The Elf is 8 Months

Annelise is getting SO big. She has accomplished much this month. She had her first airplane ride, and first hotel experience. It is odd to think that by this age Miss HC had been to 11 countries and on a plane and in hotels numerous occassions. Welcome to the US and the second baby...I think there is a bit of evolution in the family. When you just get married you can really still act single...there is still a lot of freedom to do what you want and go where you want...with one kiddo you loose a little freedom, but still the little one can still do a lot of stuff with you. We were willing to take HC to Community Group with us and put her down at Sara's house, we took her to several countries, etc. Now with two, being free things a bit of a thing of the past. Just the thought of being in a hotel room with both of the crazies is enough to push me over the edge! But in light of that we are still committed travelers and I refuse to sit still for too long. Though at this point our exciting travels are to Tennessee not to Spain.

This month Annelise has improved her eating techniques. She has added more food to her list, like squash and green beans, and probably other things I just cannot think of what else. A HUGE milestone is that on Friday she took a bottle for the first time. I am SO thrilled about this because it could possibly mean a little more freedom for me in the near future. She has been against the bottle from the minute she was born. I remember in the hospital I asked the nurses to keep her overnight and feed her formula so I could get some sleep (go ahead and judge me now), but the nurses could not get her to take a bottle...my particular baby! So Friday I was able to get her to take a bottle of apple juice. She refuses formula, but I figure we can work up to that. I will probably still nurse her until she is a year, but having the bottle just give me a little more freedom.

Sitting up is a fav past time for the Elf. She loves sitting and playing with different toys, or eating cheerios (another fav). The funny thing is that a couple weeks ago I began to sit her in the high chair and give her some cheerios. I thought she was eating them until one day I glanced at the seat of the high chair...where there was no less than 100 cheerios sitting on the cushion. I guess they weren't quite making it to her mouth! But now she is addicted to the cheerios and they are making it to her mouth.

Annelise LOVES to roll. I can put her down on one side of the room and she will roll to the other side if she sees something she wants. She is also wiggling on her tummy to get something she wants. It looks like an army crawl...so I think mobility is in her near future.

Sleeping is going reasonably well. She will sleep from about 6pm-6am. The naps have calmed down and are a little more predictable. She will usually sleep for an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon. Sometimes she will sleep for longer than an hour...but not consistently.

Annelise is quite a talker, and loves saying Nanananananana. She loves Hadleigh and it is fun to see them interact. Hadleigh is a great big sister and is usually willing to share, and also to entertain Annelise. Often when Annelise is crying she will go up to her and start talking to her, giving her toys, or patting her on the back. Generally that will calm Annelise down long enough to give me time to finish my task and pick her up.

Going to the pool is one of our fav activities and Annelise LOVES the water. She enjoys sitting in her floaty and just kicking it while Hadleigh and I play. It is nice to have that card in my back pocket when it has been a hard day...I know the pool will generally work to calm her down.

As I am putting Annelise to bed at night we have been singing together. I love doing this, I actually think it is one of my favorite Mommy activities...to sing with the girls before bed. We have been singing a song based on Zeph 3.17, and I also enjoy singing "My Heart is Filled with Thankfulness".

The older she gets the more fun it is to see her little personality, and to interact with her. I love making her smile and giggle and talk. She is a little sweet girl.