8 Months

Francie turned 8 months earlier this week. Eight months! I took her for a nurse visit to get weighed and measured. Drumroll please ...

Weight: 17 lbs, 9 oz. (10-25th percentile)
Length: 27 inches (25th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.75 inches (10th percentile)

My Bean is a fat little chunk. She's got perfect little rolls in all the right places. I'd never guess that she was on the smaller end for her age. Her hair has started to come in a bit, and it still has a reddish hue. We're crossing our fingers she stays a strawberry blonde, and that more hair continues to grow. She cut her first tooth, the bottom front right tooth, just in time for Thanksgiving day. We decided she must be a Hartman, to grow a tooth just in time for a nice prime rib for dinner. She wasn't particularly fussy, and we just discovered it by chance when she was trying to chew on Alex's finger. She's so tough :) Her eyes are still blue, and although she still has that sleepy-stoney look, her eyes are getting less and less Magoo-like. Her cheeks are deliciously chubby, and her face is round, just like Alex's was.

She shows more and more personality with each week. She's still a bit of a drama queen, in that she seems to get frustrated easily and really pissed off if she drops a toy she's playing with. She grunts a lot. She claps her hands, both open and closed fists. One of her favorite toys includes a soft plastic book called "Who loves baby?" with photos of her parents, her grandparents, Gizzy and Logan. She also still loves G-Money, and this colored wooden triangle toy. Mostly she wants to play with anything that's not really a baby toy, like a fork or an iPhone charger or even a beer can.

She is so vocal. Some days she spends half her waking hours screeching and squawking and "singing" and blowing raspberries. Alex swears she can say "mama," and on occasion I think she has waved hello. She reaches for me, which is my favorite thing in the whole world. And she'll give open-mouthed kisses. She usually does this if she's happily tired or wants to nurse. She will play alone, and then will squawk or grunt for our attention when she wants to interact. She mostly plays on the floor in the living room, pulling her toys out of the basket around her. She's not crawling yet. She loves to sit up, and will reach reach reach for any object just beyond her grasp, and usually falls forward onto her stomach, before quickly rolling onto her back, then squawking for help when she can't sit herself back up. We think she'll learn to crawl from a seated position rather than from her tummy. Alex marvels at her fine motor skills - the way she can manipulate toys. She seems pretty tactile - still loves to touch faces, feel fabric, hold on to something with a white knuckle grip. She continues to nurse like a champ,  maybe 5-8 times each day, and eats solids two to three times. She eats oatmeal plus fruit each morning, and she likes avocado, quinoa, carrots, etc. She's not a picky eater, and seems to really enjoy food, which makes Alex a proud papa. Her sleep routine is far better than it was even two weeks ago. She has successfully transitioned to the crib. She generally naps two to three times, and goes to bed between 7 and 8 p.m. every night, and sleeps until 6 or 7 a.m. She is actually waking to eat about twice nightly, and occasionally needs extra help during the night with a few minutes of butt-patting or jiggling. We are so proud of her (pleased with ourselves) that the initial stress and exhaustion of the sleep-training business did not endure for long. But we are also firm believers in Murphy's Law of parenting - just when you think you have it figured out, it changes.

My favorite things about the Bean at 8 months? Her "rubber band wrists." Her babbling, screeching, singing, and raspberries. The way her face lights up when she sees me or her daddy, and the way she reaches for me to be picked up for a hug and lots of kisses. How she opens her mouth and grunts when we feed her, to communicate that she wants more. How much she loves being outside. And music. The way she touches faces and grabs hair. How interested she is in the dogs. She grunts at them when she wants their attention or for them to come closer, but they just don't get it. The way her fat belly hangs over her diaper. How she claps her hands when Alex plays the guitar. Her open mouthed, gummy grin when we dance, or when I toss her in the air. That she'll fall asleep when I spoon her. How she'll put the Soothie in her own mouth, usually when she's getting close to ready for a nap. I even love how she scratch-scratches her sharp little fingernails on fabric, making a creepy nails-on-a-chalkboard type sound. We continue to adore her, marvel at her development, and question how we lucked out with such an awesome addition to our family. What did we ever do to deserve such good fortune?!? We love you Bean-O!!!