Mama. She has been getting these red bumps on her arms and legs. For the longest time I thought they were mosquito bites, a heat rash or maybe an allergic reaction to detergent. We took her to the pediatrician and he said they are viral hives and nothing to worry about & they are not contagious. Hives occur when the body releases histamine, it's the bodies way of reacting when it thinks there is an allergy. Although they look awful at times she doesn't seem bothered by them.