8 months old

Eva has been 8 months for a little while now, so I'm not sure if all the things that I put down here are just 8-month stuff or 8+ month stuff. Either way, it's super cute stuff. :)

I Like to Move It, Move It...

She is army crawling like crazy. She has mastered it so well that she can get into things in the time it takes for us to turn our back and then look at her again. Pretty crazy. She has also figured out how to pull herself from a sitting position into a laying position so she can crawl. She hasn't figured out how to sit up yet. But she has figured out how to pull herself up to stand in a lot of circumstances. She LOVES (and much prefers) to hold on to our hands and walk. And she walks fast! (she must have gotten that from her mom. i've been told by many a friend to slow down. hehe) Two favorite things about her walking -- how she just bulldozes through things in her path, and how she leans her upper body so far forward as if trying to walk faster that it's hard for us to keep up and sometimes hard for her little legs to keep up. 

Say It Ain't So...

Our little girl is a talker...and a squealer...and a singer...and a screecher. Although, most of the time those all sound just about the same. She has added a lot more consonant sounds to her "vocabulary" which makes it a lot of fun to listen to her. One of her favorite sounds to make is la-la-la. I think part of that is because a lot of the time she has her tongue sticking out resting on her top lip. The other day we were on our way to meet up with some friends for lunch, and Eva started talking with her la-la's. So I decided to converse with her and responded with some of my own la-la's. She and I had a full on la-la conversation for the rest of the ride. It was so cute and so much fun. It really did seem like we were talking because she would "say" something and end it with a question-type intonation, and I would respond, and we kept going back and forth like that. I was laughing and just loving it. It will be so much fun to know what she is really saying.

You're Not My Mommy...

Eva is definitely a shy, "I want my mommy" baby. On one hand, there is a certain feeling of relief and pride that she wants me or Kyle to comfort her (because I know it won't always be that way). But on the other hand, it makes me sad because it makes it harder to do things. I don't like the idea that our baby is crying while we're away, and I also feel bad that someone else has to deal with her crying. I'll admit, though, that it's mostly me who has to get over all of this. A couple of weekends ago, we dropped her off at our friends' house (who she knows because we see them at least 3 or 4 times a week) so that Kyle and I could go see a movie. As soon as we took her inside and started walking away she burst into tears. It almost made me tear up. When we got back, they told us that she cried for the first 5 minutes but then settled down and watched Elmo with their kids. So, see Carla? She's fine. She has also gotten more practice in the past 2 weeks when Grandma and Grandpa Green were here visiting. They were so kind to watch her while Kyle and I ran errands and set up his new office. So she's getting better (and so am I.) :)

Monkey See, Monkey Do...

Eva is now in the stage of imitating. She watches us closely and tries to mimic what we do. Sometimes we try to repay the favor. :P  I try to show her how to say certain words like Dada and Mama. She knows how to say mama but doesn't quite get it's meaning yet. Dada is a tough one though. It's cute to watch her as I say this one because she opens her mouth and tries to make the shapes and sounds that I'm making. But it usually ends up in her just laughing and rolling away or squealing. I am amazed with how quickly she is learning though. She has learned how to wave, how to give high-five, how to give kisses, how to do a fake laugh and fake cough, and she is quick to learn who a person is. She also knows now to look for things if they're out of sight. When we play peek-a-boo, she knows where to look for us. Like when Kyle is holding her, I'll hide behind his back and she'll try to lean around his arm to see where I went. She does this same thing when we're walking up or down the stairs and she knows the other person is behind us. It's so much fun! 

Don't Blow Bubbles in Your Milk...

Another fun pastime of hers is making a buzzing sound with her lips or tongue. (ya know, like when you give someone a zerbet (sp?) or a razzberry.) She has been doing this for months now, but she does it even more now. Most of the time we get a kick out of it and end up copying her, which makes her laugh so she does it more. The time I don't get a kick out of it is when she is eating and she decides to do it. I'm trying to teach her that it's not okay while she's eating, but we may have a while to go until she gets it. It is pretty funny though to see her ask for more, wait to have a mouthful of food or milk, and then spit. But I can only handle that so many times. What was REALLY funny though was last week, we were sitting at the dinner table with Gma and Gpa Green. Gpa needed to blow his nose and he made a bit of a honking sound as he did. Well, Eva recognized that sound right away and immediately copied his sound with her lips. It was hilarious!

Needless to say, we are loving this little girl and enjoy every minute we have with her. It is so much fun to see her discover the world and figure out what she can do. We love being parents! What joy a child brings!

p.s. Our picture taking has kinda dropped off a bit, mostly because we're usually holding on to her. So pictures are sure to come, just give us a little time. :)