8 months old

Another month has gone by already. It's hard to believe Lily is 8 months old already. She's getting so big so fast and it seems like she learns so much so quickly. This has been a busy month for her. She really started crawling and now she's pulling herself up to her feet and even starting to walking while holding on to things. I'm sure she'll be walking before we know it.

She celebrated her first Chanukah and her first Christmas with lots and lots of presents. It took her a little while to figure it out but by the time we got to the last night of Chanukah she unwrapped presents like a pro. And she got just as much enjoyment out of the wrapping paper as she did the present that was wrapped inside.

She enjoyed spending a week with mommy's family up in Redding. She spent a lot of time playing with her cousin, Isabella. She's only 20 days younger than Lily but Lily's still much bigger than her.

8 month weight - 19 lbs 1 oz (official since we made a sicky trip to the doctor's office)

Milestones
Crawling! (12/13/08)
Learned to clap and now claps all the time. (12/12/08)
Pulls up onto her knees a lot but it still a little unstable
Wears a size 4 diaper
Wears 12-18 month clothes
Starting to voice her opinion more
Absolutely does not want to go to sleep on her own any more
Starting to learn sign language; we're working on "milk" to start with
Favorite toy: her Fisher-Price "iPod", it plays nursery rhymes and she thinks it's fabulous. It was a Christmas gift from grandma.
Loves reading
Still likes to do things with her feet. Sometimes tries to pull mommy's hair with her feet while she's nursing.
Survived another cold! Thanks cousin Isabella!
First tried meat- some Christmas turkey on Christmas Day
Loves music. Even if a car ride has become very frustrating Raffi always seems to stop the crying. Usually in just a few bars of music.
Crib was moved down to it's lowest setting. It's too dangerous now that pulling up is getting easier and easier.

Where did all these toys come from? Yikes! Toy storage has since been purchased and utilized.

Lily with mommy, Aunt Melody and Isabella.

Cousins in their matching Christmas pjs on Christmas morning.

Opening a present on Christmas morning.

Taking a break from unwrapping to do some finger chewing.

Lighting the candles on the 2nd night of Chanukah.

You got a problem with me, Penguin!?!

Isabella needs her older cousin to take make sure she's doing OK.

Lily thought that Isabella needed to be rocked.

The airport isn't such a bad place to hang out.

Oh Christmas tree...

We're a little late since we're leaving to visit Grandma and Grandpa on the 24th, but we got our Christmas tree this evening and got all of our decorations up. Lily loves it of course. She loves the lights and she loves glass ornaments on the tree.

And we got Lily's little corral set up because she's officially crawling! Yesterday she took her first forward crawl. She's still figuring it out so she only goes about a foot before she gets distracted but she's definitely crawling now.


So now she can be confined if necessary. There are toys on one of the panels so she has a lot of fun playing with the toys and turning on the music. And she's even starting to pull up on the walls.

22 weeks

How your baby's growing: Your baby now looks like a miniature newborn, checking in at 10.9 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound. Her skin will continue to appear wrinkled until she gains enough weight to fill it out, and the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her head and body is now visible. Her lips are becoming more distinct, and the first signs of teeth are appearing as buds beneath her gum line. Her eyes are developed, though the iris (the colored part of the eye) still lacks pigment. Eyelids and eyebrows are in place, and her pancreas, essential for hormone production, is developing steadily.

How your life's changing: You may start to notice stretch marks on your skin as your abdomen expands to accommodate your growing baby. Some pregnant women never get stretch marks, but at least half do. These small streaks of differently textured skin can range from pink to dark brown (depending on your skin color), and they become more apparent as pregnancy progresses. They can appear not only on your tummy, but also on your buttocks, thighs, hips, and breasts. Lotions won't prevent or eliminate them, but they help with any itching. Also, you may no longer be an "innie" — your navel is flat and may soon pop out. It will revert to its usual shape after birth.

Another interesting skin quirk you may notice during pregnancy is something called vascular spiders. These are little areas of raised, reddish skin, with tiny branches. Commonly found on the face, neck, upper chest, and arms, they're caused by the higher levels of estrogen in pregnancy, and they usually disappear after delivery.

How I'm doing: Merry Christmas! I'm doing well. We're currently in Redding for Christmas. So far we've just spent a couple days hanging out with family. It's nice to have some time off work to rest and relax. Nothing really new in baby news. The baby is still kicking away. Scott still hasn't been able to feel the baby kicking yet. We've decided to go with a green theme in the baby's area since we're not sure if it's a girl or a boy. Later on we can add in a few pink or blue items as the case may be.