8 Months

Everyone tried to warn me when I was pregnant and I swear I listened, but no one mentioned that no matter how hard you try, life speeds up when you have a baby!! I promise, I am cherishing, enjoying, treasuring every moment, but it is going too fast!! There are times when I look at her (usually more than once per day...) and I get choked up, I can't believe she's already 8 months old. Where has the time gone?? How did I live without her for 26 years??? Nelson and I don't remember what life was like before. What the heck did we do with our time?? It's like every day, she turns a little more into an actual person and a little less like a baby. (Please explain to me why children are babies for such a short time and teenagers for so long!) She'll do seemingly simple things, but it something she's never done before! Like last night, she and I were in the tub together and she just started splashing like crazy!! She's been interested in the water, but it was like it suddenly dawned on her how to play and she kept doing it and she loved it!

Private blog, so here's a naked baby! She loooooves taking showers!

Kalaya really is changing before our very eyes. She has become so interested in EVERYTHING. Those arms are a foot longer than we think they are. Her vision must be crystal clear because she is drawn to everything and everybody. (Enjoy it while you can sweetie, good eyes do NOT run in your family) She likes to grab and explore everything. She has a LOT of new toys from Christmas and her current favorite game is see-how-many-toys-I-can-grab-at-once. Her hands only hold about 1 each, but sometimes she wraps others in her arms. She often has one in each hand and another in front of her, so what does she do? She opens her mouth and leans toward the 3rd. It doesn't usually work, but you have to give her credit for problem solving! :) Her favorite toys are probably her stacking cups, her squishy blocks and her stacking rings. She still loves her jumper too. She likes her, sigh, cell phone (that we did NOT get her) but I only bring that out occasionally. I'm thinking of taking the batteries out too. I am just not a fan of light up, noise making, plastic cheap toys. It's not because the noises bother me or anything. (although I can only take so much) It's just that they can be way too stimulating. I also think that they don't really do anything to promote using imagination or creativity. I prefer simple toys that encourage these parts of development. There's a (limited) time and place for the others. Of course, Kalaya's favorite new form of amusement is Pippy! I swear, she's going to follow in her mother's footsteps and her first word will be 'dog'.

She (and I!) still love our baby sling!

Kalaya has started rolling from back to front! She really took her time with it, but she's doing it so easily now that I think she was able to sooner than she showed it. It won't be long before she's mobile, so we're starting to think about some baby proofing. We're going to get a guard rail (usually for a toddler bed) for our bed soon, just to keep it extra safe. We've lowered the mattress to the floor too. Yup, co-sleeping still happening at this house! Now that she's over her cold, she's sleeping well again and I finally feel rested again!! There was about a 3 week span where she still was getting stuffed up at night and waking frequently. We're back to once or twice between 10pm and 6:30am, with nursing back to sleep until usually around 9:30am. It's wonderful!!

Playing with Daddy in Alabama, daddies are the best!!