8 Month Update

So my baby is 8 months old today!

This was THE most difficult monthly photo shoot so far.  She would not sit on the chair without that chalkboard in her mouth.  If I took it away, she did this...

...yeah.  Fun times.

We've been busy this month with trips and visits here there and everywhere while summer winds its way down.  Here's a recap in pictures...

Little Miss has accomplished a lot this month.  First, she went shopping with Mama and rode in the cart like a big girl!

SO much better than being stuck in that darn car seat!

PS- Cart cover = one of the best investments so far.  The MOMENT I put her in the cart, she immediately chomped right down on the handlebar.  SO GLAD it was covered!  Plus, I got this super nice, brand name cover at a consignment store for $8!

She also got and learned how to use some sippy cups!

I love my big-girl cups!

Ellie LOVES water.  Seriously.  Loves it.  So when she's fussy in the evenings, we just give her a sippy cup with water in it and she's happy for like a half hour.  It's one of the best tricks we've learned so far.

She's becoming quite the chatterbox...

And she's been helping out around the house a lot more...

Ooooooh so soft and warm!  I will eat them!

Haha, ok so she was interested so I put her in there.  Kept her entertained for a while.  Then I realized she was drooling all over my clean towels.  Is it bad that I folded them and put them away anyway?  They weren't like guest towels or anything - just the ones that Andy and I use.  We're always covered in baby drool anyway, so no big deal, right?  Right?!

Moving on...

She's also been teething like crazy.  As in, screaming non-stop unless there is tylenol or ibuprofen in her system.  For almost a week now.  She's been working on this tooth for months.  (for once I'm not exaggerating)  I think the gum is finally split open now, so all the tooth has to do is move right up through it.  You would think that the painful part would be over.  Notsomuch.  I feel so bad for her, but I'm starting to feel even worse for me.  I've been getting, on average, a total of 5 hours of sleep per night.  5 hours - not all in a row.  For a week.  And she's taken a total of 1 afternoon nap during that week.  I honestly don't know how much longer I can take this.  Someone please tell me that the first tooth is the worst?!  *sigh*

...end of pity party...

And now the biggest change this month.  I was sitting on the couch eating breakfast one morning while checking email.  I had PBS turned on and sat Ellie in her pile of toys to play so that I could have 2 seconds to eat.  I looked up, and she wasn't there.  She'd been rolling like crazy, so I thought maybe she just rolled onto the other side of the other couch and out of my view.  Got up to look for her and saw this....

Ooooooh, what's in HERE?!

Yup.  Crawled down the hall and halfway into the bathroom.  We have a crawling baby.  It's nuts.  It's a good thing we already had the gate installed because we had virtually no warning that she was going to start.  She gets around pretty quick, too.  And she's not even doing the true crawl yet.  Just the army crawl.  I don't even think she'll get to the regular version.  She just wants to run.

Check it out...

She also pays absolutely no attention to any obstacles in her way.  She just crawls right over them.  A few examples...

A new way to sit in my rocking chair

Hamper?  Or TENT?!

I now play the piano with my elbows.  It's cuter that way!

Just checkin' to see if there's any trouble I can get in back here.

Yeah.  So now we're dealing with that.  Life has gotten pretty interesting.  And she gets MAD when you don't let her do something dangerous.  You know, like chew on power cords and roll off the changing table and stuff.  She has a special scream that she reserves just for those occasions.  I can't WAIT for her to learn the word 'no'.  It's going to be so much fun.

We also had quite a bit of fun running around this month.  My parents took us and my sister to Longwood Gardens for our 'family vacation' this summer.  No one had the time or money to do anything really elaborate (plus I've heard that vacationing with a baby can be more of a pain than it's worth), so we just did a day trip.  If you live in PA or NJ and you've never been before, you should totally go.  It is THE most beautiful, relaxing, entertaining, refreshing place you can go.  There is literally something that will appeal to everyone.  And every season is a little different.  We're hoping to go back in December and see the Christmas display with Andy's dad.  Check back in a few days, I'm working on a whole post dedicated to our trip, but for now, here's a few pictures for you...

Family picture at the beginning of the day...

Admiring the Italian Water Garden

Andy's dad went on a trip to Maine, where he is originally from, in the middle of the month.  He graciously comes over and watches Ellie 1-2 days a week.  So for that week, we were lacking a babysitter for a day.  Grandma to the rescue!  She took off work and came down Wednesday afternoon, spent the night, and stayed with Ellie while I was at work on Thursday.  Then I got home and she gave me a nice haircut.  She's all kinds of awesome.  She also never arrives empty handed.  This time, she brought Ellie one of her favorite new toys...

Leave me alone, I'm watching TV!

... a tambourine!  I'm all about the musical instruments (I am a music teacher, after all), but really now.  A tambourine?  All it's good for is making noise.  And Ellie is amazing at it.  She bangs on that thing all. the. time.  So thanks, mom.  You're doing an awesome job of being a Grandma :-)

And we also had a family get-together of my dad's side of the family.  We usually get together for Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas every year.  We missed Easter this year because my cousin had JUST had a baby and Ellie was in the midst of her bout with colic and just nobody got around to planning it.  So we had everyone (who could make it) over to the house on Labor Day weekend.  It was SO MUCH FUN!  Again, I have more to show than this (including some fun video), but here's a group shot of everyone for now ...

Not pictured: Aunt Linda (who was taking the picture) and Cousins Wesley and Emily, who couldn't make it.

I absolutely adore this crazy, wonderful family.  Can't wait for Thanksgiving!

Also, on a very serious note, I'd like to ask my praying friends to uplift my church family.  I mentioned these on facebook this week, but I thought I'd share them here too as we can use all the prayer we can get.  First, a 12 year old boy from my youth group lost his dad on Monday night after an incredibly long fight with brain cancer.  It wasn't unexpected, but still a huge loss for a wonderful family.  Then on Wednesday night, while he was getting ready for choir practice, our Choir Director collapsed.  He was rushed to the hospital with only a weak pulse and was later put into an induced coma and flown to Hershey Med.  At the time of this post, they still don't know what's going on with him.  So please keep everyone in our church family in your thoughts and prayers.  I'm a little scared to see what happens next - they say these things happen in threes.  Anyway, your prayers are truly appreciated.