Natalie: Eight Months

Vital Stats
Natalie is 18.8 pounds and 28 inches long. She wears 9- or 12-month clothing. And she has a ton of it!

Milestones This Month

Natalie still crawls like crazy. She crawls especially fast when she’s excited about something or wants to get into something she’s not allowed. She will walk around furniture and behind her push toys. She has stood by herself more, but still has some trouble with balance.

Sleeping

She sleeps less than she did a month ago. Typically Natalie sleeps 11-11.5 hours a night, with about 2.5 hours of naps during the day, down about 1-1.5 hours since this time one month ago. The sunlight wakes her up around 7am each morning. She still loves Teddy, and still does really well going to sleep without crying.

Eating

Natalie still eats solids at three meals a day, plus a bottle before bed. She has grown a little bit on peas and green beans, and will eat them with hardly any faces at all. She LOVES her finger foods; puffs are still a favorite, but she also likes Cheerios, cheese chunks, and mixed veggies. Natalie tried Daddy’s pot roast with carrots and potatoes last week. Pot roast is hard to eat, but potatoes and carrots are yummy. Natalie tried a piece of French fry for the first time over the weekend. It was…different. And salty.

She drinks about 4oz of water out of her sippy cup every day. Natalie has tried drinking out of a regular cup like a big girl, but it’s a little difficult still. She has tried prune juice and apple juice. Neither was a huge hit, but maybe Mommy diluted them too much. Natalie enjoys water just fine.

Communication

Natalie understands the word “no,” and will get mad when she doesn’t get her own way. She’s fairly dramatic about it, in Mommy’s opinion. Her least favorite thing is putting on pajamas after bath time, and she makes no secret about it. She acts like Mommy and Daddy are killing her every night.

Recently she has started to think Mommy and Daddy are there to entertain her and occupy her 24/7. She is very good at whining to get their attention.

Play Time

In the last week Natalie has enjoyed reading books more, and has tried to eat them less. “Touch-and-feel” books are a lot of fun.

Natalie has a ball popper which she is warming up to. It was a little frightening at first, but the balls are fun to chase around. She loves anything that plays music, and likes to “dance” (bobs up and down, like mini-squats). There is a little piano she likes to play. It also has a spot to turn the music pages, which is one of her favorite things to do. She has rediscovered her jumparoo, and will jump for a while if someone is sitting there with her.

Mommy and Daddy packed up the swing last week, as it was no longer a favorite; it’s way more fun to MOVE!