8 month update

It's hard to believe, but Lydia is now 8 months old. Still smiling as much as ever ...

You are likely thinking to yourself, "Oh my, she's getting so cute!" We agree.

She is also getting to where she loves to stand up any chance she gets ... she will arch her back until you help her, and she is needing less and less help to get up.

Though she is still a little wobbly, you can hold her up with only one hand (and sometimes just one finger for second or two).

Since we've been home from our travels and since she's been getting better from her sickness, she is going to bed between 7 and 8 and is back to sleeping until 3 or 4 or maybe 5 and then back to sleep until 7:30ish.

We're also working on a more normal daytime routine ... she's moved to just two naps a day ... around 9:30 or 10 for the morning one and 2ish for the afternoon one. Still not sleeping more than an hour usually, but every other day or so she'll do a 2 hour nap (usually in the afternoon when Ashley decides to leave the house - I think she is just saying she loves her daddy).

At her sickness checkup over a week ago, she was 14 lbs 15.5 oz ... so we're thinking she's about 15 lbs now.

When we were in Mobile, my mom had bought a bath chair to use. Lydia LOVED it so much that we got one for here. It is so much better for our backs, and it gives us 2 free hands to do things like corrale Eden. (thanks, Nona, for the idea)

Ever since we got back into town Lydia has been not liking her highchair at all. Every time we would put her into it, she would start squirming, crying, and begging to get out.  At first we thought it was uncomfortable or that it was due to her sickness. The new theory? She wants to feed herself. Ever since we started to cut up finger foods for her, no problem. She is LOVING feeding herself, or trying to ... finger foods now include pieces of banana, brocoli, puffs, toasted crackers, strawberry, green beans, peas, biscuit and thicker blobs of baby foods mixed with rice cereal ...

The other day, she ate an entire banana (minus a few pieces stuck to her bottom at the end of the feeding).

Lydia also still adores her sister. She is usually very content to be in a room with her sis, either playing or just watching. But watch out if you leave the room on her or especially if all three of us walk out, she becomes utterly devastated at a moment's notice. She especially does not like to see Ashley and then have her walk out ... so we try not to let her see Ashley unless she is going to stay in the room.

Since she is sitting up and can reach without falling over now, we decided to get some things out of the attic. This play table is a favorite ...

She also still likes to be around her Momma a lot.

Other things she loves to do:

• loves to try to drink her Momma's water out of the glass
• loves to play with {most of the time this is intensely grabbing} your face while you are rocking her
• loves to laugh and giggle while someone is making silly faces
• loves to go from sitting to belly and back again
• loves to put things in her mouth (we're trying to make sure Eden understands there is no more leaving things on the floor)
• loves to try and crawl, and is getting good at it but she's still just getting up on all fours and the plopping forward, hopefully soon she'll get the actual crawling part 

When Ashley went out to do the 8 month pics, Eden just had to get in on the action ...

... and act silly for many of them ...

Here's "the robot" ...