8 Months Old

I know, I know. I can't believe Marissa is 8 months old either, but she is...as of the 16th. I don't have any new stats to post since she hasn't had a well check visit at the doctor, but my guess is her percentiles are still the same - super tall and plenty chubby! :)

Like my other children, I am already beginning to see personality traits in this little one. Marissa is a squealer, talker and screamer. She can often be heard with her ga ga ga's and da da da's. She found her voice long ago and LOVES it! Not sure if it's a girl thing or what, but the screams and squeals are much louder and more frequent with her. She's funny. She is very calm and mellow MOST of the time, but when she's not, she's not. She goes from calm and happy to screaming and frustrated pretty easily. I can see some of Dylan in her and some of Preston, but overall she is VERY different from the boys.

She's a pro at sitting and loves to sit in front of a bunch of toys and play for quite some time. The tub of blocks is her FAVORITE! It is during her attempts at movement that most of the frustration takes place. She gets down on her hands and knees fully looking like she is ready to take off crawling, but nope. Not yet. I watch her, seeing through her determined baby eyes what she wants and yet not being able to attain it yet. She moves. She definitely moves. I put her in one place and she is never there long, but she has yet to fully conquer this skill...or perfect her direction. On hands and knees, she has only managed to rock back and forth or take steps backwards. The toy is right in front of her and she just needs one little "baby step" forward to reach it. She uses those newly discovered motor skills and moves her leg just so, fully intending to reach her destination, only to discover she is now further away from that toy she so desperately wants to put in her mouth. Wait for it. Wait for it. Waaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.......... This is not just any cry, but a frustrated, high-pitched, very new-to-me girlie cry. Her crawling to this point is all backward, a fact that she does not appreciate one bit, but hasn't quite managed to remedy. She tries again. One more "step" in the opposite direction of her goal. Before long, she generally manages to get stuck under the couch and then is REALLY mad about it. Luckily, this princess has mommy and two older brothers around almost all the time to rescue her in her state of distress. Dylan used to be the rescuer and Preston would just come tell me what was going on. "The baby's sad" "He needs his binkie" (yes, everyone is a he to Preston) "He doesn't like his crib" (when she's fussing trying to fall asleep). Now, my 4-year-old son has decided he too can be a knight in shining armor to his precious Marissa and will pick her up and try to help her walk to me. He can't quite carry her, but he is gentle as can be. Oh the help I receive from such well-intentioned souls. :)

Marissa LOVES her bath and will splash around for as long as you let her. I take her out every day with a smile on her face and by the time we are to the changing table, she is usually crying. She wants that water! We got into some bad habits during what we call "my time on the couch" but have since remedied that and once again have a lovely little daughter who sleeps through the night.

She has also gone from not understanding or liking solids at all to LOVING them. She opens her mouth as wide as can be the moment she sees the spoon headed her direction. It is the cutest thing ever! Reminds me so much of a little baby bird waiting for a worm.

She is still pretty good about going to other people, but is definitely beginning the stage of "where's my mommy." She looks around for me and notices the second I leave the room. She may end up being my child with the most separation anxiety since I worked part-time when both of the boys were babies so they were more used to leaving me.

I have to say, I love this stage. The sitting, inspecting toys, content to play in the saucer, pre-mobile stage of babyhood is my favorite. We're at the tail end of it, I'm afraid, since she is moments away from figuring out this crawling thing so I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. We love Marissa and truly can't imagine our lives without her. Her unique smile lights up a room, and those chubby cheeks are simply irresistible!

I got the idea to post some chubby baby bathtub pictures from my sister-in-law, Laura's, blog

Gotta love that CHUB! Her rolls are my FAVORITE!

Marissa LOVES her feet! She doesn't keep shoes or socks on for long.

Mommy and Marissa

Perfecting her crawling stance

One of her favorite toys - the tub of blocks