Baby Check: 8 Months

Baby Check: 8 Months

Somebody was extra wiggly this photoshoot...

Effy is a blonde hair, brown eyed babe and this month I became a stay-at-home mom to this little lady!  I’ve got some ideas of how I’d like our life to look and I’m working to try to create some structure around our house.  I’m not sure it’s working, but I’ll keep you posted.  Could a daily trip to Dunkin Donuts be built into our schedule?  I think so.

I hope to start blogging about some of the ridiculous things that happen in our life on a more consistent basis.  I know Effy will love being able to look back on these monthly updates, but I’m sure she’ll also enjoy reading more of our daily stuff as well and this blog is, after all, ultimately for her to enjoy and a way for me to record memories for her.

This last month has really been a month where I start to view Effy as a “big girl”.  I know it’s probably too soon for that, but she’s just such a little grown up in so many ways.

The first moment when I saw Effy as a big girl was after a recent Etsy purchase.  She has toy food that was stored in a canvas bin.  I think the bin was too tall for Effy to see into so I found a sweet lady on Etsy that made a bigger and shorter bin with handles for her food toys.  She immediately started grabbing and reaching into her food basket and being very thoughtful with her actions.  Granted her actions at this point aren’t, “Oh, I’m going to make a sandwich,” but more, “I’m going to take this egg and hit it repeatedly on this box of frozen vegetables,” but it’s all cute.

Another big girl moment has been sitting in high chairs at restaurants.  This is not only adorable but it also means that I’ve stopped carrying her infant car seat carrier in to most restaurants.  This is GREAT because I look absolutely ridiculous trying to lug that thing around.  And NO, carrying Effy in her carrier does NOT make me out of breath.  That would be ridiculous.

Spent the day in Lawrence.  Went to Quinton's.  Duh.

Effy started clapping this month.  She wasn’t trying to mimic us…we weren’t really trying to teach her to clap, but I think she was just practicing bringing her hands together and then realized that if she does it fast, it will make a noise!  The best clapping moment so far was one morning after she was done nursing, she unlatched, layed back on her pillow, and with her eyes closed and in a milk coma, started clapping, and then fell asleep.  I think she was giving me a round of applause for making good milk.  I do what I can.  I’m pretty sure it’s garlic-flavored milk.  You’re welcome, Effy.

Effy is not yet crawling, but she is army crawling on her elbows.  She might not have proper form yet, but boy can she move.  We’ve been saying, “She’s going to crawl any day now” for about a month, so we’ll see when she actually takes off!  Until then, I’ll just watch her army crawl and imagine she’s a soldier fighting the great Battle of Gettysboob (See what I did there?).

Awkward & adorable smile...

Little lady has one tooth and it’s pretty freakin’ cute.  So far she hasn’t clamped down while nursing, so we’ll hope that pattern continues.

Scott & I have always enjoyed taking walks around the neighborhood together and that past-time is very conducive to life with a baby.  Our wonderful choir at church gave us a new jogging stroller for sweet baby Dicus and we busted it out with this warm weather.  I admittedly am not a jogger, but it is really great for walks around our neighborhood where the sidewalks are pretty uneven.  Effy loves this stroller because she faces out and can look around at every noise.  It’s so sweet to see her little head turn from side to side as cars drive by or dogs bark.  She still loves looking at cars drive by.  Clearly, they’re awesome.

Effy, spread eagle, in her stroller.  Don't worry. She ain't no hussie.

Oh, additionally, Effy has picked up her grandmama’s piano playing skills.  She is the new Rachmaninoff.    

Effy also kept her social calendar packed this last month:

On Mother’s Day, we went to Topeka and ate BBQ at Gage Park…quite delightful.  As a gift, Effy pooped.  She’s a giver.

My dear friend Kendra is a 10-year cancer survivor and her twin sister, Kyla, threw her a surprise celebration party.  Kendra’s reaction was priceless and we were honored to be a part of her celebration!

Scott’s dad is a triathlete…legitimate, hardcore, Ironman.  I love going to his races…there is a crazy culture around triathlons that is really fun!  Effy went this last month to watch her Poppy race and was SUCH a good girl.  We woke her up early and carried her around in her Baby Bjorn for hours.  She loves her carrier, so life was good for her that morning.  I’ll probably carry her in the Baby Bjorn when I do my first triathlon [insert knee-slap and sarcastic laugh here].

My students asked almost every day for the whole semester when I was going to bring Effy up to school.  My homeroom students told me they wanted to throw a party for my going away so I thought that would be a great time to bring Effy up.  My mom (being awesome) came up as Effy’s body guard so less kids would be likely to grab her.  I am totally comfortable with my students holding Effy, but I just didn’t want a revolving door of kids coming in and out passing her around because I thought it would overwhelm her.  Effy did so well and this moment made me love my students more than I already did.

Effy…Your dad and I love you and are so proud of every little thing you do.  We love making you laugh and you make us laugh more than you know.  Your eyebrows are so expressive and you have such grown-up mannerisms.  You are our little lady and we love you.