Stella is 8 Months Old!

Dear Stella,
I feel like I literally just finished your last monthly update and here we are again.  I mean, it could have something to do with me being behind but I swear time is flying by.  You are happy and sweet and MOBILE!  But my favorite milestone this month might be . . . that you are sleeping through the night again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  You hit 3 big milestones on back to back days. On September 17th you got your first tooth, on September 18th you crawled for the first time and on September 19th you slept through the night for the first time (possibly tired from all your big leaps) since our trip to the US on August 15th.  You like to go big or go home!

Here is what you've been up to this month:

Stats
At 8.5 months you weighed 7.445 kg (16 lbs 6.5 oz) which is in the 25th percentile. You were 69.5 cm long (27.3 inches) which is in the 52nd percentile.  Your head was 43.5 cm (17.1 inches) around which is in the 48th percentile.

These aren't the best pictures but shortly after these you got a viral eye infection and now you are almost 9 months old so this is the best we've got!

Eating
You are eating solid foods about 3 times per day (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and still nursing 4 times per day (7:15, 11, 3, 7).  You tend to prefer savory over sweet but you like mangos and peaches quite a bit with yogurt in the mornings.  You usually eat dinner around 5:30 right when I'm just kicking back with my feet up making dinner and trying to entertain Linnea.  You are usually done eating by the time we eat so we've been putting food in a silicone feeder for you and it keeps you pretty busy.  You also like trying to eat peas but most of them end up on the floor.

Whenever you are nursing on my right side you love to pull your sock off or pull on the foot of your pajamas. You know where we nurse so if I sit down in the chair to feed you and then get up again before I start nursing you let me know that you disagree with that choice.  You also like to squawk a little while I'm getting ready to nurse you.

When it is time to eat solid food you take a very small first bite and turn your head to see how it tastes before accepting any big bites.  It is so funny watching you 'taste' to see if you approve.

We had you tested for an egg allergy this month and you tested positive.  You are allergic to eggs.  The doctor thinks you'll outgrow it since 95% of kids do.  We will go back again for testing when you are a year old.

Sleeping
You are sleeping through the night again!!!!!!!!!!!!!  So our little camping trip to the US totally messed up your sleep because I basically "trained" you to need to eat in the middle of the night again.  Whenever you would wake up I'd nurse you and you'd go back to sleep but I think you were just awake from jet lag.  But since we were all getting over jet lag in one room and then in a tent I just did whatever got you quiet the fastest.  Let's just say I won't be repeating that mistake next time.

"Watching" West Wing with us (aka sitting with us for a minute or two and then I put you back to bed. Silly girl!

We used the Baby Sleep Solution book to resleep train you.  The book tells you to slowly decrease the amount of milk you get in the middle of the night to retrain your belly to not need it.  Start by tracking how much you usually eat and then slowly cut it back 3 minutes at a time.  Well, you were only nursing for about 3:30 total.  So I started cutting it back by 30 seconds at a time every 3 days.  Once you got to 1 minute and 30 seconds you stopped waking up in the middle of the night.  You did get a lot of bonding time with your dad in the middle of the night because I'd cave and nurse you so i could go back to bed ;).  I think having him be up with you was great for everyone!

As soon as you slept through the night you started to crawl and then shortly after that your bottom teeth started coming in and that wasn't very much fun at all.  You had some big milestones all happening at once.

 

Your new go-to sleeping position.

Someone thinks she's a big girl.  We lowered your crib that night.

Naptime is so funny!

You fell asleep after this.  I am a big believer in putting kids on a schedule and laying them down when they are awake even before showing signs of being tired.  Once my girls act tired they have such a harder time falling asleep.

Looks like you get your 'planning ahead' skills from your dad ;)

Clothes
You are wearing size 62, 68 and 74 in most tops and pants.  Most of your pajamas are size 9 months and you could probably wear some 12-month pajamas.  It is so fun seeing you in the same outfits Linnea wore as a baby.

Playtime
You are officially mobile and that has changed the playtime ballgame!  You are everywhere and into everything.  It is nice having a small apartment because I can see you all the time but everything is so much closer so you can get into everything so fast!

You love playing with rings, shapes, and balls.

You can easily go from your belly to your bottom and back again.  I love seeing you move around more but it makes you look like such a big girl!

Sitting up is a little tricky.

Your shower cap is hilarious Mama!

Our Days
Our days have been great.  We are in a great rhythm and I love being home with you.  I definitely miss adult interactions but I know that will be here (going back to teaching) before we know it.

We usually go grocery shopping on Mondays during your morning nap and then sometimes meet up for lunch or fika with a friend during the week.

Don't let these two fool you, they had a great time at Pizza Hut with their mamas!

After your afternoon nap, we pick your sister up from school and stop by a park on the way home.

I got a new carrier this month just in time for you to get teeth and need to be close to your mama.  I didn't mind one bit!

Activities and Outings
This month a high school friend, Ali, and her husband Barclay visited Stockholm before heading out on a cruise.  We had a fantastic time together! I really hope they can come back to visit again soon!

Ali wrote a great blog post about their time in Stockholm.  You can read it here.

