This has been the busiest month ever! Lena is almost 8 months, and I haven't had a chance to sit down and blog about her at 7 months. I think as you read about all the things we've been doing, you'll understand why...
As you know, Lena started teething when she was about 3 months old. So we have anxiously been awaiting the arrival of her first tooth. During the first week of October, I noticed she was a little fussier than usual and she was chewing on the nipple when I was feeding her a bottle. She never does that, so it caught my attention. Sure enough, when I felt her bottom/front gums I felt a little tooth poking through! It was so funny because as soon as I felt it, Lena made a sweet little sound. I told Cory, that was her telling me "yes Mommy you found what's been bothering me!" It was so cute. Then about a week later, she cut another tooth right next to it. She doesn't show them off too much yet, but it is so funny to see our little baby with two teeth! She seems to be working on another - drooling like crazy, fingers always in her mouth, loves the cold teething rings. So we'll see which one comes in next.
Ever since Lena started scooting around and belly crawling, she has just been all over the place. She loves being able to explore and get to the toys (and other things she shouldn't get into) as she pleases. It has been funny to watch her attempt to get up on her knees to crawl, but she figured out quickly that she can get around much easier by scooting on her belly. Then during the third week of November, she really started to crawl up on her knees. Now she can get around so quickly and easily. They say she is all over the place at daycare. She is also pulling up to standing with little effort. Toward the end of October, she pulled up in her crib for the first time. We had already lowered the mattress in her crib when she started trying to pull up on other things just to be safe. Since then she pulls up on furniture and a new toy we got for her. It is so funny to see such a petit little baby do such big things, but she is such a strong little girl. I don't think it will be much longer before she tries to start walking. She already takes steps while holding our hands and standing in front of us. Her teachers and even other parents are impressed with all the things she is doing. Her teacher told us that one day a parent seemed shocked at how she was standing up so easily and only balancing with one hand. She makes us so proud and we don't mind letting them brag on her. They always tell us how happy, sweet, and affectionate she is. She is so playful and loves music. She has even started rocking to music and making her sounds to "sing" along. She is as cuddly and loving as ever. She gives good hugs and even gives sweet kisses. Everyone she is around loves her so much!
Now that she is pulling up in her crib, we decided to move her crib away from the window. We were worried that she may pull the curtains down and thought another place would be safer. We still have some rearranging to do, but she doesn't seem to mind the change. Also, I was a little worried with the recent Daylight Savings time change. I'd heard that some babies don't seem to have much problem at all, but some babies really have a hard time adjusting to the time change. Lena was a little sleepier than usual, but she adjusted just fine. I wasn't too surprised considering how laid back and happy she is about everything else.
During the last week of October, they started transitioning Lena out of the small infant room at day care and into the older baby room. I was a little sad at first, because we love her teachers (Ms. Marta and Ms. Lucia) so much. And Lena was so happy there. But we also knew developmentally Lena was ready for other activities and needed more room and freedom to crawl around and play. So after "transitioning" a little each day for about a week, she officially moved up into the older baby room at the end of October. On her last day, Ms. Marta cried. It was so touching! I knew she loved Lena by the way she talked to her and by the way Lena responded to her. But that really prooved what a special bond they had created in just 2 months. Lena's new teachers Ms. Alma and Ms. Esperanza are wonderful too. It took Lena a few weeks to get used to the change. She had fun, but I could tell she just wasn't quite as comfortable and happy as she was with her other teachers. But now she is loving it! And like I said before - the teachers love her and brag on her all the time.
Lena continues to be a really good eater. She now has rice cereal or oatmeal with fruit before her morning bottle (even at school), then three bottles every 3 hours throughout the day, then a meat, vegetable, and fruit for dinner (with water from her trainer sippy cup), and then a bedtime bottle. I even gave her sweet potato puffs one day to snack on, and she was so cute. She liked munching on them with her front two teeth, and was holding them so sweetly with her little fingers.
Lena is not doing much talking yet, but she loves babbbling a little and making silly sounds. Her new favorite is blowing her tongue through her lips. She also started smacking her lips together. She loves to laugh and makes the funniest gasping sound when she gets excited. Everyone (especially Pappy) gets a kick out of how she does that! She even did it for the cleaning ladies this week. What a silly girl. Her babbling and silly sounds are so sweet to me, I can't imagine how sweet it will be when she actually starts saying some words.
Now here's what we've been up to that's been keeping me from having time to blog...
