Abigail: 8 months, 2 weeks

      Abigail is eight and a half months old. She has been growing in this world for almost as long as she was  growing inside me. I can't believe how much we've watched her change and accomplish since September. Just today she did an "actual" crawl for the first time. Until then she had been dragging herself on her tummy or bouncing around on her butt. She tears big pieces of food into manageable, smaller pieces for herself too. She pulls up to stand and can sit back down on her own. We walk with her, we talk with her, we laugh and (some late nights later) we cry with her. She blows raspberries when we do, raises her arms when we do, and shakes her head "no" too.  Though we've hit a rough patch with routine and sleeping (apparently normal for this age, thank goodness) recently, Abigail is still a dream. She is also a ham. 

       In case you weren't already sure, Abigail loves to eat. I mean really eat. She eats her own dinner and then tries to steal ours. Think we're not feeding her enough? Tonight for dinner she ate half an avocado, a cocktail tomato, a pile of cheddar cheese, blueberries, and a bowl of pasta with meat sauce and mushrooms. The girl can eat. She also doesn't mind more complex flavours and seasoning. Her digestive system impresses me daily. Ever since she started self-feeding we've let her eat what we eat. It makes going out easier, and as long as we're making healthy choices, and she's getting a balanced meal, we go for it. She still nurses three or four times a day too...like I said, she can eat. 

       
      Oh and all of that was just to say, "the girl gets messy." She's honestly averaging three baths a day now...not a coincidence when we look at how many meals she eats! She is also beginning to fuss when she can't see us, so she ends up in the shower with me in the mornings too. She loves bath time though, so we can't really complain. Not only does it keep us clean, but it keeps us cool too. 

              We're heading to the cottage tomorrow for Father's Day, and to escape the city buzz for a while. Working full time with a baby who is either teething or just going through a "new skills waking phase" is tough. Power to all you momma's out there!