8 months!

8 months.  Seriously, time slow down.  I can't believe that Paige is almost 1.  Just a few more months... I'm gonna have to soak up this sweet baby time before it's gone!  On the other side though, we are almost out of the baby phase.  Wahoo!  It's just bittersweet I guess.

Paige is crawling like a crazy person.  She likes to be held when she's tired, hungry, or fussy, but otherwise she wants to be down on the ground playing and scooting all over.  The other day she left my bathroom crawling after Harper and by the time I found her she was already all the way into the playroom.  Girl can move.  She ends up with these black, dirty knees everyday even though I try to sweep or vacuum often.  She also ends up with tons of hair stuck to her, which is pretty gross.  But such is the life of a second baby.  She is getting pretty good at pulling up as well.  She likes to pull up on people, the fireplace, her musical table, her exersaucer, the elliptical, all sorts of things that aren't really safe.  She is finally more stable while she stands there.  At the beginning of the month, she fell alot and her poor head got pretty banged up.  She also really likes to sit on her knees so she can reach stuff but can get down easier.  She has not figured out how to get down from standing yet.  She still likes her walker, but only if someone will follow her around.  It doesn't steer straight so we are constantly repositioning her out of corners and when she gets stuck.  She likes her exersaucer still but only about once a day.  I think we overused it last month because she won't sit in it for too long anymore.  And sadly, she hasn't figured out how to jump in her jumperoo so she actually thinks it's boring.

Paige is about the same in eating and sleeping.  She takes a bottle at 6, 9, 12, 4, and 7.  About 5-6 ounces.  She eats breakfast and dinner.  Plus a ton of puffs in between.  She sleeps from 7:30pm-5:30.  It's not enough and the early mornings are pretty killer.  Plus, she isn't really sleeping all night.  She wakes up once or twice a night, but usually goes back to sleep on her own or with a new paci.  About once or twice a week she is up for an hour or so, and that is super tough.  And sadly on the nights when she does sleep all night, sometimes Harper is up.  It's rough.  But I know it's just a phase and soon we will all be sleeping all night and life will get easier.  She naps once or twice in the mornings for about 30 minutes each and about 2 hours in the afternoon.  Since she's up so early, she takes her morning naps at home instead of in the car, which makes her way less grumpy for the morning.

She isn't saying any words, but her favorite sound is Ba Ba.  She has said the Ma Ma sound once or twice, but I'm not totally sure it was in reference to me quite yet.  She just started waving this month.  She mostly just holds her hand up, arm extended, no real movement yet.  But it's out there, when people say hi or goodbye to her.  She got her second tooth at the beginning of the month and then it seemed like she was teething towards the end.  She isn't a great teether, so I think it takes weeks.  Ugh. Poor baby, hopefully they will start coming in quicker.

Being born in the winter, she has been super lucky and hasn't really ever been sick.  But she got sick three times this month!  I guess the season is here and we need to bust out the oils. She got a virus first and was running a fever for a few days.  Then, she got the stomach flu for the first time.  It was awful.  Cody had it first, then Paige, a few hours later Harper, then me in the middle of the night.  Paige was such a trooper, she would throw up all over herself and cry a little, but then she'd be fine.  It did get everywhere though, her bed, her carseat, etc.  Multiple clothing changes, lots of towels, a few baths.  She was pretty sick for about 8 hours, and then she went to bed at 6pm and slept all night.  She woke up the next morning before dawn and seemed almost back to normal.  She had to eat less which she didn't like, but she did good and it was a quick one.  She also just got a small cold, but this fall weather changing 3 times a day is bound to do that a few times.

This month, the evenings have gotten a bit more bearable, so we have been taking walks to pass the time.  She has started to really enjoy being outside and it's nice to just get out there and relax for a bit.  We walk down the street and she sits in her stroller.  She never cries or fusses.  She just sits content to watch her sister ride her bike and observe nature.  In general, this girl is a happy girl.  She is content to be held.  She likes to crawl and play.  She doesn't cry unless something is wrong.  She is happy and her smile is infectious.

She started BSF this month and it was a rough start.  Her teachers on Tuesday and Wednesday are amazing, but she just didn't like being in a strange place without her bad to nap in.  The first week, I ended up having to bring her to lecture withe me and she actually did great.  But I wanted her to be happy in the childcare room as well (she didn't usually make it through church or the gym either).  It took about 3 weeks, but she finally is starting to do better.  They are able to get her to nap for a little bit so she makes it.  It is such a blessing because it was stressful for me to hear her crying the whole time.  But she's happy now and doing great.

She still looks up to Harper.  I honestly think they are going to end up absolute best friends.  She follows her around, crawls all over her, and adores her.  Harper is always looking out for her best interests, worrying that she will fall or hurt herself, getting her toys, or giving her food (that always helps).  She also really likes to watch the dogs.  Not sure what she thinks of them yet, but she is constantly watching them.  And even though she is a total mama's girl, she lights up when Cody walks in the room.  She really loves her Dada.  This girl is our favorite baby ever.