On the second weekend in October, Cory went out of town for his friend Ronnie's bachelor party. So Lena and I decided to make a trip to Beaumont. We had a fun time shopping, playing, and visiting with all our family. We even took a few pre-Halloween pictures of Lena in one of her Halloween outfits. She was a very good girl but is still not the best car rider. I was a very prepared Mommy with plenty of pacis to give her, cold teething rings on hand, toys, and even her fun music and sleep music. But she just was not happy about having to ride by herself in the back, and she didn't hesitate to let me know how unhappy she was. Oh well! She's such a sweet and happy baby in general, so if that is what we struggle with we can handle it.
Then two weeks later, Cory needed to go help his family set up our new deer camp. I didn't really feel like taking Lena on the road again, and thought it would be nice to stay home. And my parents would be coming the following weekend, so I didn't want them to have to get on the road 2 weekends in a row (even though Mom assured me they didn't mind). But I decided to be brave and spend my first weekend home alone with Lena. We ended up having a lot of fun, and it was a special Mommy & daughter weekend. The weather had just started to cool down, so we enjoyed going for jogs and even stopped by the neighborhood playground closest to our house. Lena loved the swing! She smiled and laughed the whole time. We also made it out to Collin's football game, and Lena had fun seeing her cousins and all the other little kids. We found plenty of ways to stay busy, and just enjoyed being home together.
For Halloween, we dressed Lena up as a pretty little Jack-o-lantern. We took Lena to Aunt Holly and Uncle Ryan's house to celebrate with all her cousins, and Honey, Pappy, and Uncle Brady came too. We even stopped by my friend Heather's house so she could see our cute little punkin. Lena was very curious about all the kids dressed in costumes and all the Halloween decorations. I'm sure next year she will be a little more interested in all the treats.
On the first weekend in November, our friends Kelly and Ronnie got married in College Station. Cory was a groomsman, so we decided to leave Miss Lena at home with Mimi and Poppa since we would be pretty busy with all the wedding festivities. This was our first full weekend away from our sweet pea, so it was bittersweet. But she had a good time and so did we. Unfortunately though, on her first weekend at home without Mommy and Daddy, Lena also had her first stomach bug and terrible diaper rash. We assumed the diarrhea report from school on Friday was related to teething. But after several days of yucky poops and a doctor's visit a few days later , we confirmed it was a little bug she probably caught at daycare. As always, she was happy and playful even being under the weather. But her poor little bottom got the best of it. Thankfully Mimi, Aunt Beth, and Poppa took good care of our girl, and we got her well in no time.
Then the following weekend, we headed to Lafayette, LA to attend our friends Heather and Shawn's engagement party. We stopped in Beaumont on Friday night, to spend the night with my parents. Then we left Lena behind on Saturday afternoon, and headed to Laffy for the night. She got to see lots of family and had another fun overnight stay with her grandparents. And we enjoyed another weekend away with our friends.
Now this weekend, I have some time to myself to catch up on my to do list (the blog being part of it) and enjoy a little "me time". Cory headed to deer camp on Wednesday night, and then I sent Lena to meet up with her Daddy on Friday with Honey and Aunt Holly. I know she will have a fun time, and Cory is looking forward to some special Daddy & daughter deer camp time. I've missed my Lena loves, but am enjoying the time to myself too. Beth and I baked pumpkin rolls for coworkers and Lena's teachers, we relaxed and watched movies this afternoon, then went to dinner and did a little shopping this evening. Since I was here, we even had a guy come in this morning to put up crown molding in the house. It's been nice to relax and do not much of anything, but then also do some things that I've been wanting/needing to do too. I've gotten a few reports from Cory, Nancy, and Holly throughout the weekend. They said Lena was good in the car. I'm sure it helped having Chloe in the back as come company, and it was late so she ended up sleeping a lot. I know she was happy to see her Daddy, because she hadn't seen him since Wednesday morning. She's been having fun playing with her cousins, getting wagon rides from Pappy, and going shopping with the girls in Fredricksburg. I'm looking forward to going maybe during the beginning of our Christmas break, because I know it's even more special now that we have a little sweet pea down at deer camp.
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| Fun in Fredricksburg |
Next on our calendar is Thanksgiving! What a special Thanksgiving it will be this year with so much to be thankful for. We'll be heading to Beaumont on Wednesday and celebrating the holiday there. Lena will be 8 months old on Tuesday, so I'll be sure to blog about the holidays in my next post.
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| Bathtime with Poppa |
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| Playing in Beaumont |
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| Cute in camo |
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| Big girl |
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| 1st Halloween |
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| Pretty Kitty |
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| Cheerleaders |
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| Making riceballs |
