and baby makes three: 8 months

Dear Madelyn Kate,
On Monday you turned eight months old. You are now 2/3's of the way to your first birthday! Daily I am amazed at how far we have come and how much you have grown. Your personality continues to blossom and you constantly have Daddy and I laughing. We are so in love with you.

One of your favorite things to do these days is pull yourself up to your music stand and sing in to the microphone.

The other night I put you in your Beatles shirt (that Daddy insisted we buy you) for a little concert. I thought the shirt was going to be terrible...but you make everything cute!

You loved putting on a show and singing (err screaming) in to the microphone. You love to hear yourself and bang on the piano. I know your daddy loves the idea of you loving music. I am sure growing up in this house that you will!

Here is a video of you performing for Daddy and I one morning right after you woke up...

You are always ready to put on a show.

I tried to get a couple of pictures where we could actually see your shirt. That didn't work out too well but you were still your smiley little self.

If you see the camera (or even when we hold our phones up to take a picture of you), you smile instantly.

You still love to eat your feet. I hope this is something that you outgrow quickly considering you are standing a lot more these days. I even bought you a "foot" chew toy (disturbing, I know) to see if you liked it. No such luck. I guess you prefer toe jam.

For two weeks now, you have been taking bottles. At first it was just supplemental, but at the end of last week you decided that was all you wanted. I guess that means that you are officially weaned. It happened a little sooner than I expected, but you are doing really well with them!

Sometimes you are such a turkey...you will hold your bottle if Daddy gives it to you, but you act like you don't know how when I give it to you. I decided to put you in the Nap Nanny and see if you would hold it then.

Of course you did, and you even held it with your feet at one point. You constantly grab things with your feet (toys, books, your paci) so that wasn't much of a shocker.

It's pretty sweet watching you feed yourself. You get so excited when you see your bottle that you start to scream if we do not get it to you fast enough!

Before you weaned, you were down to nursing three times a day. Once at 2am, again around noon, and then right before bed. In the last week you have totally cut out the middle of the night feeding and were only taking two bottles a day along with your baby food for breakfast and dinner.

You are such a good eater! You love carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, cereal with cinnamon, mum mums, puffs, yogurt melts, green beans, pears, peas (which aren't your favorite-just like Daddy), bananas, banana yogurt, peach yogurt, avocados, and apples. We think you are allergic to strawberries because your face has broken out the two times we have tried them. You have started to notice our food more and more. It's only a matter of time that you realize your food does not taste that good (in comparison of course).

On Monday, you and I laid a blanket out on the floor and read some books together. We usually read one or two a day snuggled up in the big chair before nap time, so it was fun to read some together while you were fully awake and wanting to hold the book yourself.

I Love You Through and Through is one of our favorites. You are always so captivated by books. I love to watch you pull all of your board books out of the basket and flip through them (or chew on them).

Everyone always asks how I get you to keep your headbands and hair bows on. You just do. You don't yank at them until you are really sleepy and then it is off with the bow!

You have the most precious smile that I have ever seen. I see so much of your Daddy in your eyes.

Today you weighed in at the doctor at just under 17 pounds! You wear 6-9 months clothing, but you are starting to get a little long for the 6 month footed pajamas. You still wear size 2 diapers. Although you gnaw on everything and I keep swearing that I see a tooth that is about to poke through, you are still our little toothless wonder.

You are so easy going and laid back. You love to ride in your stroller or the buggy at Target! I love taking you new places with me because you look around and study everything so closely. I wish I knew what you were thinking!

There are so many things that I love about being your mommy. One of my favorites is watching you with Daddy. I love to watch you snuggle. You cry when he leaves the room. I think it is so sweet the way you play with his beard or when you watch him play the guitar. The other night I walk around the corner in the kitchen to the two of you dancing and it absolutely made my heart melt.