8 Months

Little One is Eight months old! EIGHT! That's my favorite number!
And it has been one of my eight favorite months ever. Despite the fact that I've spent more time talking to doctors this month than to most of my friends and family, seven was still a great month, full of adventures. Here are a few of Little One's accomplishments that we haven't shared already:

Little Miss Personality
Little One is Her own special person, and Her personality has really started to come out and shine. She has definite likes and dislikes, and some decisive favorites which is a whole post in itself. What we know so far is that She's a pretty mellow girl, mostly calm and happy to be whisked along wherever we go. Or to just sit and play. Whatever. It's cool. She does have a little fight in Her though, if She's been pushed past Her limit.
For example, when the Nurses of Ineptitude were torturing Her, She whimperd and clung on to me, but tried to be good. Until a point. After which She'd had it and was not about to take it sitting down. Literally. She tried very hard to run away, completely disregarding the fact that She doesn't know how to even walk yet. She put up a pretty good fight! And I admit I was a little surprised, but found myself thinking, "good for you, kiddo." Few things get Her to that point though. Being put to bed hungry, throw-up that comes through Her nose, and being stuck with needles are pretty much it. Otherwise She'll rarely scream when a whine will do, and rarely whine when a happy noise will do.
She's fairly independent, and can play by Herself for hours if She has enough things to explore and chew on. At the same time, She is still ultra-snuggly and positively has to get a certain amount of cudding during the day, or else we get the poor-me whimper and the "up" arms.
At the moment, She's more of an intellectual than an athlete. She'd rather investigate the tiniest details on one toy than try to crawl. I have tried to encourage the crawling, by putting Her down to play on a blanket and scattering toys around the periphery, out of reach. But She believes in brains over brawn, and has realized that the best part of playing on a blanket is that if you pull and pull in just such a way, the toys come to you.

Talk to Me
She now knows that things She wants exist out there in the universe whether they are immediately visible or not, and is experimenting with different ways to get them to appear. Her drive for communicating with Big people has started to develop, and She is paying very close attention to how She can make all these idiots understand important things like, "I'm thirsty please. I need cuddles please. I want that red-fuzzy thingy with the crikley bit on the side please."
For example, Daddy feeds Little One most nights. Little One has noted that when he feeds Her, he often makes this lip-smacking num-num face. So obviously that must mean "eating time", and Little One makes sure to get our attention and show us the num-num face when She's getting hungry. She also knows that "all done" is signified by dumping Her bib contents all over Herself and the chair, since this action gets Her out of that chair pretty quick! (we're working out the kinks).
In the world of verbal communication, Little One has a VERY impressive repertoire of sounds and noises. She loves to 'sing' and to read along with stories. She can say "da da" and has twice been heard to say "Ma Mmm". She just doesn't know why everyone gets all excited about it.

Skillz
Have I mentioned that we have perfected the pincer-grasp? Little One is now a great barometer of my housekeeping ability. When She starts picking up individual dog hairs from the floor, holding them carefully in front of Her, turning them delicately with Her chubby wrist, and then dropping it to pick up another (looking to find the very tastiest one for Her snack) I know it is time to vacuum. Again.
What's that I said about dropping it? Oh yes. Little One can now drop things on purpose. This is a tough one to master, and it has led to a love affair with gravity. OOOooohhh, look! She says. I can make mommy's cell phone go waaaaay down there while She tries to placate me with it so she can buy the groceries! OOoooooohhh!! I can do it AGAIN!
Little One is very sturdy sitting up now, and can go from sitting to rolling with ease, if not always with grace. She is beginning to be able to climb, especially out of the tub that we put in the sink to bathe Her in, which makes bath time extra exciting for all of us.
Now that we are on bottles, Little One decided to take matters into Her own hands, and is very proud to have learned to hold Her own bottle. She likes the little pedialyte one from the hospital so She can drink water all by Herself with one hand, while playing with a toy with the other. She's a multitasker. She likes to hold Her formula bottles too, but not at bedtime or if She's in the mood for cuddles. Then She wants to be babied a bit, and Her parents not-so grudgingly comply.
Little One is a champ at waving bye-bye, waving hi, and playing peek-a-boo. She's working on mastering rolling a ball back to me and at putting small objects in and out of bigger ones. She's also quite the musician. She LOVES piano toys of all sorts, and when Aunt M let Her pound on her real baby-grand, Little One was ecstatic. She loves drumming on an empty formula canister, and She's also very into rattles right now. The first sign that She's up from Her naps these days is some hopping maraca music shakin' out the bedroom door.

Peeps
Little One is a people person. Sort of. She likes to be the center of attention, and even though She plays shy at first, She eats it up when people talk to Her or even look at Her, giving big smiles and happy squeals. However. There is a phase every baby hits right about now called "separation anxiety", and we are deep into it. That's it's own post too. But at the end of the day, Little One likes pretty much everyone, unless they are smoking. I am quite happy to report that Little One agrees with me on the ickiness of the smoke here in South, and when, as has often happened, a person we are talking to lights up mid-sentence, Little One is quite clear in Her disapproval. Please please let this last throughout Her teen years.

Month seven has been full of adventures. Lots of changes, bumps in the road, and new experiences. Through it all, Little One has kept growing, learning, hugging, and smiling. We learn more about Her every month as we go, and this past month we have really seen what an adaptable, easygoing girl She is. Part of that is being mellow and taking things in stride, part of it really is rolling with the punches, and She's tough in many ways too. She's been an inspiration to us in terms of being open about new experiences and people, and about living life to the fullest no matter where or how you are. Happy Birthday, Little One. We are so proud of you. Here's to a great month and to looking forward to Eight months old! My favorite number. And my favorite Little One!!!