You are teething. As a matter of fact, I took a peek inside your mouth and noticed two puffy spots where your two front bottom teeth are coming in. Your teething isn't too bad, though. Not so much of a grumpy whiny type of teething as much as a drooling like crazy, chewing on everything you can grab including your parents' fingers and knuckles, and constantly sticking your tongue out, type of teething. However, don't get me wrong. You do whine. Not too often, but a little more often in the last few days than usual. You have gotten into the habit of requiring one on one time with your Mom and Dad before bedtime. If I simply take you upstairs to go to bed and get you all set up with your bottle, heart beat sounds, music, and dim lighting, you look at me as if I just told you I killed your kitten. Then you start to wail and cry so hard that it breaks my heart. Of course, as any good mother would do, I bow down to your demands of being removed from the evil crib and taken into the sanctuary which is your Mom and Dad's bedroom. At that point, Mommy and Daddy lie with you while you relax and drink your bottle. As soon as all is right with the world and the planets are perfectly aligned, I pick you up and carry you back to your room. I do the whole routine all over again, only this time you lay back and suck on your bottle and drift away. Although at times in can be a little inconvenient to play this little game, it is truly heart warming that you need that time with us.
You are scooting and rolling around everywhere. You are very hard to keep up with. I had realized that I was not prepared for you to be mobile at all. I had to grab one of the safety gates that we used for the dogs. It's all I had. I also had to dig through some of my baby shower gifts and find the outlet covers because you are actually able to reach the bottom ones. Whew! You're safe now. I think the reason that it takes me so long to be prepared with you is it is hard to believe you're growing up so fast. I can hardly keep up with you. You aren't quite crawling yet, but you are giving it your best efforts. We've watched you take 2-3 crawling steps, but then you give up and start rolling and scooting again. It's okay, Honey, when you're ready, we'll be ready to watch and cheer you on.
You showed signs of getting bored this past month, so your Dad and I bought you a new jumperoo. It hangs in the doorway of our kitchen so you can hang out with us while we're in there cleaning or cooking. You always know how to let me know when you're interested in playing in it or not simply by letting out a whine and cry the second I start to place one foot through one of the holes. If you do want to play in it, you stand in it leaning to one side (usually your left) so you bounce on one foot while kicking the other one as if you're counting like a horse. It's quite entertaining. If you do decide to get both feet into the action and start to catch some air, we love to watch it and the look on your face is priceless. You're having so much fun. There has been one down side to this new apparatus. The door way is only so wide and your seat moves around all over and sometimes your hand gets jammed in between the tray of the seat and the doorway. This of course makes you look at me as if saying, "What the Hell just happened? Whatever it was hurt this little hand of mine that I am now holding up for you to see." You cry about it and I come to you with a big magical kiss to make the badness go away. And it always does in a matter of seconds with you. You are one tough kid. I love that about you. I'm not raising a wuss. In fact, there have been several times that you have bumped your head or bit down too hard on my long fingernails that it hurt you, but seriously it only took you a few seconds to shake it off and be on your next adventure.
You are eating a lot now. You don't seem to be a big fan of breakfast, though. You got that gene from me and my side of the family. Makes us a little sick to our stomachs to eat breakfast. I have tried again and again to give you cereal on its own, sweetened with Karo syrup, flavored with fruits, etc. Nothing works. I've even skipped the cereal all together and tried giving you fruit. Nope. Not interested. So, you get an extra bottle in the morning with a little more formula in it. You have become very predictable with your schedule, too. After your morning bottle, you want to hang out and play. Usually, you enjoy chilling in your "sit 'n spin" toy and watching Sesame Street. You LOVE Elmo. Who knew? Sesame Street is one of the only things I let you watch. I am starting to allow "It's a Big Big World", too. I just don't want you to get too used to being planted in front of the TV. Not my kid. After watching your show, we play for a while with your toys. After you've been up and awake for about an hour and a half to two hours, I fix another bottle for you and put you down for your nap around 11 or 12.. Nap time usually lasts anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours. Depends on what your little body needs. Then it's lunch time, play time, another bottle, and another nap around 2 or 3. You're good after that. Dinner is usually around 6 or 7 (with desert) and you are ready to go to bed at 9.
Bathtime is different now. Now, you take a bath in MY bath tub. My tub is very big and has a seat in it. So, when it is bathtime, I make a bubble bath for you, put in your rubber ducky, and sit you down. I, then join you by having a seat and playing with you. I never make it out dry. You smack that water over and over. You LOVE water!!! You make sure that you smack that water hard enough to get some up to your mouth and you stick your tongue out over and over to catch as much as you can. It's hilarious. In fact, I bought you a little baby pool that fills up with water and squirts out excess water like a little sprinkler in your pool. You used it for the first time with your friend, Tanner, last week on Tuesday. Nancy and I put the two of you in there and you didn't want out even though after a good hour you were shivering. You never complained about being cold. You just wanted to play all day long in your pool. Tanner wasn't a big fan of it. It was too cold and the water kept spraying him in the face. When the water sprayed you in the face, you loved it because you could simply stick your tongue out and catch the water. Fun!
Finally, you shared a new little trick with me the day before your 8 month mark. I had been getting ready for the day and I put you in your co-sleeper to sit and hang out with me. When I turned around, you fell on your butt. Wait! I had you sitting on your butt. I wasn't sure quite what I had seen and even asked you what you had been doing. You were kind enough to share with me again what you had been doing. You grabbed the edge of the co-sleeper, pulled your self up, and stood there watching me. OH MY GOD!!! I was so excited. You're getting so strong and are using those little muscles of yours. Your Dad has been getting you to take little steps while hanging on to his fingers. It's fun to watch & a little frightening. Take your time, though. We're not in any hurry for you to grow up too fast. When people say, "Oh so and so was crawling or walking at that age" I could care less. You are my one and only, and I want to cherish this stage of your life for as long as I get to. Stay a baby as long as you are a baby.
As always, you are full of smiles and laughter. You and I communicate in our laughs. You make this laughing sound that sounds a bit like a vibrating cough. When you do, I make the same sound to you, and you make the same sound to me. We go back and forth for quite a while. We also sing with each other. You'll hold your note while I chime in. You sing about 7 or 8 notes with me. When you crawl up to your Dad's office, you see him and yell. It's like you're saying, "HEY!!!" It's awesome. You yell a lot, but it's just to tell us a story, tell us you're in the room, or to let me know that you're ready to get out of your crib and come join the party. But in between the yelling, singing, and talking, is always the laughter. Your brother, Alex, your Dad, and I can all get you to laugh one way or another. It's usually from a good tickle torture fight. You are very ticklish. This will come to our advantage as you get older, so beware.
You're a beautiful little girl, Farrah, and I can't seem to get over it. Everyday, your Dad and I talk about how amazing you are. Your beauty is in so many different levels and that's why it's so awesome. You can put complete strangers in a trance by the peace in your face, the kindness in your soul, and the joy in your heart. It's very evident to everyone that you are an incredible human being with endless potential. You are eight months old and already have so many friends. Everything about you screams happiness and people are just drawn to you. Nothing you do suprises me. You are great.
I love you more than you may know, Kitten.
Mama
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