Wow, 8 months old already...how did that happen?
At 8 months old, Gabriella is absolutely thriving. She is getting bigger and bigger every day, which is no surprise considering she loves eating! Her favorites include banana, avocado (see Someone loves Avocado! below), oatmeal, and sweet potatoes. We have also started her on some stronger flavors including yummy cheesy curry sauce which she loves on broccoli, chicken and noodles. Breastfeeding is still going strong so she is still getting all that good nutrition from mommy too.
Sleep is typically pretty good around here. She is wonderfully consistent with bedtime which is about 7:30 PM. Mommy and daddy usually peak in at her several times (just to gaze in wonder at how absolutely amazing, beautiful and peaceful she is) before we finally go to bed at the late late hour of 9:30 PM (yup, we're night owls!). Sometimes during the night she'll make a little bit of noise (a sigh, a coo, a cough) and put herself quickly right back to sleep. Typically she cries for mommy to come and nurse her sometime between 1-3 AM and goes back to sleep after a quick nursing session. Most mornings have her waking mommy and daddy up between 5:30-6:30 with the sounds of her voice over the baby monitor. She babbles, she giggles, she makes goofy motor sounds.
Lately, when we go in to get her from her crib we find her on her hands and knees. Or she is still on her back but perpendicular from how she was laid down and often scrunched into the corner with her legs against the side straight up in the air. Or (and this one was just shocking the first time it happened) she is peaking out from over the side of the crib because she pulled herself up on the rail!!! The look on her face is always the same - a big huge grin, as if to say "Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy! I've been waiting for you!"
Gabriella is a little girl on the move. She is crawling everywhere and pulling herself up onto her knees and almost to her feet. She can climb right over Nikki! Last weekend we were video-chatting with Andrew's parents over Skype and placed the computer on the floor - Gabbie instantly wanted to play with the keyboard so it turned into a game of chase. We scootched the computer around on the floor while Grammie and Grampa watched her chasing them from her hands and knees. It was so much fun!
***I need to amend the stuff on sleeping. I wrote this originally two days ago, ready to post today as Gabbie's 8-month birthday. But moments after writing all about Gabbie's good sleeping habits, it seems that she is going through a small set back in that area. For months we have been able to put Gabbie down in the crib when she is sleepy but not yet asleep. She did great at falling asleep on her own. The past two days (even if she just yawned and rubbed her eyes and couldn't look more sleepy), as moment she feels the mattress beneath her as we place her in the crib she quickly tumbles over, crawls to the side and pulls herself up on the rail. And screams for mommy or daddy to rescue her. Not only does it make it difficult to put her down for a nap or bedtime in the first place, but then it seems she is actually waking up more too. Those times when she would make a noise but seem to instantly put herself back to sleep have turned into desperate crying until someone rescues her.
Partly I think she's going through a phase of being so curious and excited about her newfound mobility. Partly I think she is going through a transition in her body's natural day-to-day schedule in terms of napping and such. And partly I'm not sure if she is having some increased teething pain that wakes her up a bit more easily than normal. Still no pearly whites but that doesn't mean the gums aren't tender before we can see anything come through.
Anyway, I'm sure this sleep thing will pass and we will get our sound sleeper back at some point.
Gabriella is a little girl on the move. She is crawling everywhere and pulling herself up onto her knees and almost to her feet. She can climb right over Nikki! Last weekend we were video-chatting with Andrew's parents over Skype and placed the computer on the floor - Gabbie instantly wanted to play with the keyboard so it turned into a game of chase. We scootched the computer around on the floor while Grammie and Grampa watched her chasing them from her hands and knees. It was so much fun!
***I need to amend the stuff on sleeping. I wrote this originally two days ago, ready to post today as Gabbie's 8-month birthday. But moments after writing all about Gabbie's good sleeping habits, it seems that she is going through a small set back in that area. For months we have been able to put Gabbie down in the crib when she is sleepy but not yet asleep. She did great at falling asleep on her own. The past two days (even if she just yawned and rubbed her eyes and couldn't look more sleepy), as moment she feels the mattress beneath her as we place her in the crib she quickly tumbles over, crawls to the side and pulls herself up on the rail. And screams for mommy or daddy to rescue her. Not only does it make it difficult to put her down for a nap or bedtime in the first place, but then it seems she is actually waking up more too. Those times when she would make a noise but seem to instantly put herself back to sleep have turned into desperate crying until someone rescues her.
Partly I think she's going through a phase of being so curious and excited about her newfound mobility. Partly I think she is going through a transition in her body's natural day-to-day schedule in terms of napping and such. And partly I'm not sure if she is having some increased teething pain that wakes her up a bit more easily than normal. Still no pearly whites but that doesn't mean the gums aren't tender before we can see anything come through.
Anyway, I'm sure this sleep thing will pass and we will get our sound sleeper back at some point.
Love love hearing updates on baby Gabbie!! So sweet:) I am with you on the sleeping too..ugh, I'm sorry you guys are going through that. It's tough on baby and tough on Mommy and Daddy too! John did the exact same thing around the same age, and we started rocking him to sleep again. Now at 10 months he goes back and forth - sometimes he falls asleep on his own and sometimes he doesn't. We've found that protein, nursing, and a longer bedtime routine can help though..Best wishes with your sleeping beauty.
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