If I had a nickel for every time I thought about writing Campbell's 8 month post, I could be a stay at home mom! It's just that when I've thought about writing it, I've never been able to do it...I was either in the shower, driving down the road, or doing something else at the moment. We all know that my memory is about a minute long, so when I had the time to write this post, I never remembered to. Anyway, Sunday afternoon, my sister said, "I haven't seen an 8 month post on your blog yet!" I figured I'd better get busy. The unfortunate thing is that I haven't done a very good job of keeping up with what's been going on with Campbell. This might be pretty short.
Sleeping Patterns: Before Christmas, Campbell was sleeping like a champ, all night long. Now, I can count on at least one wake up during the night, sometimes two. I don't really mind waking up with her; it's usually a simple routine, but one that takes about 30-45 minutes: snuggle, nurse, snuggle/rock, put her back in bed. The only thing I do mind is when she chooses to wake up at around 4am. That means the routine is finished is sometime between 4:30am and 4:45am...and my alarm goes off at 5am. Those mornings pretty much suck. I have noticed that since Campbell has started waking up more at night, that I'm much more tired. I was just thinking the other day that the fatigue of those newborn days of multiple wakings and high needs has nothing on the fatigue I feel now. But I know that this is just a season in life, and sometime, I'll get more sleep.
Eating Habits: Our girl really enjoys eating! She's eating breakfast and lunch (in addition to breastmilk) at the sitter, and we have her sit at the table with us during the evening for supper. Because I'm not sure that she's getting a lot of finger foods at the sitter's that's what we concentrate on at dinner. She has definitely figured out the association between her high chair and food! Not too long ago, I sat her in her high chair with me in the kitchen so I could get a few things done, and she let me know in no uncertain terms that she expected food on that tray, not toys! She's still nursing about 6 times a day in addition to her solids and the main reason for so many nursings is the nighttime waking.
New Foods: Once again, I've done a horrible job of keeping up with the new foods that Campbell has tried. We give her a little bit of everything that we eat at dinner, and she has never refused to try anything. She's still a little wary of green veggies, but always comes back to them on her tray. We did discover this month that the child loves red bell peppers! She's had them raw and cooked, and prefers them raw. She's learned that she can rake the flesh of the peppers along her bottom two teeth, and she is very purposeful about it! She's also had green beans, mashed potatoes, and a variety of other things that I just can't think of right now.
New Discoveries: This is where I've really fallen down on the record-keeping. This month I did notice that when eating, Campbell is obviously choosing what to pick up from her tray. It's so fun to see her determination to pick up a chunk of fruit, or to chase a green bean around her tray. Sometimes I find myself wanting to "rescue" her and hand her the food she's after, but I know that she's learning an important skill and I don't want to interfere! I've noticed that she's also become really adept at passing objects back and forth between her hands, and she's great at getting her pacifier into her mouth!
Her Accomplishments: I'm not sure if this is technically an accomplishment, but Campbell's first two teeth came in this month! In fact, less than 24 hours after she turned 7 months old, I felt the first tooth breaking through the skin! She didn't seem to have a terrible time with teething, but there were definitely a few loooooong nights when she was cutting those teeth. She's learning how to use them, but luckily, she hasn't practiced on me yet! Last month, I mentioned that it seemed like she's started giving kisses. Now, there's no doubt about it, she is definitely giving kisses! They're wet, messy, sloppy, kisses, but they're my favorite kind! She's a little aggressive with the kissing...she grabs our faces with both hands and leans in for those slobbery, openmouthed kisses. What a sweetie!
Places She Went: Honestly, I have no idea. I don't really think that we went anywhere or did anything too exciting. Family and friends, if I'm leaving something out, let me know!
Special Friends: I don't think Campbell made any special friends this month...things must've been slow around here!
