The Hardy Life: Eloise at Eight Months Old

Oh, Eloise. These months are piling up on each other and hard as I try to soak up every minute and treasure every second, the time is passing faster than I can handle. It's a good thing that you keep getting cuter and cuter and that your personality grows each day, because as much as I am missing my tiny little infant (a lot), I can't help but look forward to each new day and discovering more who you are becoming!

It's getting harder and harder to do these monthly shots with the cards. Today you wanted to grab this one every time I laid it beside you. Grabbing is your favorite activity right now. Hair, earrings, food, toys, my face... if you can get your hands on it, you are grabbing and pulling.

You're showing us that you're a feisty one too. You may be flexible in many ways, but you are determined to be heard. Literally. You are so incredibly loud. You don't cry much, but boy oh boy can you squawk/scream/holler.

You love to laugh too though. Those two bottoms teeth peek out and your whole face wrinkles up and the sounds of your cackle make us all totally melt.

Know what else makes us melt? Those eyes. Darkening every month, you're definitely going to be our brown eyed girl. Your eyes are full of expression and curiosity.

You're watching Rufus in this picture. You love him. You also love your sister more than words can say. You love bouncing and singing and playing little rhyming games. Peek-a-boo and patty cake remain favorites. You love flying high through the sky and tickles on your big round tummy.

Oh how badly you want to crawl. You're starting to do a few army-crawl scooches in the forward direction, but haven't quite gotten the hands-and-knees thing down. But I can see already that you are determined and persistent, two qualities I hope we'll be able to foster in you. It won't be long now before you're able to crawl.... you're working so hard on it.

You're working hard on some more teeth, too, but right now just have your bottom two.

That hasn't stopped you from eating though. In the past week or so, you've grown tired of baby cereal as you've discovered more and more the joys of self-feeding and pick up food. You still prefer your vegetables to your fruits, but we're working on a good variety of stuff. You like beans, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas and eggs. You tried broccoli today for the first time (it was a hit). You tolerate pear and apple and mandarin oranges. No bananas for you though. No thank you.

You're still nursing well too and I love those times because it's about the only way to get calm sweet snuggles from you. You mostly like to nurse when it's time to sleep (nap or nighttime), but will occasionally have another quick snack here or there other times during the day. You'll drink pumped milk from a straw cup during the day too. You love your straw cup... I think it makes you feel big like sister.

You're still not sleeping at night. About that. Your sister was sleeping LONG before now and since you kept me up with vomiting most of my pregnancy with you, it's been well over a year since I've had consistent decent sleep. I'm really getting quite tired. We've tried making you cry it out for weeks and weeks and I'm throwing in the towel with that for a bit. You win. I will feed you at 3am or 4am. But maybe you can learn to sleep all night soon? I'd love it.

Look at this belly and this roly poly legs! It doesn't appear that you actually NEED any extra feedings, now does it?

But because you are my second baby, and probably also my last, I have a different perspective. While I'd love for you to be sleeping more now, I know that these days are numbered. The sweet warm smell of you wrapped in a swaddle blanket, nuzzled into my neck in the dark stillness of night, breathing your sweet hot baby breath on me won't last long. You won't always want to nurse or rock or let me pat your little bottom. So, if you insist for tonight, I will.

And morning will come and there will be coffee for me and many more things for you to explore. Have I mentioned how much I love to watch you explore? Pulling wads of grass out of the lawn, banging spoons on your high chair tray and sending food flying, pulling toys out of your basket, opening and closing things, studying books with flaps and textures, listening to songs and rhymes. You are so curious. See?