Officer and the Gentleman: Norah June: 8 Months

Weight and Height: 21 lbs 0 oz and 26.5 inches long

Eyes and Hair: Bright blue eyes STILL and long blonde hair (we think they'll stay blue!)

Diapers: Size 3

Clothes: 6-9 months, pants 12 months (big booty/thighs)

Eating: BF 5-6 times and eating 2-3 solid meals a day

Sleeping: 9-12 hours straight through like a BOSS

This was by far the best month we've had in awhile, and it was because we were together for this WHOLE month! Can't ask for more than that. It hasn't happened since she was 3 months old.

She continues to do new activities almost weekly. She's trying to pull up on everything, but can't quite achieve it yet. Probably because she's pretty heavy! Daddy taught her to clap! That's fun to watch. She really enjoys playing in the tub with her toys. She's almost outgrown her infant bath seat. She's also up on all fours rocking back and forth like crazy. She crawls backwards, but hasn't figured out forwards yet. I'll go in the kitchen to make dinner and she'll scoot herself under our couch! So funny. She loves when you blow air in her face, when you tickle her chunky thighs, smooch kisses on her neck, play peekaboo with her, sing "Little Bird" and when I sing to her. She's getting pretty sassy as well. When we hold her by her waist she'll push our hands away and get frustrated when we try to help her do something. She gets incredibly frustrated so easily when she's trying to manage a task, but she's making leaps and bounds in learning from it.

She's using all her vowels now! Her favorite right now is, "Bababababa" and "EEEEEEE". She loves to mimic my inflections and sounds as well. She'll even bellow out a sound then look around for me to see my reaction. She's getting tricksy! She's still a growler. Her daycare teachers just love it. They said they've never had a growler before.

We haven't dropped any BF sessions yet but I'd like to start working on dropping the midmorning/midafternoon snacks first. I don't want to cut her off cold turkey come 10 May, so I'd like to gradually start weaning her probably starting the next few months. I've never done this before, so it will be a trial and error experience for the both of us. My husband always says she'll never want to wean because she LOVES to nurse so much. He just shakes his head and laughs every time she motorboats my chest begging for milk. If she had her way, she'd probably be the type to nurse until she's 3. She does eat solids for breakfast, lunch and then she always shares something off my plate at dinner time, so I'm surprised she hasn't dropped a BF session yet herself. Our favorite thing that she does now is making these sweet "Mmmms" while she's eating her cereal and yummy foods. It tastes so good to her she just can't help but say MMmmmm! She really enjoys our oatmeal, pancake, veggies and teething cookies. My girl loves to eat!

While my husband lived with us this month he just kept saying one thing over and over again. "She loves her Momma." It's true, this girl is just head over heels about me. When I walk into a room and she sees me she just lights up, smiles, coos and reaches for me. Anytime Dad was holding her she constantly keeps an eye on me. When I pick her up she visible relaxes into me and smiles. I can make her laugh hysterically just by making a funny face or sound. Also, anytime I leave a room or go upstairs prepare for a meltdown. My husband was so incredibly patient with this from her. He understands I'm the main caretaker, feeder, comforter and only one she's known daily for her entire life, so he didn't feel bad too much. The last week he was home she finally would let me out of her eye sight and start giving him her full attention. She started laughing at his funny sounds and ticklings. It melted both our hearts. We know that it will take time for her to warm up to him permanently, so we're both ready to be patient with her. It can be really exhausting being her one and only, so I'm excited to have her Daddy be the apple of her eye as well.

Norah June's bedtime routine changed a bit while Dad was home. I usually nurse her straight to sleep, move her to the pack n play where she'd sleep through the night. Easy peasy. Well she started to not go down after our bedtime nursing session so my husband started to rock her every night after she ate. She usually went down within 10 minutes. He wanted to start her in her crib too because he's a light sleeper and couldn't sleep when she'd move throughout the night. I was a little hesitant because I love her being in my room, but I get it. Christmas day she slept in her crib for the first time, and she's been there ever since. She's done really well. I really loved that my husband wanted to insert himself into Norah's bedtime routine and help with putting her down. It's so easy for the mom to completely handle putting the infant down for naps/bed because in our case, I have the magic key: boobs. He's taught me just because I can put her down easily with BF, it doesn't mean he can't do the same with the tools he has. He also put her down for EVERY nap she took while he was home. It's so nice to have help and to have someone to parent with. He reminds me every time he's home that parenting and child raising really can be 50/50. The Mom doesn't have to do everything.

He also wanted to write a little on his time with Norah, since again it's the longest he's spent with her since she was 3 months old. A lot changes in a baby in 5 months.

Written By Dad:

I got to spend nearly a month straight with Norah over Christmas break. It was the longest period I have spent with her since she was three months old. So, now that she is eight months old I wanted to share a few things that I observed in the time we spent together. First, she has developed quite a personality. There is no doubt when she wants something. When frustrated, she balls up her fists and lets out a growl for a attention. Andie has been working on sign language with her to help her better express her needs before she is able to express them verbally. Norah most certainly understands the sign for milk but hasn’t started doing it herself yet unprompted. We also introduced solid food after Thanksgiving which should help us teach more signs.

Another thing I noticed is that she really responds to praise. We have been encouraging her to get up on all fours when she is on her tummy, a skill she will need if she decides to crawl. Almost every time she did it she would look back at us to see if we were paying attention. She also learned to clap while I was home, which is a lot of fun.

Something else that was readily apparent was that Norah will do just about whatever she can to imitate her Momma. She keeps her eyes locked on Andie when she is in the room and will try to copy every sound Andie makes. This was probably my favorite part of my break at home. I saw how much she loves her Momma. Norah’s eyes lit up and she smiled that big toothless grin every time Andie came home from work. Just when I was getting ready to leave, I started to get the same treatment. I’m excited to finally be there full time to share in those moments. Andie has had some tough times on her own over the last five months. She obviously did a fantastic job of providing for Norah. I’m happy that I will get to share in the challenges that toddlerhood brings over the next couple of years.

This month we flew to Oklahoma for a family Christmas, celebrated her first Christmas at home, rung in her first New Year and lastly celebrated Mom's 28th birthday. This was a packed full month of memories, fun and living life as a family of three. We loved it!

Enjoy our month of pictures with our sweet chunk!