It's been another banner month for you. One that included a little pnemonia and a lot of army-man crawling. As well as blowing Mommy's mind when you stood up next to the chair. How is it that you're only 8 months old? You act like you're almost 1 year!!
Yep. You came down with pneumonia at the beginning of the month. Right about the time your sissy came down with the croup. So life was super fun around our house for a few days. The worst part about it? The antibiotics made you hyper. As in... crawling the walls at 11 p.m., hyper. As in lifting sisters toy train above your head, hyper. As in... Mommy and Daddy need you to go back to sleep and OMG, 8 MORE DAYS OF THIS??? Yea. So... Augmentin is so not your boyfriend right now.
You started babbling a lot more this month. And you are still absolutely enamored with your older sister. You don't want to play with baby toys. You want to play with big girl toys... like the play utensils that you will stick in your eye as soon as Mommy turns her back. Basically, you want to be wherever your sissy is. And you follow her with your eyes the way a tiny slobbery hawk tracks a big, loud field mouse.
You've become just a little bit more of a snuggler this months, Millie. In the morning when you wake up, either I or your Daddy get to pick you up out of the crib and snuggle with you in the living room for a few minutes before you determine that enough is enough and we'd better feed you RIGHT. NOW. You've taken to solids pretty well. I thought you were going to be a picky eater, but once you got used to the consistency of the food, you were all over it. And it... was all over you.
On a related note, you've had serious issues with constipation this month. So much so that we're giving you an ounce or so of prune juice in your formula twice a day. Because, holy cow, baby girl! Hell hath no fury like that of a constipated baby. We were giving you about 4 oz at a time just to get things moving... and oh. my.... did things start moving. Started moving right up your back to your neck. So... now we're only on the 1 oz twice a day. Sorry, baby girl. Even though we had practice before you came to live with us, we're still, by all accounts, COMPLETE. ROOKIES.
You've hit a new cycle of sleep in the last month. For some reason, you're not sleeping well at day care. AT ALL. As in... sometimes when I pick you up from day care, you've only slept 20-45 minutes. Total. ALL. DAY. LONG. So by the time we get you home, we're in a race to get you fed and in bed. And that often happens before 6 p.m. And then you sleep until 7 or 7:30 am. Mommy threw a big parade the first night you did that. There's still confetti on the ceiling.
On the weekends, you sleep really well during your naps. You're still taking two which can last anywhere from 1 to 3 hours. And sometimes... when the stars align... you and your sissy take your naps together. Which means that Mommy and Daddy get a chance to breathe. We would be smart to actually breathe during these moments, but there's always something we need to do. The unwritten rule of parenthood... THERE ARE NO BREAKS.
You have become so social. And you want to be in on all of the action. You do not like it if Hazel and I leave you in the living room playing while I get ready for the day during the week. Oh. No. That just doesn't fly. And you immediately start army-manning it down the hallway to see where we are... hollering the whole way. You're working on the actual crawl, but always default to army-man because that can get you there a lot faster and you're all about speed these days. You're also big into standing these last couple of weeks. You like to crawl over to the chair and then freak Mommy out when she looks over and you've pulled yourself up and are looking mighty proud of yourself. And it's great because the last time you surprised Mommy was when she looked over and you were chewing on a wet diaper that she had left on the floor. You keep me on my toes, baby girl. And you're not even walking yet!!!
There are also times that you simply want to be held. It's usually at the end of the day when you're tired or worn out, and even if I'm sitting behind you and set you down on the floor, you immediately turn to me and climb up. Oh yes... you're a big fan of climbing on Mommy these days. Between you and Hazel, it's amazing I'm able to do a single thing in the morning because sometimes I think the two of you consider me your Everest... and you're both trying to plant a flag on my forehead to note that YOU WERE HERE FIRST.
Daddy and I were talking about this the other day. Whenever I walk in the room, your face just brightens up. You absolutely know who Mommy is and... yea, you're a bit of a Mama's Girl. Which is so completely awesome because, well... NOW I HAVE ONE. Hazel's always kind of been a Daddy's girl. Even when she was just little, she seemed to prefer sleeping on Daddy or playing with Daddy. But you... you're a big Mama fan. Which does my heart good.
But, if you're gonna be a Mama's Girl, you're gonna have to be representing Mama a little better. Meaning... no more scaredy cat, mkay? That's right... while you loving being in the mix and seeing new things... you still haven't gotten the courage that came so easily with Hazel. You're not afraid of people... which is good. But, well... the other day at a football game, your Grandma and I were waiting to ride the elevator to the 4th floor. And we were commenting on what a happy baby you were.
And then we got in the elevator.... where you proceeded to lose your EVER. LOVING. MIND. You were NOT okay with the elevator. And this made the 4-story ride the longest ride in the history of elevator rides. Once we stepped out, you were immediately fine. The elevator is so not your boyfriend right now.
Later, at the game... you were NOT down with Hazel's balloon. Freaked. You. Out. As did the sound of the crowd cheering. Football games are so not your boyfriend right now.
But for the most part, with the occasional scaredy-cat moments, you are super happy. You love sissy, Daddy and your grandparents. You don't get to see much of Aunt KC or our other friends because... well, you're in bed by 6! In fact, you don't get bathed as much as you should because... YOU'RE IN BED BY 6!! It's a feat of logistics to get you home from school and fed before it's bedtime. And we know better than to push bedtime back. Heads. Will. Roll.
Last weekend, we took you and Hazel to the Nature Center for a Halloween celebration. Your costume for Halloween is so cute... it's a cupcake. Which fits you perfectly because right now, you're kinda shaped like one. But we weren't sure if it would fit in the car seat, so instead, your Daddy insisted that you wear the ASU Sparky outfit that Granny and Pops had given you when they were visiting. It made sense for the car seat, and it made sense because it would be much warmer than the cupcake outfit (so Daddy claimed). So, I tried to overlook the fact that my baby girl kinda looked like a baby boy. So, I made Daddy throw on a pink hat so we could reclaim your gender. Let me be clear, I don't need to dress you in pink every day. And I certainly don't care if you play with bugs (not spiders)(see previous letter to your sister) and trucks/tractors. I don't care if you play in the mud and the dirt. I don't care if you prefer frogs over princesses, or vice versa. But... BUT, I think it's okay for me to put a little feminine touch on you from time-to-time. So I don't have to keep correcting people when they say: "Oh... he's so cute." It's not me that is assigning gender traits. IT'S SOCIETY.But, I digress. What didn't make sense was a part of the costume that both Mommy and Daddy overlooked prior to putting it on you. And then at that point, there was nothing we could do.
The next day, we went to a pumpkin farm to pick out pumpkins for Halloween. When we got there, you promptly pooped your pants. Luckily, Mommy had a sense that was going to happen and brought a clean onesie for you. And since it was like 70 degrees in the middle of October, you didn't seem to mind going without pants.
You are such a sweetheart, Millie. And we are so happy and blessed to have you in our family. I can't wait to see what the future holds for you. For now, we know that it involves a cupcake costume. But, eventually? Well, you may just decide to climb Everest.
Just because you want to get in the mix.
Love,
Mama
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