Letter to my 8 month old.

My dear Amelia,

I think the older that you get the more quickly time passes. The past month has flown by! You are so busy and active that the days go by quickly and you definitely keep me on my toes. We spend our days playing, and cuddling, and looking at, touching and experiencing as many new things as possible. You are still so curious and I can see your little mind soaking everything in. This month:

• You have totally mastered crawling and are a speed demon. When you are after something we have to run to keep up.
• You can easily pull yourself to a standing position. You love to stand up whenever possible.
• You "cruise" along everything. You walk in circles around the living room holding on to furniture and toys.
• You think you can walk. You often let go of whatever you are holding on to and try to take off, then get really frustrated when you fall down.
• You are getting really good at standing balanced. You can usually do it for a few seconds at a time, so I don't think walking is too far away.
• You spent your first night away from me. Your daddy and I celebrated our 5 Year Anniversary and spent the night in Oklahoma City. You stayed at our house with Grams and played all weekend. It was harder than I thought it would be to say goodbye, but you did a great job and I think it was good for all of us.
• You learned the word no. I told you no about touching something and you sat down, stuck your bottom lip out and cried.
• You went to your first CIRCUS! We went to the Shrine Circus in OKC with Grams and Pop, Paw Paw, Uncle Adam, Uncle Chris and Aunt Jess and Brayden and Austin. You LOVED looking at all the animals and had a great time!
• You are going to bed around 8:00 pm, but for some crazy reason you decided to start waking up between 6:00 - 6:30 am everyday.
• You love to eat and try new foods. You are still on a diet of bottles, cereal, and homemade and store bought baby food fruits and veggies. But you always have to try whatever we are eating. You like to chew food with your two tiny bottom teeth.
• You still love to be outside and we go walking or to the park whenever possible.
• You talk CONSTANTLY. You babble nonstop all day, throwing in a few real words. Vocabulary is still limited to mama, dada and bye-bye, but I am pretty sure you are tying to say dog. You love to talk and have conversations with anyone that will listen.

You are so much fun and so funny! I can tell you are going to be opinionated, independent and stubborn, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I just love you more and more each day, my sweet baby girl.

Letter to my 7 month old

My dear Amelia,

Crawling, standing, walking, talking, teeth...you have had such a busy month! There have been so many physical changes in you this month that sometimes you seem like a different little girl. You are officially mobile and are always on the move. You want to be in the middle of everything and be involved in every conversation. You watch everything we do and are learning how to mimic our actions. You love to laugh, play with the dogs and be outside. This month:

• You got your first tooth! (bottom right center). You were 6 1/2 months old when the first one poked through and your second tooth followed the week after. (bottome left center).
• You started crawling!  I denied it for a long time, saying you just scooted. But it's official. You are officially a little crawler. You started right at 6 months and now you can get some serious speed.
• You can stand by yourself while holding onto something. Your favorite thing is to stand at your wooden baby mobile and look out the window.
• You love to walk (assisted). I spend literally hours each day holding your hands as you walk around the house. Everytime you stand up you smile and look so proud of yourself. You would much rather walk than crawl and I have a feeling you will be walking in the next couple of months.
• You can pull yourself into a standing postition from seated.
• You LOVE to be outside. The weather has been unseasonably warm the past month, so we have had the chance to get out and go walking. We often walk downtown Stillwater with you in your carrier and walk the park and neighborhood with the stroller.
• You started talking! We aren't really sure an exact date when you said your first word, it just kind of happened. You started saying da-da-da-da when you are really happy and excited and ma-ma-ma-ma when you are tired or fussy or want to go to bed. You also say bye-bye and wave (about 50% of the time).
• You are going to bed a bit earlier than you used to, usually between 8:00 - 8:30 and waking up between 7:00 - 7:30.
• You decided that you love the baby food fruit flavors, but still will not eat the baby food vegetables. You do however like the real thing, sweet potatoes, carrots, avacodos, green beans and sometimes peas.
• You spent lots of quality time with family. We went on an afternoon adventure with Grandma and Grandpa Hodson and spent a weekend in Ardmore with Paw Paw, Grams and Pop.

The past month has been so much fun! I love watching you as you learn something new and seeing you be so proud of yourself. You are so smart and curious and I am excited to see what the next month brings. All my love to you, my sweet baby girl.