dear mila: you’re eight months old!

hi there, mila!

i can hardly believe you’re eight-months-old. weren’t you just in my belly yesterday? you’re so big and strong and smart. and you’re more and more fun every day!

you’ve really found your voice this month.

your favorite thing to say is “ba ba ba”. we’re not sure what it means, but you say it so often and with such enthusiasm, we know it must be very important! you also look so incredibly cute when you say it — your little chin going up and down, like a toothless old man.

speaking of teeth, you still don’t have any. but you are a great eater, despite having to mush everything with only your tongue. you’ve all but given up on baby food at this point. today you had sushi: tuna, salmon and your favorite — tamago!

i have to admit, i’m writing this a little late. right now, we’re in florida with your grammy and grandpa. you’ve been eight-months-old for about a week already. you’re sleeping off a long day of shopping and eating and crawling on uncle michael.

this month you’ve gotten better at standing. you can stand on your own for about five seconds, which is a giant feat for you! i’ve seen you take one step a couple of times, too. you’re so strong!

we spend most of our days like this:

• wake up and head to mommy + me work out class. you’re still a little sleepy for the first half. by the second half, you are wide awake and want O U T of the stroller!
• have lunch with our friends kelci + baby harvey, or sometimes just head home.
• you take a good nap while i do some cleaning or writing.
• wake up and play in your room! you crawl around and play with blocks while i write or clean. we read books, play music, talk to each other, practice standing. i put a baby gate up at your door and you run free. you really love your independence, most of the time.
• now it’s time for your second nap. if i’m lucky, you’ll nap for an hour or an hour and a half, and i can get some housework done, or maybe take a nap, too.
• then we come downstairs and you sit in your highchair and eat snacks while i start dinner or clean the kitchen. most of the time dad cooks dinner, but sometimes he gets home late so we work on it so it is ready for him when he gets in.
• we sit at the table together and have dinner. it’s my favorite part of the day! you’re such a big, good girl and eat everything we eat. we love watching you eat noodles! you love eating mushrooms most, i think.
• after that, dad gives you a bath while i clean the kitchen and your high chair and the ground around your high chair. you’re a really, really messy eater! mochi helps eat some of the big things you’ve dropped.
• by now, its about 7:30, and everyone goes into your room for play time before bed. sometimes we play for an hour or sometimes just a few minutes before you’re ready to go to sleep. dad and i love watching you crawl back and forth between us. we read you book after book after book, then wrestle you into your pajamas. for some reason you really hate getting your pajamas on. it’s like you know it’s time for bed and you don’t want to fall asleep!
• but, the second dad kisses you goodnight and turns the light off you’re totally cool with it and ready for bed. i nurse you in the rocking chair and you drift off to sleep. you’re usually sound asleep before you even finish eating — so i snuggle you for a few minutes, then lay you in your crib and head downstairs to hang out with dad for a while.

mila, spending my days with you is the most fun thing i could imagine! i love snuggling you and reading with you. you have the best laugh, and the sweetest blue eyes i’ve ever seen. your eyelashes are so long and beautiful, your tiny nose is sooo cute (and btw, i’m sorry you have a scar on your nose. you scratched it pulling up on your diaper pail, and then you kept picking the scabs off — and now it’s a scar. ugh. i hope it goes away, or at the very least, that you are not embarrassed of it when you’re older). you have theses cute dimples in your cheeks when you laugh, and your cheeks are sooo big. double decker cheeks, we say — fat on the top and the bottom, with almost a roll in the middle. i love squishing them!

i know this next month is going to blow by and pretty soon you’ll be even bigger. i try my hardest every day to remember to focus on you completely, to savor every moment with you as my tiny girl, because so soon you are going to be a big girl.

i hope you’re happy and that you enjoy every day together just as much as i do.

i love you so much,
mama