8 Months

Dear Emma,

You are 8 months old! Last month I complained that time was starting to slip by more quickly, but this month provided a bit of contrast. March 2013 can be separated into two distinct phases. We started off with two solid weeks of the never-ending stomach bug…and as soon as we all recovered from that horribleness, you decided it was time to REALLY keep us on our toes by entering the era of mobility.

March 19 shall now be known as the day you learned to scoot. (Don’t worry, I recorded it in your baby book for posterity!) It’s been completely amazing watching how quickly you went from the initial wiggles-in-a-generally-forward-direction that I recorded in that video to your current full-on army crawl. On Saturday, I plopped you down on the floor and let you explore the entire living room. You crawled over and rocked your car seat back and forth for a bit, and then scooted over to explore the bottom shelf of this bookshelf. Lucky for you, someone had preemptively stocked it with toys and books!

I don’t know if it’s related, but your sudden mobility has coincided with a still-ongoing bout of increased fussiness and clinginess. Sometimes you’ll be totally content on Dad’s lap and then a split second later, you’re squirming and groaning like it’s the worst thing ever and geez Dad, why don’t you just let me down already?

Happy…as long as you stay right there, Mom!

And then other times I’ll put you down on the floor or in the exersaucer and you are totally content until the instant I get up to get a snack or do some dishes or grab a magazine or do anything that involves being more than 2 feet away from you — and then your face will crumble and the tears start to fall. It’s somewhat annoying but also rather endearing to think that you want me right there with you all the time.

I guess it’s all part of your little personality starting to shine through! You are more adventurous than ever, constantly trying to dive bomb your body off the edge of the bed or couch with no recognition that doing so might not be the greatest idea. You reach for the bowls of food we hold, because you like to dip your fingers in and see how it feels. I watch you on the daycare video and see you scooting and rolling all over the floor, literally going from one end of the room to the other and back. And when I walk in to pick you up, you always greet me with a big happy smile and a flurry of arm flails.

We pushed our boundaries a little more this month and took you out to lunch and dinner a few times. Yes, we’ve been doing that for months already, but now you’re eating 3 solid meals a day, so while you previously would just hang out in your car seat while Dad and I ate, now there are high chairs and bibs and little containers of baby food involved. There’s also the fact that you can get really distracted when there’s action going on around you — people! lights! stuff to grab off the table! — and the fact that you often get fussy in the evening because you don’t get enough sleep at daycare. But we went out several times this month with different groups, including a massive 30-person dinner get-together when one of my old co-op friends and his family were in town, and you did great each time.

Last weekend was your first Easter, and it was a nice one. The Easter Bunny visited you at daycare and I’m happy to report that amidst photos of other babies looking wary, sporting uncertain expressions, or outright crying, we were greeted with a photo of you gleefully clapping your hands and smiling for the camera. Your teachers decided you’re meant for a career in pictures, but I think it’s more likely that you’ve just gotten used to people (namely yours truly) egging you into grinning for a photo. You also got an Easter basket with a few toys, and your favorite was this plastic book. Delicious.

This month we also had a nice visit from Grandma, Uncle Alex and Krystle that turned out to be perfectly timed between the end of the stomach bug and the beginning of crawling. You were in a spectacularly good mood both days they were here, and who can blame you? They gave you non-stop cuddles and attention, not to mention several new toys. We are already looking forward to spending a week around Corpus this summer so all of your dad’s aunts and cousins can snuggle you too.

Once again, I’m a few days late with your monthly letter because I didn’t find the time over the weekend to sit down and write it. You’ve got (another) cold, and on top of that I suspect you’re mere days away from popping out your top two teeth, so I spent most of the weekend wiping snot from your nose, drool from your chin, and snuggling you when you were fussy. I wish there were a way to make your immune system strengthen faster, but I guess we just have to keep toughing it out. You’ll find that there are a lot of things in life that are like that — things get worse before they get better. But you can also count on me for snuggles, real or in spirit, anytime you want.

Love,
Mama