Claire at 8 months

She turned 8 months old on Christmas! She is becoming more and more fun with each passing day!

Claire at 8 months....

• Pulls herself to standing all the time! She is super quick at it and can use almost anything to pull herself up. She loves to stand at her toy chest. When babies learn to pull themself up, why do they insist on always standing??
• Can climb stairs! She actually climbed an entire flight of stairs in just a couple minutes last night while Josh was up in the kitchen and I was out with friends!
• Sits on her knees- it's so cute.
• Opens and closes her right hand. Some people think she is waving 'hi'. I'm not completely convinced yet.
• Is often still tricky to get down for naps, which is probably the most frustrating thing we deal with! Fortunately, this past weekend was better. It doesn't help that she can stand up in her crib now. It's so sad yet cute to go in her room and see the little tiny thing standing up in the crib in the corner by the door (because she's just willing you to enter her room and rescue her!) and crying.
• When she does nap, she typically takes 3 naps a day- morning, mid-afternoon, and late afternoon. She goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:15PM.
• Makes all kinds of new noises, although she still is on the quiet side. The sound she makes most often sounds like she's trying to whistle, except she doesn't do it with her mouth round in an 'O' shape. She has a very distinct and well-practiced sound she makes when she wants something- it's like a cute grunt!
• Is starting to show preference for mama at times. We really noticed it after we returned from Florida (Josh said that Florida was "good bonding time" for us. Heh. I say spending time together in the middle of the night virtually every single night for the past 8 months has been the real bonding time!!). She definitely ADORES her daddy, no doubt about that! Josh just has to grin slightly at her and she breaks into an ear-to-ear grin. But there are times that she wants Mom to hold her! Like at the Christmas Eve church service!
• Still gets up one time per night. Enough said.
• Sleeps until about 7:30-8:15 daily. It is soooo nice on the weekends! On Christmas Day she slept until 9AM! Amazing!
• Eats meals 2 or 3 times daily. She loves her homemade baby food. She hasn't shown a dislike for anything yet! She's had peas, carrots, squash, pears, prune juice, applesauce, sweet potatoes, bananas, yogurt, and a dish that contains chicken and veggies. She is a great eater! On the weekdays she drinks two breastmilk bottles and one formula bottle. On the weekends she doesn't have any bottles. She is better with the formula but still isn't a big fan.
• Struggles with constipation occassionally. poor girl.
• Drinks from adult straws. If she sees a water bottle or even just an adult cup, she makes her grunting "I want" sound and leans for it. Somehow she knew exactly what to do with the straw and drinks perfectly!
• Is SUPER happy. She's such a joy. She's constantly smiling, laughing, squeling with glee. Rarely fussy or crabby!
• Adores Sydney. They're getting to be little partners in crime. Like when the dishwasher was open a couple days ago and they both stood there licking the spatulas.
• Wears size 2 diapers, still.
• I'm not sure how much she weighs but I'm guessing about 14 1/2 pounds. We'll see at her 9 month appt.
• Wears a variety of clothes sizes, depending on the brand. She still wears a couple 3 month size jeans, she wears a lot of 6 month size shirts, jammies, and pants, and wears some 6-12 month size outfits.

Well it's past 10PM and I'm tired and that's all I can think of for now! Merry Christmas! We had our best Christmas ever with our sweet, sweet baby girl- thanks be to God!