8 Months

Forgive me for getting behind, but Margaret is now eight months old!  At eight months, Miss Margaret is ready to shake, rattle, and roll!  That girl will be on the go before we know it!  She wiggles all over the place and tries to climb all over you when you are holding her.  In the crawling department, she's not quite there yet, but is getting up on all fours and lurching forward.  She definitely knows how to get herself to where she wants to go.  I am foreseeing myself having to intervene a little more in the future once Margaret starts going after Big Sister's stuff!

Looking at Maggie

Silly girl

Her first time in a swing

Margaret's personality is beginning to shine through more and more.  She is definitely a determined little thing.  I think she still proves to be more physically assertive than Mary Frances was at this age.  She is sweet, cuddly and loves her Mama!  She also loves her Daddy.  Margaret definitely loves Mary Frances!  She is usually content unless she is tired or teething.  Stranger phobia has definitely set in!  I am also finding that she does not like men.  She will cry when I drop her off in the nursery almost every time, but usually settles down.  A few weeks ago the nursery volunteers were not able to settle her down and had to call me out of church.  This is also so different from Mary Frances at this age.  I looked back at her blog at 8 months and I had written how she loved to play with her friends in the church nursery.  We definitely have two different children!

Checking out Maggie

Here is a little more about Margaret at eight months:
- sleeps 12 hours at night with 2 - 3 naps during the day
- nurses 4 times a day and eats 3 meals
- wears size 3 diapers
- she loves baby food!
- she loves to self feed and has mastered the pincher grasp (she is super fast shoveling in puffs and cheerios and I have also given her baked sweet potatoes.)
- Margaret gets up on all fours
- she sits well and is never in the same place I left her
- Margaret has mastered the wave, although is sometimes a little reserved with it
- she says dada and bababa (long a) and squeals with delight, a lot
- loves to read
- sucks her index and middle fingers on her left hand when she is tired
- Margaret had her first time in a swing at the park - she loved it!

So close!

Pretty girl

One little antidote I want to remember is how she snuggles with me before I put her down for bed.  I will put her in her sleep sack and hand her the owl lovey Mary Frances gave her.  She will lay her head on my shoulder while I sing to her.  When I put her in bed she looks up at me and smiles.  When she is really tired, she grabs her lovey, rolls over onto her side and sucks her two fingers while she drifts right off to sleep.

Playing with Elizabeth at the park

Love

These really are some of the best months and I am looking forward to seeing Mary Frances and Margaret playing more together as Margaret becomes mobile.  They already love each other so much!

Love,
Katy