Dear Addison - 8 Months

Dear Addison,

We are nearing the end of your 8th month and since you were two weeks early, you have now officially been earth-side longer than inside!

This 8th month has been full of new skills learnt and you discovering your personality. You are such a smiley little girl and that is the first comment we get from everyone you meet. You have discovered how to laugh without us tickling you and our hearts melt when we see you in your highchair laughing at Killer the cat. You have also discovered your independence and are becoming more and more determined to do things yourself.

You still only have two bottom teeth but the top two and the next two bottom ones are threatening to break through, probably in the next couple of weeks. We have learned from last time and have ice cubes and Pamol at the ready.

You are a huge eater, getting great at using your hands to grab finger foods and you can manage almost anything we give you. New foods this month have included: berries, apricots fresh from our tree, rhubarb, plums, pasta, pesto, hummus, cheese on toast and ham amongst others. Ham has been a clear favourite, you hold it in both your hands and gobble it down like a squirrel. There was much protesting when you discovered it was all gone and then you flat out refused any other food until you had more ham. Next time ham will be the 'treat' after the rest of your food has been eaten.

You have figured out how to drink from your drink bottle that has a straw all by yourself. I gave it to you to keep you occupied one day while I was getting your dinner sorted and Dave and I noticed you sucking and actually getting water from the straw! You used to just play with the silicon straw. You can also pick it up yourself and turn it over to find the right place to suck from. Clever girl!

Not your drink bottle, but you love any and all bottles!

You have started to jump to the next stage of baby-to-toddlerhood by reducing the amount of naps and breastfeeds you have per day. You have decided that two naps a day is plenty and you only feed from me morning, noon and night. It seems crazy that you are weaning yourself slowly and that magic age of 1 is approaching fast. I plan to keep at least a morning and/or night feed until you are around 1 but we will play it by ear and follow your lead.

This month of your life included Christmas and New Years as well as a family wedding in Dunedin. You couldn't have cared less about Christmas, as people had told us, the wrapping and ribbons were more popular than presents. We chose not to go overboard with presents this year and will try and keep it that way and stick to a bit of a formula - something to wear, something to love, something to read, something you need. From us anyway. Family can feel free to spoil you! You got given a paddling pool from us, a wooden pull-along rabbit that Daddy made, some cute clothes, an audiobook series of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton, a big comfy sleeping sack for winter and four Dr Seuss books. Not a bad haul from your amazing immediate family. I got you a Christmas outfit and dressed you like a reindeer. You looked super cute and we got some obligatory photos.

New Years was a bit of a non-event, we went to a BBQ with some friends and you lasted until about 8.30pm before you lost it. So we took you home, put you to bed then hung out and went to bed ourselves. We were still awake at midnight and just lay there listening to the fireworks wondering if they would wake you - they didn't. Happy New Year!

We traveled down to Dunedin for a cousins wedding just after New Years. I was expecting the drive (4.5-5 hours with no stops) to include a lot of screaming/fussing but we managed to time it so that you slept the first 2 hrs to Timaru, then you had food and a play then slept the next 2 hrs and were awake the last wee bit just happily chatting away. It was AMAZING! The same happened on the way back so I think timing is everything.
During the wedding you were super happy. The ceremony was in a church and the organ was being played. You LOVED the organ and squealed and smiled and bounced up and down while it was playing. However you kept up the chatting during the service and Daddy had to take you out because you were distracting everyone. It was nice to see you happy rather than upset though. We also put you in a pretty outfit which you were given for Christmas from Aunty Isla and Uncle Tim. We had to leave the reception a bit early too because you were ready for bed by the time dinner was served. We scoffed ours down and left. You got to meet a lot of extended family there which was lovely and we took a photo with four generations in it: Great Granny, Grandma, Dad and you!

Another new thing this month has been playing in your paddling pool. After your aversion to baths for so long we weren't sure how it was going to go but after you protested about being squished into your togs you enjoyed the cold water and splashing with toys. Pegs that floated were a big hit and so were leaves. We have a bigger paddling pool that I can fit in too so when the next hot day comes along I will hop in with you and see how you go with deeper water.

Tricks we are learning this month are: clicking your tongue, playing 'drums' and making noise with objects, dancing to a beat or music, waving is coming along slowly, playing peek-a-boo, rolling from back to front, your pincer grasp is great and you can pull yourself up from sitting using our hands to help you balance.

Crawling is still looking like it is a while off. You are a lot happier on your tummy and will spend 5-10 minutes at a time there if someone is around you and there are toys to look at. You can pivot around to get a toy, not quite 360 degrees but you have the idea. Your little toes dig into the floor and you straighten your legs but your arms stay flopped out and you don't quite push up on them yet. I think once you figure it all out it won't take you long to get into it so we have already taken measures to babyproof most things.

Addison you are such a wonderful little girl. The baby days are slipping away quickly and soon you will be a proper little girl running around the place. You love your Daddy and can say his name Da-ddy, Dad and Ad-dy. You are still our little thrill seeker and like to swing, no matter how high we push you. I hope you grow up cherishing all the wonderful friends and honourary Aunties and Uncles you have that love you so much. Family is very important to us and anyone who loves you is considered family.
 
Be blessed, little one
Love Mummy.