Eight months! Phew, time is flying. We love this little human and finally like her, too! (Seriously, months 4-6 were pretty touch and go with her lack of sleep.)

• She never did go back to nursing after that nursing strike. I tried a few times to coax her back, but then decided NOPE. I don't think it was a coincidence that she's been a better sleeper and all around happier baby now that she's not nursing anymore. I really think she was just never satisfied with my breast milk. Isn't it funny how mom guilt works? First, I'm guilty that I had to stop nursing and feed her spray paint formula (Have you ever read the ingredients to formula? What am I feeding my child??). Then I'm guilty that I didn't switch her to formula sooner since she was clearly so miserable. Sigh. 
• I was pumping twice a day for a few weeks, but was only getting about 4oz/day. Not even enough for a whole bottle! I decided to officially cut the cord on breast milk and we're all better for it. (Does ANYONE enjoy pumping?)
• She's a pretty good eater! There are a few things she doesn't love, but for the most part she's easy. We're still keeping her on the basics - fruits and veggies. But I guess it's time to let her start trying real food.
• I refused to let Aiden use pouches, because it creeps me out that I can't see inside and she could potentially be slurping down mold. (I'm pretty chill about most things, but for some reason that really creeped me out.) Aldi has see-through pouches, so I bought a few for Emmie. SCORE. She loves them and they're so dang easy.
• She hates wearing a bib, so we go through a lot of Shout.
• I learned how to steam sweet potatoes, so I successfully made my own baby food and felt like the best mom, EVER! Easiest win of all time. Wish I had Googled it sooner.
• She has somewhere to go and she is quickly on her way. I know I've mentioned it a few times, but really - she doesn't stop. Ever. 
• She always wants to be standing up (we're all just human jungle gyms to her) and cruising around the furniture. She recently found the stairs, so we had to put a gate up.
• It's her life goal to pull up on her walker and stand on it. It makes her about 3 inches taller, but I'm pretty sure she feels like the tallest person in the universe. She's always so thrilled with herself.
• She said "mama" on Mother's Day (all the heart eyes). It was a really cute moment. Adam and I were with her in the playroom while Aiden napped, and she was giving me a "hug" and said it. 
• Her top two teeth are starting to pop through.
• She loves to stick her tongue out and has started giving open mouth kisses.
• She is still getting up twice a night, but it's basically heaven compared to her total meltdowns in the earlier months.
• Her big sister continues to ADORE her and asks for her first thing every morning (and basically all day). I am so grateful for these sisters and pray they are best friends!

Crazy baby, you're the best! So thankful that you're ours.

Videos: Dancing bug
No chill
Tickles!

Aiden: Eight Months

I just want to cry "MY BABYYYY!" She's hardly a baby anymore! She's quite the little maniac. I figured all babies were pretty active at this age, but we've heard from multiple people that she's really active. We have no idea where she gets it from!

Eight months of love. Lately...

-She's turning into Godzilla, with EIGHT teeth and counting. She thinks it's hilarious to bite, and I'm finding it difficult to figure out how to discipline a baby. For now, I just distract her with something else, instead of my shoulder. Or my arm. Or my stomach (weird, right?).
-With all those teeth, she's really into people food. We haven't found much that she doesn't like - except apple sauce. (Of course, selfishly I wish she liked baby food so I wouldn't have to think about her meals.)
-I stopped pumping during the day, but still nurse her in the mornings and night. However, when I'm home with her all day, she wants to nurse instead of take a bottle. She'll still take a bottle, but she makes it really clear that she still wants to nurse after. I'm usually a sucker and let her do it anyway, even though I'm pretty sure she's not getting anything. It breaks my heart to think one day it will stop completely. At this point, I think I'll nurse her in the morning and at night for quite some time. (Ask me again next month.)
-One of her new favorite games is to bang on her highchair like it's a set of drums. It's adorable. For now.

-It's so fun to watch her little fingers reach and grab for things.
-When she's excited, she flaps her arms like she's about to fly away. (If you're a bird, I'm a bird, Aiden!)

-She has this fun habit of throwing her paci over the side of her carseat and then fussing. Conveniently, she throws it against the door, so I have to do Cirque du Soleil acrobatics to get to it. And if we don't hit a red light, she's outta luck.
-The poor thing is so ticklish, and Adam doesn't give her a break. I have to admit, her laugh is the greatest sound in the world, but I know how torturous it is to be tickled! CHILD ABUSE!
-She's still obsessed with herself, and could watch videos of herself all day long. In fact, it's the only thing that calmed her down at her recent cardiologist appointment.
-Speaking of cardiologist appointment, she had her check up on April 20 and everything looks the same - which is good news! They're especially encouraged since the aneurysms haven't gotten bigger even though she has. And if they shrunk too fast, that could also be dangerous. No news is good news, I suppose! She'll go for an MRI in July, where they'll get more specific measurements of the aneurysms and look at the rest of her heart, but so far so good!

-She cannot get enough of her surroundings. She is curious about everything and is nonstop.
-She's so close to crawling, but seems to be able to get around just fine without actually mastering "the crawl".
-I'm nervous to even type this, because I still think it may be a fluke. She's officially sleeping through the night! As in, asleep by 7:30pm and awake at 7:30am. It's GLORIOUS!!
-I walked into her room one morning and found her sitting up. That weekend we moved her crib down, so she's basically a toddler now.
-She's currently weighing in at 16lbs 10oz and 26.5" tall.

Overall, she is such a happy baby! We love learning more about her personality, and her smiles and giggles leave us in a big puddle.