Norah,
It's been way to long since I've written a blog post. I missed writing you an 8 month letter. I feel badly and I'm not going to make excuses. I had good intentions and even took pictures {which you did not cooperate with}. We have been working so hard to try to get our upstairs at our new house completely finished. Our computer that had all your pictures was sitting in the middle of the office for the month while work was being completed. So, I'll write you one long letter telling you about all the amazing things that have happened in the past two months {at least as much as I can remember!}.
I'm not sure where to begin. You have now gone from a speedy crawler to a cautious walker. Crawling is still your main, go-to way to get around, but you are taking more and more steps each day. You took your first steps on your 9 month birthday and haven't looked back since! I love watching you try to keep your balance while you waddle your way to your destination. I'm positive you'll be running everywhere very soon.
{Look at you trying to stand up on your own without holding on to anything!}
You've started to show a bit of separation anxiety, especially when I'm around. It's especially bad when you aren't feeling well or are overly tired. You spend a lot of time {especially towards the end of the day} clinging to me. Most of the time you want me to hold you. It doesn't make daddy feel good when you don't want him to hold you, but we know that you don't love him any less. I'm sure you'll go through a daddy-phase at some point and I'll feel left out like daddy does. You still LOVE going to Lynda's every day. You have so much fun playing with all the kids.
You've added quite a few new sounds and words these past couple months. You say "Baba", "Mama", "Dada", and are starting to say the 'n' sound. I still don't think you are saying words to talk about daddy and me, but it's nice to hear the words.
You love food. Oh, how you love food. You now eat as much finger food as absolutely possible with only 4 teeth. You love feeding yourself and make quite a mess {you even love feeding Cooper as much as you can!}. You don't drink many bottles a day anymore. You depend on solid food as your main source of food these days. You love drinking out of your cup all by yourself. It's amazing how independent you are. Friday, you go to the doctor. I'm hoping she'll say we can start giving you dairy. I'm pretty sure your body is going to tolerate dairy because you eat so much that has it in it already {and mommy gave you a couple bites of ice cream cake when we were celebrating daddy and Uncle Andy's birthdays}.
You HATE lying down so that we can change your diaper. You scream most times we put you down on your changing table, especially when it's getting close to bed time. You fight going to bed, even when you are exhausted.
You understand many things that we say to you now. I'm pretty sure you understand the word "No" but often choose not to listen...imagine that! My absolute most favorite thing you understand/do right now is give kisses. You'll be playing and I'll ask you to give me a kiss. Most times, you'll crawl right over, open your mouth as wide as possible, and plant the biggest kiss on my mouth. It's something I'll never forget.
You are such a curious baby. You love exploring and are pretty risky. You love watching the dogs and usually end up laughing while you watch them.
{Look at that nasty carpet. The day after this picture was taken, we had new {beautiful} carpet installed.}
There are so many things that happened these last two months that I'm sure I'm forgetting to tell you about. As I go through my pictures on our camera and my phone, I'll keep trying to get them on the blog so I can tell you all about our fun when you get older.
{You went to the pumpkin patch for the first time and loved it! You helped us eat an elephant ear, we took a hayride, and you helped us picked pumpkins!}
I still can't believe that a year ago I hadn't met you yet {we didn't even know if you were a boy or girl!}. It seems like you've been in our lives forever. It's crazy, but I've started thinking about getting the plans together for your 1st birthday. I can't believe it! I absolutely cannot wait to celebrate the holiday season with you. The memories we make during the holidays are going to be amazing.
N, you are so much fun. I never thought being a mom could be this amazing! You make me smile so much each and every day. Every day I love you more and more.
I love you to the moon and back,
Mommy
