Rachel at 8 months

You are to die for.

Just looking at you makes me want to eat you up.

Holding you I have to be careful not to squeeze you to hard, as my love for you just wants to explode.

You  have learned so much this last month. 

You are CRAWLING like a big girl. 

You learned about a week before you turned 8 months. You were doing the army crawl for a while and then one day, with no help you learned how to do it on your own. You were a champ and got around so fast. It is crazy how much you want to pull yourself up now. You love to stand when someone helps you. I can already tell that you are going to be a big time mover, because already right now you are on the move. You seem to find me anywhere. All of a sudden I'll look down and there you are tugging at my pant leg with your adorable little smile and bright eyes, as if saying- "momma pick me up". 

You are a great sleeper. You sleep anywhere from 9 to 12 hours straight most night. You are still a big time nurser- which momma loves. I love how you yearn for me when you wake up and get so excited as I get ready to nurse that you start sucking your thumb and making little noises of joy. You still play with my hair a ton when nursing and you love holding my fingers too. Momma doesn't enjoy when you grab my chest and squeeze tight or bight me where it hurts with your bottom 2 teeth that have come through over a  month ago. 

You love most food and we know it because you always sigh "Mmmmm...." When you don't like something you do the opposite and make a disgusted look and spit it out. You love your oatmeal, mixed cereal and whole wheat cereal. You are still a fan of most vegetables, besides green beans and mixed vegetables. You love love fruit and crackers. You are amazing at picking up food with your fingers and feeding yourself. When we eat in front of you and you want it you grab for it, sometimes you get it, other times you get sad when we eat it up ourselves.

You are incredible at soothing yourself. You have never been a binky baby, but a total thumb sucker. When it is time to lay you down I place you on your blankey and you place that little thumb in your mouth and try to fight that you are tired or go right to sleep. You are not a cuddle bug, you have learned how to put yourself asleep and therefore love routine. If you do cry, you don't cry over 3 minutes usually and then you are out. You love sleeping with a blanket right close to your face, next to your thumb. You go to sleep around 8 and wake up around 7 , give or take a few hours, depending when you do go to bed (because mommy and daddy still have a life and are out doing stuff with you too).

Church is a struggle once you get tired. It is hard because it is right during nap time and you want your bed.

You have nap time usually around 10:00, sleep for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, wake for another 2 hours than another nap 2:00, sleep for another 2 hours usually than up again to play with daddy when he gets home from school. Daddy always talks about how beautiful you are and he loves showing you off.

Daddy tickles you like crazy and you squeal at the top of your lungs and laugh adorably. 

You are such a happy little baby and you have made having 2 kids fun and easier than I thought- time consuming, but worth it.  

You love your big brother so much. If you see him playing in his room , you crawl right over to him and love just being near him. I have watched you guys a number of times just looking at each other and laughing.

 James continues to give you kisses and says "Love you baby" on his own. When you wake up from a nap, James often times says "Momma- Baby" and heads on into your bedroom to get you. You start kicking your legs up and down and have the biggest smile on your face. You love people, especially your momma. 

You are a total Mommy's girl, and I love it. I hope and pray that we are tight and close as you grow up and always. 

You are adored by ME.......and Daddy.

I will always love you. 

I find myself more and more in love with you as each month passes.