On Christmas Day, Baby O turned 8 months old. I won’t say I can’t believe she’s already 8 months and I won’t ask where did the time go? Because everyone reading this blog already understands that these things go without saying. What I will say is I am still pleasantly surprised at how fun Baby O is. Seeing her face never gets old. Spending time with her is still tied for first place (the other being sushi and yoga dates with Missus Scooter).

ADVERTISEMENT

The deets 

We haven’t had her into the pediatrician recently, but about 6 weeks ago, Baby O weighed 19 pounds 14 ounces and was 28 inches long. She’s in the 90th percentile for height/weight and 50th percentile for her head circumference. She’s been on that growth curve since she was born (8 pounds 8 ounces and 21 inches long at birth).

Sleeping 

Baby O falls into the “good sleeper” category. She is routinely down by 7pm and sleeps soundly until 4am. I’ve found the quickest and easiest way to get her back to sleep is to nurse her. I know she’s not hungry, it’s a comfort thing, but it takes about 7-10 minutes to get her back down when I nurse her as opposed to anything else we’ve tried which can take upwards of 45 minutes. It works the best so that’s what we do. After the quickie feed at 4am, she goes back down and wakes up anywhere between 6am-8am. She is reorganizing her naps to 2 per day. She usually has one 45 minute nap in the morning and then a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.

Baby O was swaddled until she was about 6 months old. She transitioned herself out of the swaddle (I plan on writing a post about this). She now sleeps in a sleep sack called a GroBag. I think the sleep sack helps to keep her warm but also provides slight containment to help her feel secure. Being a baby who was swaddled a long time, I think this was necessary for her.

Teeth 

Baby O has no teeth! She has been “teething” since she was 2 months old but alas her chompers are elusive. I think she’s close to cutting a bottom tooth, though, and we can feel many teeth under the surface of her gums. Lacking her teeth does not deter her from eating… she can adequately gum just about everything!

Communication 

Baby O has been saying “mama” for awhile but we’re quite sure it isn’t on purpose. She says ooooh and aaaaah and baba and dada and yeeee and all kinds of stuff. She talks to her toys and will engage in “dialogue” with us often. She is starting to mimic our sounds and inflections. We have started to do some basic sign language but she doesn’t get it at all. We’re trying to teach her to wave hello/goodbye and I think she’s close to getting it.

Motor Skills 

Baby O has not mastered the crawl yet but she may have a future in the military because she’s an expert army crawler. She has tremendous upper body strength to pull her body just about anywhere she wants to go. The furthest we’ve seen her go is about 20 feet. She’s really up on her knees rocking a lot but hasn’t quite figured out how to use them to her advantage. She gets really frustrated that she can’t move faster, so I think crawling is coming soon. She is very coordinated and can pick up things with both hands very easily. She is almost able to sit herself completely up from a laying position and she can often prevent herself from tipping over if she’s sitting up. She loves to stand and her legs are really strong. She is just learning to help herself up to a standing position but hasn’t totally mastered it.

Eating

We have been doing Baby Led Weaning with Baby O since she was 6 months old and she has just started to consistently eat more than play. Her poop changed about 2 weeks ago which coincides with her transition to eating more. The poop now is really gross. I’ve decided I’m mourning baby poop. Seriously. Oh, but I digress. Back to food…we aren’t giving O any grains or dairy at the moment because after about a month of free range BLW, she developed eczema and our pediatrician said the culprit was immature digestion, likely stemming from dairy and/or gluten in her diet. We took her off both and did a breast-milk-only detox for 2 days and her eczema cleared right up. We will probably slowly reintroduce in about another month, one at a time so we know if we will still have an issue with one or both. She is very good with her spoon and loves to eat anything and everything off of her spoon. We scoop then hand her the spoon for her to put in her own mouth. I am still breastfeeding but this is changing too. Baby O is extremely distracted while breastfeeding and rarely eats for long stints. I know she’s a very efficient eater, but it still feels so brief. It almost feels like she’s starting to wean herself, which I am totally totally totally not ready for.

Personality

We still have a serious baby. Although it is a lot easier now to get big smiles and giggles. She has started to understand anticipation and can anticipate tickles or other fun things. She studies things and people intently before reacting (good or bad). Baby O is a super mellow kid and doesn’t cry or fuss a lot. She is adaptable and we often take her places where she won’t make a peep for over an hour. She is really content playing by herself or just watching what is happening around her. She has started to notice when I am in the room or when I leave the room. A big party foul is when she’s doing awesome on her own and then I walk out of the room briefly. Oh this doesn’t go over well at all. She fusses and protests and wants me to come back immediately.

Mama 

As for me, I have been “back to normal” for quite some time. I went through two periods where I felt like I shed a lot of weight: 3 months and 6 months postpartum. Now at 8 months I feel like I have regressed a bit and I feel puffy. I can’t tell if that’s because breastfeeding has slowed or because I’m not doing as much physically. At 8 weeks postpartum, I started running again and training for a half marathon. Since the race on October 7 (23 weeks postpartum), I haven’t done much running at all. I’ve started crossfit training and need to get some weekly run time worked into my schedule again. I started yoga at 4 weeks postpartum and try to get to at least 2 yoga classes in per week (would love to do more if possible). 

My kid is just massively cool. Her level of awareness is high. She knows her name and has a memory of things she’s done. She recognizes familiar faces. The best feeling ever is when she sees me after not seeing me for a little or long while. Her entire being lights up and she breathes out in wonder with her mouth wide open and her eyes dancing. She loves the dog and will often seek her out. I feel like she is absorbing a little bit of what we are saying to her and that she’s able to communicate a lot more about what she needs. This is a really fun time, and we are really enjoying the ride.