I know I'm a few days late, but Blakely turned 8 months old on 8-8 (August 8th...) We have been busy this month!
This is one thing we've been up to. That's right, bottles. For about 3 weeks, Blakely has been boob free. :) and for about 2 weeks- breastmilk free. Long story short- we had a hard time with nursing for pretty much Blakely's whole life. We had lots of different issues, and I just decided I was going to be a better mom if I stopped. My intention was to pump, but Blakely isn't exactly a low maintenance baby that will just chill while I pump...plus my supply went down pretty fast once I stopped nursing. So we made the switch to formula about 2 weeks ago. It took about a day of Stephen forcing her to take a bottle (or no milk) for her to take it willingly...then it took another day or two of fighting to get her to take premade formula...and for the past week we have been sneaking in the powdered formula in a little at a time, and she should be totally on powder tomorrow! Whew! Mealtime is so much less stress. She doesn't cry when she eats, and she doesn't cry when she's done. And if she chooses not to eat- I don't take it personally! She is also on a much more predictable schedule with meals.
I have no idea if the two are related, but since she has been taking a bottle this is a new thing:
Neither of us are sleeping here. I know I look awkward, but it is my only proof. She has started snuggling. She will just lay her head on my shoulder and squeeze me. It's the sweetest thing!
She will do this randomly throughout the day, but especially at naptime and bedtime. I change her diaper, turn off the light, and she immediately lays her head on my shoulder and goes to sleep. I promise you, she hasn't done this one time without me thinking about what life was like getting her to sleep just a few short months ago. It's marvelous. She will go to sleep if I just lay her in her crib too, but I like to snuggle with her. It's pretty much the only time she is calm all day...
I literally couldn't get her to smile for one picture. She just kept doing raspberries and this was the next best thing.
She is eating 4-6 oz 4 times a day, plus breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes she eats two full containers of fruits/veggies, sometimes she takes 4 bites and is done. One thing is clear, this girl is not interested in eating and only wants to do it if she has to. She does, however, love table food. And will pitch a fit if I give her some then stop. We had to leave a restaurant not too long ago because she was screaming cause I wouldn't keep giving her my food.
She goes to bed around 7 and sleeps til 6 or 6:30, and takes two naps a day for an hour and a half. PTL.
She is obsessed with fake animals. Like puppets, stuffed animals, etc. Especially ones that talk. Sesame Street is her favorite show, and she goes bonkers when its on.
One of her favorite things to do is this:
She loves to stand. Sometimes she drives me crazy cause she just tries to grab my hands over and over so I will help her stand. She has pulled up on things a few times but she has to be in the perfect position for it to work. She gets really angry when she wants to pull up on something but can't. For instance, she is always trying to pull herself up by the bumper in her crib. She hasn't figured out that she could just grab the side of the crib...
I have no idea how much she weighs...maybe like 16lbs? She still wears 3-6 month onesies and outfits, and 6-9 month ones are good in the length but big everywhere else.
She wants so badly to crawl, but just can't figure it out. She will dig her toes into the carpet and get her rear in the air, but usually only makes it forward about an inch, then she has a meltdown cause she is mad. She has scooted herself up on her knees a couple of times. She has only recently gotten really good at rolling. She won't just roll all over the place, only if she sees something- she will roll to her stomach, pick it up and roll back. If it is something
really cool, like a cell phone or glasses, she will stay on her tummy to play with it. She will also slowly lean forward until she is on her hands and knees if there is something cool just out of reach, but then she just plops down on her belly.
She is still a little chatterbox, and has even started to "sing." When there is singing on tv, and sometimes when I sing she will sing along with me. It's pretty funny.
I'm pretty sure she is going to be a diva. I have figured this from the beginning, but her high-maintenance drama queen personality keeps coming out more and more. She is almost never just calm and content. She is either really ticked off, or she is squealing/screaming cause she is happy. She is so funny. I love her.
