8 Months!

Crawling, Clapping, Climbing, Curiosity, Chattering, Chewing and Control...just a several words that describe Charlie-Marie's current stage. It has been so fun to watch her become more interactive with her world over the last several months. She is a real joy in this house. She actually will play with us. Peek-a-boo, playing and passing toys back and forth, wrestling, tickling, burying herself in pillows...the possibilities of games and fun are endless to her. She is a solid baby with a big Buddha baby belly that I LOVE! I know many of you may not be very interested in all these little details, but for those of you who are here is some of the fun of 8 months.

Crawling: She is officially crawling as of 2 weeks ago. She has kind of been doing it for almost 1 1/2 months, but would always plop onto her stomach and do a sort of army crawl thing. Now she has it down on her hands and knees, but is only just starting to like it, or realize its potential, in the last few days.

Clapping: For my birthday last week Charlie decided it was time to learn to clap...with open hands that is. She has been clapping her fists for a while, but now she can do open hands and actually make a little noise. She was quite pleased with herself and looked up and gave me a huge smile after she did it the first time. She loves it and does it whenever she is happy. She also does this sort of a mimic of a "YAY!". It is so cute.  She also claps her feet which is pretty cute.  And it is really funny when she gets both hands and feet clapping at once!

Climbing: She has figured out how to crawl up onto things that are short enough and actually stand for a while. It started with her bouncy chair, then us lying on the ground, then a stool, now just about anything she can pull herself up onto she will. In fact, I just peeked in on her in her crib and she has pulled herself up holding onto the side. I still think she is too short, but I should probably lower her crib mattress now.
She also is constantly trying to crawl up into things. At church she climbed onto the bottom shelf of a TV stand. She has tried to crawl into the book shelf and the small shelf under our coffee table as well as the kitchen chairs. The other day I left her tub in the hall and looked away for a minute and she was trying to crawl into it, but it tipped over and they both went rolling. She didn't like that much. See, we have travertine stone floors in our house everywhere but the bedrooms, so a little tip, roll, or face plant is not so little around here. We have been trying to lay out blankets and rugs, but for the most part she does pretty well.

Curiosity: Charlie-Marie is curious about EVERYTHING. She doesn't miss a thing. AND you cannot hide things from her well anymore. She understands and can follow when you hide something behind your back or under something else and she will NOT be distracted if she wants to find it. She loves to play with everything - toy or not. Right now her favorites are my cell phone, boxes, her stuffed caterpillar, these plastic bathtub toys, and anything else she can get her hands on that is new or not a toy. She is becoming more interested in books everyday and will actually let me read to her now and then. There is one book that she will sometimes push across the room to me. "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa" by Sandra Boynton. Yeah, I have the thing memorized already. She has started pointing to pictures. Her favorite is still to shut the book and of course they all go to her mouth eventually, but she is definitely realizing there is more to them than a chew or stacking toy.  She loves the mobile in her crib.  Now she can stand and press the buttons to change the songs.  Every time she does she looks back to make sure you were watching and to get affirmation of what she is doing.  It is so cute to watch her explore and learn cause and effect.

Chattering: That little mouth can make some fun noises. She has DEFINITELY learned to express displeasure, frustration, and happiness. She has always been a little stingy with her laughs, but she is laughing more all the time. In the last months I have SWORN she has said some words. She has said "ama" when she seems to be calling me from her crib - but I'm still not sure if she is saying mom or not. I am quite certain she has said "up" and "dog". She was enamored by her grandparents' dogs and took notice of them whenever they were in the room. On 3 counts I can remember her looking at the dog and breathing out something sounding like a quick, "dahwk". If you asked her where the dog was she would look for them. The only word I am 100% certain she is saying and knows is "YAY".

Chewing: The little teeth still have not made their debut, but I'm not too disappointed about that. I'm not sad that we have not been through that process yet. Despite her lack of teeth, Charlie has a good chomp. She has started trying to chew her baby food...or gumming I guess. So I have started to introduce more things she can chew a little more. Bananas, cucumber, mango, biscuits, nectarines, even a little bit of Mommy and Daddy foods. She loves it. Anything we eat she loves. I don't think teething is far away, and it will be fun when she has them, but I will sure miss her toothless grin.

Control: Charlie-Marie is learning that she can manipulate certain situations. She wants to have control of where she goes, plays with, etc. She is not long content anymore to be set in her playpen. She wants more control when it comes to eating, and she is having a harder time going down for naps again. I knew this would probably come eventually. She doesn't want to miss anything and I think she realizes that once we put her in her crib that is it and means no more play and she does not like that. When I barricade her into the living room like a play area she will be content for a short time, but is always trying to escape or push the limits.