eight months

"What a peanut!" This is what I commonly hear people say about Hollin. I don't know if it's a Wisconsin thing, but I don't really remember hearing it in the south. I know it has to be a compliment, though because she is the happiest, most smiley baby ever.

She's very ticklish and there's nothing sweeter than hearing her belly laugh. So infectious. My favorite is when she laughs in response to my laugh.

She likes to play in the floor on a blanket full of toys. She rolls all over the place and then eventually lays on her belly and screams. She really likes to sit up and play, but she still topples over after a few minutes.

She still nurses or takes a bottle every 3 or 4 hours during the day. She has tried butternut squash, mango, applesauce, avacado, bananas, yellow squash, and baked sweet potato. The sweet potato was definetly her favorite...most of the time her response to solid foods is spitting, gagging, and coughing. We'll keep working on it...

She still only has the two teeth on the bottom. I think Zane got four top teeth his eighth month, but I can't feel any coming in.

My favorite, favorite, favorite thing about this month? She started sleeping ALL NIGHT! I think the last trip to Arkansas wore her out. The night we got home, she slept all night and has the past eleven in a row! She's going to bed a little earlier, around 8pm, and sleeps ten to twelve hours. She wakes up babbling and smiling. She takes a morning nap around 9, and an afternoon nap around 1. Sometimes she'll take another cat nap in the late afternoon. She's too wiggly to let us rock her to sleep, so we usually just rock and sing for a few minutes and then lay her down awake.

Nights are so much easier when they're predictable. She's always been a better sleeper than her brother was, but that's not saying much! Until this latest turn of events, she was still getting up a couple of times at night. I love, love, LOVE putting her in her pj's at night, tucking her in, and knowing (praying) that I'll see her smiley face in the morning!

She's got the squishiest, most kissable cheeks.

She says 'dadadada', bwuh (brother?), growls, squeals, and shrieks. She has a fake cough and has started doing the 'Popeye face' that Zane always did. She waved at Matt one morning. I think she loves her daddy :)

She's wearing size 3 diapers and 6-9 month clothes. I don't even know what size shoe she wears because she never wears any!

Her favorite things right now are necklaces that I'm wearing, her yellow blankie, her brother, me holding her while I walk around the house, and water bottles. Speaking of her brother, here's his eight month picture for comparison.

I can't believe that in just a few months she'll be walking and talking. Time has really flown by with this little girl! I feel like it has gone by much faster than with Zane...probably because I've gotten more sleep!