Eight Months Old

Teeth, crawling, and nursery time... oh my!

July 3rd marked 8 months for our little Lena and this month has been a month of milestones!  In mid June she began to crawl and has picked up speed ever since.  She also loves to pull herself to a standing position and spends a good portion of the day on her feet.  I don't think it will be long before she is walking! 

 She also had her first stay in the church nursery which she loved.  She is a VERY social girl and enjoys interacting with the other kids and playing with the nursery toys.  The nursery workers couldn't believe it was her first time since she felt so "at home". 

We had a family reunion and a professional photographer took pictures of all of the families.  We hadn't had professional pictures of us as a family since Lena was four weeks old so it was great to get some nice new pictures.  The down side of the family reunion is that every kid under the age of three got "hand, foot, mouth" sickness.  Luckily Lena's case was very mild and we only had a few sleepless nights. 

 Lena is talking up a storm and her babble is becoming more word like at times.  It is quite entertaining!  She also got her very first tooth this month and we think it is adorable!  We realized she was finally teething when she grabbed Dan's finger and bit down on it and Dan felt her tooth. 

 I am just so excited to spend my days with her that I sometimes actually get sad when she has to go down for a nap or for bedtime.  She is in a very regular sleep pattern now:  she wakes up around 6am, goes down for a nap from 9 to 11am and another afternoon nap from two to four with her bedtime being around 8pm.  I like the regularity of her schedule and I have realized now why so many mom's are protective of nap time.  As happy as Lena is she doesn't handle exhaustion well. 

 Next month we will have some formal growth statistics from the doctor but for how Lena is now in size two diapers, size 6-9 month clothes, and weighs around sixteen pounds.  This girl is growing!