This was me just one year ago.I actually thought I was really big at the time Pa took this photo!  I have to laugh at myself now- I had NO idea how big I was going to get!

I usually say that I can’t believe Lula is x number of months old.  This month, I can definitely believe she is 8 months old.  And I’ve got to say that although I don’t miss the shots, I miss going to the doctor’s office every month.  I guess I enjoy the reassurance of a trained professional telling me I’m doing okay.

One of the biggest things I have noticed this month is that Lula is much more dependent on me.  I used to get twenty minutes or so in the mornings to eat breakfast, drink coffee and peruse the Internet while she amused herself and now I’m lucky if I get ten.  Even now that she is sitting up, she still knows that I am not going to be interacting with her when I set her down.

don't leave me ma

Since it’s too hot to use our down comforter on our bed, it makes a great cushion for Lula in case she falls over which she tends to do from time to time.  You may have seen our duvet cover featured in reality shows like The Real World- gotta love Ikea!

Taking Lula outside to play has been a saving grace now that she can sit up. I don’t leave her unattended in the garden like this- it’s just too dangerous- but I do put her in the BOB when I am weeding.  Some days she can tolerate being out there with me for 45 minutes.  Other days, we’re back inside five minutes later.

I am still learning that the only thing I can control regarding activities I want to do that involve Lula is my own attitude so I try really, really hard to have no expectations when we engage in things like weeding the garden.

This picture is a better representation of our outdoors time as of late.  We plop her down on the grass, we plop ourselves down on the grass and she is amused for long periods of time- with just her sunglasses and grass blades to play with!

We have moved all of her baths to the real bathtub now.She loves being in there and we love the fact that she can kick and thrash to her heart’s content.  We simply place a handtowel on the floor of the tub and she sits on top of that to keep from slip sliding all over the place.

She is enjoying solids but is still getting most of her nutrients from breast milk.

give me more

When she really enjoys something, her arms go up as in the above photograph.  She is eating and loving avocado, broccoli, carrots, and rice and oatmeal cereal.  I seriously need to branch out and find something else for her to enjoy- she hasn’t yet had much in the way of fruit.

She is definitely not ready to crawl yet but this is her latest pose when she is on her tummy.She basically does push-ups in an attempt to either crawl or get herself into a sitting position- I’m not sure which one.

one.more.pushup

She is unbelievably strong and I have to work hard to get something away from her if she really wants it.

We usually meet Pa for lunch every other week and that is one of the most special times ever.  She can sit in a booster seat, and she has, but sometimes we just let her sit on our laps.  Her favorite thing to play with?Straws!  She also enjoys slapping her hands up and down on the table and when that gets old, simply gnawing on the table edge suffices.

Another thing she has been having fun with lately is books. I put two or three board books in front of her and let her open them, chew on them, roll around with them, etc.  I try to read to her frequently but she almost always tries to take the book away from me and put it in her mouth.  I’m not wishing away this age but I am really looking forward to snuggling with her while we read a story together.

She still only has one tooth slowly working its way up but I am sure more are on the way.She is down to an hour and ten minute nap in the morning and a forty-five minute nap in the afternoon.  She seems to like to play in her crib a little more than she used to.Lucky us, she is now able to get her feet out of the crib slats if need be.  A month or two ago, we flipped her once or twice in the early morning hours when she got stuck on her stomach but we are incredibly fortunate that it was a rare occurrence around here.

I will do a day in the life post soon as this one is starting to get pretty long but she goes to bed at 7 and gets up around 6:30-6:45.

And this past weekend, she discovered how to clap!We certainly have our ups and downs doing the daily grind but I still feel like the luckiest person in the world for having worked very hard over the last few years to ensure that I am able to stay home with my daughter.

Peek...

...a-boo!

Hilarious!