Measurements:
Height: 28 inches (90th percentile)
Weight: 21.2 lbs (95th percentile)
Eating:
We are moving toward being completely weaned...sniff, sniff. She is so busy during the day that trying to get her to nurse is a task in itself and not an easy one. I am still pumping at least once a day and nursing her before naps (the only time I can get her to sit still is when she's sleepy haha) but other than that she seems over it and I'm okay with it. Or trying to be okay with it anyway ;) Over the last week I toyed with the idea of pumping exclusively and giving her bottles but decided against it in the end. Pumping is a lot of work and almost near impossible now that I have two very mobile girls! I've decided I'm just going to keep trying to nurse at least once a day for as long as she will let me and that will be it. I feel like I am hanging on because I know once it's over I will miss it. It sure is hard letting your baby grow up!
During the day she usually takes 4-6 ounces of formula every 3-4 hours. If she has nursed in between feedings she will take less and go longer. She gets three meals of baby food a day and a couple of snacks. For breakfast she eats fruit mixed with oatmeal about an hour after she's finished with her bottle. For lunch she has been eating a container of baby yogurt and loves it and for dinner she has a vegetable. She loves eating food and throws a fit when it is all gone. We've been giving her small pieces of table food; cheese, toast, mashed veggies, crackers and she gobbles it all up. I started making baby food (avocados, broccoli, carrots) and she seems to be a fan but she likes it fresh rather than reheated (baby diva). I can see her starting to lose interest in us feeding her, she wants to do everything herself! Her pincer grasp is getting good too, she is a pro at feeding herself puffs and yogurt melts :)
Sleeping
She is a great sleeper at night and I am SO thankful. There were many nights when she was a baby and waking up 4 or more times that I thought this day would never come. Now she usually sleeps from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am. She is so peaceful in her bed and sleeps hard probably because she wears herself out from all her moving during the day :) She is a belly sleeper with her little bottom up in the air. I put her to bed in just a sleeper (no blanket) and turn on her air purifier. I love to watch her sleep she is so sweet.
During the day she takes two naps (morning and afternoon). Both can range anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours. She loves for me to rock her before naps and she cuddles up on my shoulder. Those are some of my favorite moments of our day together. I am cherishing every cuddle I get from her because she is quickly growing up on me. It seems like she is doing things faster than Leighton did, maybe because she wants to keep up with Big Sis. I wouldn't be surprised if she started walking earlier too.
Temperament
She is my sweet little Mama's girl. If I'm in the room she HAS to be with me. During the day if I am doing something she will crawl behind me whimpering to be picked up. I love having a Mama's girl especially since Big Sis has decided to drink the Daddy Kool-aid lately ;)
Gracen has the most loving personality especially when she is watching Leighton. Her dimples are getting more prominent everyday and I love seeing her big smile when I get her out of bed in the morning. She definitely knows what she wants at every moment of the day and if you don't give it to her she will scream until you do! If she wants to crawl and you pick her up she will straighten out and become stiff. If you put her down and she wants to be held she will refuse to put her legs out. If you stop feeding her and she wants more she will scream until you give her another bite. She somehow finds a way to get what she wants every single time :)
Details
She started crawling about three weeks ago and it has been NONSTOP motion ever since. At first she crawled very slowly (we called her our little inchworm) but now she's fast and to the point. She has places to go and toys to play with. She can crawl backwards, through furniture, under tables, the girl is mobile! She crawls to the steps every morning and pulls up. She even made it up one yesterday :/ I am just waiting for her to figure it out and then I am really going to be in trouble. Guess a new stair gate is in my near future.
She keeps practicing pulling up on things. She has it down on anything that is shorter than she is and she puts her little bottom in the air and stands and plays haha. The taller things are a little harder probably because she is a little heavy ;) She can pull up in her crib and stand for a few seconds before she falls back down. Recently if I hold her hands while she stands she thinks it is really fun and hysterically laughs.
We let her go to the church nursery for the first time on Easter. We were surprised when she went right to the nursery worker with no tears and were very proud of her for being so brave. We were surprised when they paged us to come get her about 30 minutes later. Apparently they changed her diaper and she got mad and there was NO TURNING BACK. Haha! We kept her with us for the rest of the service and fed her puffs to her little heart's content. She was an angel. We will try again next week :)
If you didn't catch on she hates to have her diaper changed or anything that restricts her from being mobile! It is seriously like wrestling a baby pig come diaper change time. Whew, she is strong! I am getting excited for summer when I can let her sleep in a onesie again. Putting on the sleepers with all the snaps is exhausting :)!!
Lately she loves when I read to her. I put her in my lap and we look at books and she seems so interested. She looks at all the pictures with her big baby blues and hits the pages with her little hands and coos and laughs! She says "Dada" "Baba" and I heard her say "Mama" one time but I think it was a fluke :) She is much more verbal than Leighton was at this age!
Sister Stats
They are still similar in size at this age but Gracen is just a tad bigger :) Leighton grew and grew every month and then started to slow down around 8 months. I wouldn't be surprised if Gracen girl starts to slow down too. Crawling burns a lot of calories after all :)
Here are Leighton's eight months measurements:
Height: 27 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 20 lbs (75th percentile)
These two are so sweet together but they do have their sister moments too. Most moments come from Gracen getting into all of Leighton's beloved baby dolls. Gracen has started to love baby dolls and loves to crawl and pick one out herself. Big Sis is not so much a fan of having her baby's chewed on by baby sister but she's learning to share!
Hard to believe another month has passed and each of my girls have grow up a little more. Time flies when you're having fun!
She is sooo precious!
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