Emma: 8 Months

Squishy,

We had a very rough month!  I'm exhausted just thinking about it.  Your first year of life has been filled with sickness and this month was no exception.  :-(  You spent the entire month sick and nearly all of it on antibiotics.  YUCK!  As a self-proclaimed 'natural momma', I absolutely hate that you spent so many days this month on antibiotics (you are still taking them!).  Your latest runny nose started the day you turned 7 months old and turned into a very persistent double ear infection that has still not gone away.  All the congestion and pain has made for some very long days and nights.  You had one of your very worst nights this month - awake and fussy from 1:30pm-2:30am and then up for the day at 5am, followed by only 3 hours of sleep the day after.  I honestly don't know how you stayed awake that long.  I was EXHAUSTED!  Even a steady dose of Tylenol and Motrin didn't knock you out!  We suspect that it was the tiny dose of albuterol we gave you that afternoon to help with your wheezing, so you can guarantee that we will not be giving you that again anytime soon. 

You tried several new foods this month - mango (hated at first, but now you love it), carrots (not a fan of pureed, but loved when I gave you some diced ones), apple, and cheerios (loved).  You love feeding yourself!

Despite being so sick this month, you managed to accomplish lots of new feats - your first tooth popped through (bottom right), you started pulling yourself up in your crib (we had to move the crib mattress all the way down) and on your leapfrog table and on the couch, you officially dropped your third nap (now you nap 2 times per day for about 1.5-2 hours each), you continue to army crawl everywhere, you started doing what we call the machine gun laugh, and best of all you said your first word - MAMA!!!!!!  You have no idea how excited I am that this was your first word. :-)  Since Hannah's first word was "dada" I thought it was only fair that you say "mama" first.  :-)  You also started saying "ehmuh" over and over, which we translate to mean Emma...so smart!

8 Month Stats
- Diapers: Size 3
- Clothes: 9 months
- Shoes: 2 or 3, but not sure since you never wear them
- Weight: 19 lbs
- Height: not sure

Your 8th month was really hard sweet girl, and I'm sorry for that!  It breaks my heart to see you in pain and so sick. :-(  I pray that the remaining months of your first year of life are full of healthy days!  And for everyone's sake, I pray that sleep finds its way back to our house very soon. We love you squishy, snot and all!