That's almost eight months, for those that aren't quick in math, like me.
I find it hard to believe that eight months have passed since this sweet girl entered our lives.
This is Ansley's outfit, for the record, given to her by neighbors in Atlanta. It was one of my favorites, and it looks just as cute on Avery. Although since it's a different season, she won't be able to wear it too much longer.
Avery is eating three meals a day, and she loves her food. She has yet to encounter a food she doesn't like. She loves yogurt, fruits and veggies. She's starting to feed herself crackers. Her all-time favorite is mango pieces - she LOVES them! But she can't feed herself just yet - the pieces are too small.
She loves to squeal and babble. Well, John says she knows exactly what she's saying since her favorite babble word is "dadadadada". Ansley and Christian are starting to work on teaching her their names. We are teaching her sign language for a few words, and she pays attention. She says something that sounds like "ahhhhhhh doh" which I totally think is all done, but it's hard to say.
She nurses 4-5 times a day, and can easily go for 4-5 hour stretches during the day. Her biggest nursing times are first thing in the morning and at bedtime.
She is my worst sleeper. She's just a terrible napper. She takes one nap a day, usually for 30-45 minutes, with an additional 30-45 minutes of crying. My kids have both napped almost to the day until they were three years old, so I figure we have just over two years for napping. Surely she will learn how to nap in two years, right? She has also been waking between 4 and 5 am the past several weeks. I know it's not the worst thing that's ever happened, but our kids have just never done that, so it's hard to know what's going on. I tell her it's a good thing she's so cute, otherwise I might be tempted to trade her in.
She has never taken a bottle. Well that could also read I never tried to give her a bottle. I've done that with all my kids as well. Pumping is just such a hassle to me, so I just nurse for a year. I really haven't minded it at all this time. I think I felt a little more consumed by it ("I can't do anything!") with the others, but I'm just really savoring this little one this time. Sure, I can't go out with the girls or on a date with my husband before 8, but to me it's totally worth it. And seriously, four more months of nursing and then she's done!? Sniff. It's REALLY going fast.
Some of my favorite things about her in this season: when I get her in the morning, she is just SO happy, she starts kicking her legs like crazy and has the HUGEST smile on her face. And, when I pick her up, she pats her little hand on my shoulder, over and over. It's the cutest thing.
She is not crawling. She has no interest in crawling. She is just starting to get really stable sitting up. (Christian was already crawling at this age, and Ansley started crawling at eight and a half months.) I'm not concerned at all, it's just interesting to compare. She is not rolling over from her back to her stomach yet either, so she is always asleep on her back for naps and at night.
She is very happy. She smiles often. She loves to watch Ans and Christian. She giggles at them all the time. She is obsessed with watching Kota, and will strain her neck to see around me if she comes into the room. She loves ceiling fans. She loves stuffed animals. She loves to chew on things. She has no teeth.
She has had one meat: chicken, and she liked it. We are introducing a sippy cup to her. She is fascinated if you are holding her and drinking something. She wants to drink, too. I've started giving her little sips of my water and she thinks it's the best thing.
She gets fussy when she is tired, which is surprisingly not as often as you would think for a baby who never naps. And she can get fussy when she is put down. She likes to be held, and there is a lot of holding around here. Ansley is still my mini-Mama, and she is VERY helpful and attentive to Avery.
School is a little more complicated to do, but I try to get a lot done in the morning while she is still sleeping. She usually wakes up between 9:30 and 10, and by then we have gotten a lot done. It's mostly more complicated because she is so babbly and squealy that it's hard to hear if we are doing our reading time. Not so much because she's fussy. She's pretty entertained by her toys, and often not by baby toys but by the kids toys (bigger toys, of course).
The three kids play really well together in the playroom, and it's so cute to see them playing and interacting with Avery. She is usually sitting right in the middle of them, while they chatter and play their imaginative games. So sweet!
She is starting to fuss when I disappear around a corner. I remember this stage with Christian, where it's part cute that you are their whole world, and part frustrating that you can't get anything done without some tears. But for now, it's mostly cute, since it has only just started.
In eight months, I can hardly recall what life was like before her. She is such a sweet addition to our family, and I love seeing how much the kids love her. I like to imagine sometimes how fun it will be to see all three of them playing, but for now, I'm just trying to slow down and savor her baby-ness. Especially since I know it's on its way out.