We went to Comic-Con this month.   Linnea wore her Belle dress half of the time and her Batman pajamas the second half.  She had a great time.

 Roaring fire at the dragon.

Linnea saw these girls and wanted a picture with them.

We went to a fall festival and Linnea loved playing in the hay with the wheelbarrow.

We went on a family adventure walk near our apartment.  It was a gorgeous morning.

Linnea has so much energy!  This was after a full day a Comic-Con, no nap, and then a birthday party.

Firsts and New Skills
You got your two bottom teeth this month.  The left one came in first (Sept 17th) and then a few days later your right one came in.  You were definitely more drooly and you noticed the pain more at night.  We gave you ibuprofen and Tylenol which definitely helped.  Linnea never put up much of a fuss with her new teeth but you definitely let us know about it.

You can crawl!  You started crawling on September 18th right around 7.5 months old.  You never army crawled, you just went straight to hand and knee crawling.  When you crawl on the hardwood floor sometimes you crawl with one leg straight which is funny.  Maybe the floor hurts your knees?

Before Linnea was born Jake and I would 'talk' for her in a high pitched voice.  This has continued but now Linnea has started talking for Stella like she does in this clip.

I caught your first forward progress on camera!

You've been watching your daddy do bear crawls.

Sister Moments
Now that you can sit up I love watching you play more with your sister.  Linnea loves you so much and you love her too but sometimes her hugs might be a little much for you.

Now that you are mobile we've been working on teaching Linnea how to share her toys.

You are just happy to be able to go where you'd like and join in on whatever fun you can get into before I tell you 'that's not for you".

Linnea New Skills
Linnea's Swedish is taking off.  I mean, I assume it is because she's speaking it with ease to kids on the playground and adults in elevators and I just smile and nod like I have a clue what she is saying.  She can usually translate for us if she starts saying something in Swedish and we don't understand she will switch it to English.

This video is long but Mona, Florian's Mom, is talking to Linnea in Swedish asking her questions so I could get some of her Swedish skills on camera.  Thanks Mona!  She's asking her about what color the carton of milk is that we usually drink (It is red which is 3% whole milk. You can also get green which is 1.5% or blue which is 0.5% skim milk.)

They've been working on numbers and colors at school and I've realized Linnea says 'brun' for brown 100% of the time.  So I asked her if she knew that that color was called brown and English and she said no.  Oops.  I sure wish I had her confidence when speaking Swedish.

Linnea was a little sick this month so she wore a Belle dress while we watched half of Moana one day and the rest of the movie the next day.

Linnea loves to climb and Jake loves to encourage her.

One of Linnea's favorite preschool teachers left her school to go to university.  We were so sad.  I barely held it together for several days in a row when picking Linnea up from school.  I mean, the day after we found out she was leaving I walked up to the playground to pick her up and she was sitting on her lap just cuddling with her and playing with her necklace.  Thankfully she is helping out at the school on Fridays still.  I know Linnea loves seeing her.

This is at her preschool.

Puddles are so much fun!

Taking Alix on a walk.

Linnea Funnies/Quotes
While Linnea and Jake were playing on the floor:
Linnea: Daddy, I feel a little bit silly.
Jake: Do I need to take my glasses off?
Linnea: Yeah
Then lots of giggling happens.  She knows she has to be careful with Jake's glasses (because she has broken the nose piece before) so he's told her when she is feeling silly to let him know so he can take them off.

Recently when Jake and I are talking over dinner or just in general Linnea will say, "Mama, can you tell it to me?" "Daddy, can you also tell it to me?"  We've realized she just feels left out but also the tone we use when talking to her is different than when we talk with each other so when she says that we try to include her but sometimes our topics are pretty boring.  She is a good sport and will add little comments like "That's nice" which cracked us up.  She just wants to be included.

I realized we were both wearing navy blue shirts and since we are the 'birthday girls' born on July 5th, I thought we needed to get pictures.

Linnea has been asking that I bring Alix when I pick Linnea up.  She's been showing her all the fun parks on our way home.

Linnea came in to cuddle with me one more.  It was so sweet.

Linnea and Jake with matching pink shirts with buttons.

Remember
I want to remember the pouty face and cry that you give when I sit down to nurse you and then get up again before we start.

I want to remember the way your face lights up when you see me, especially if it is time to eat.

I want to remember your belly laughs at your sister.

I want to remember everything about the baby stage.  Before Linnea was born I didn't think I'd like the baby stage but I ended up really enjoying it with her.  I think I'm enjoying it, even more, this time around because I know how fast it goes so I am really trying to soak it all in!  It helps that you are such a happy, easy going baby!  I am so thankful I get to spend my days with you!

Love,
Your Mama

Related Posts:

Stella at 7 Months, Stella at 6 Months, Stella at 5 Months, Stella at 4 Months, Stella at 3 Months, Stella at 2 Months, Stella at 1 Month

Linnea at 8 Months, Linnea at 7 Months, Linnea at 6 months, Linnea at 5 Months, Linnea at 4 Months, Linnea at 3 Months, Linnea at 2 Months, Linnea at 1 Month