Happy 8 Months Emma!

Time sure flies by quickly these days. It feels as if just last week I was snuggling by 7lb 10oz Emma after thirteen long hours of labor. Difficult to believe that as of yesterday, Emma is now eight months old! In just a few short months she will be a year old which means this obsessively organized and well planned mommy has already begun planning and working hard to ensure that she has the best first birthday imaginable. This past month has been a whirlwind as far as developmental milestones are concerned. Emma is beginning to make the transition from infant to toddler which I will admit, makes me a bit sad... As much as I love seeing her grow and prosper, a part of me wishes she could be my baby for just a little longer. Since I cannot stop time, I suppose the only thing I can do is cherish each and every moment spent with her. Here are a handful of the many changes our sweet little Emma bear has made throughout the course of this past month.

Emma is getting MUCH better at crawling and loves to use me as her own personal jungle gym. Since she is now crawling, she is into absolutely EVERYTHING! Just last night she crawled over to one of aunt Charleenes dogs while he was eating and stole his bowl hoping to get a bite herself. Luckily I noticed what was going on right away and was able to give back Ginoboli's food. Poor guy.

Her motor and cognitive skills have made VAST improvements! She loves to imitate and will either repeat or attempt to repeat any action you perform in front of her.

She has now learned to clap her hands and is very good at it. Her coordination is fantastic and she absolutely loves to clap. So much so that she does it ALL day long! The smile that wipes across her face after she claps is just precious. You can see how proud she is of what she has just accomplished each and every time she shoots you one of those beautiful smiles.

Emma has learned to give real, big girl kisses. You ask her for a kiss, she then grabs your face with both hands, puckers up her lips, leans in, and plants one right on your lips! It melts my heart each and every time. Getting kisses from my daughter is one of the most amazing feelings I have ever had. So much so that I don't think it would be possible to describe it with words.

She has also mastered the art of giving a high five. Her desire to imitate really assisted in my teaching her this. She loves doing it and is never stingy with her high fives like she often is with her kisses. You simple put your hand out and say, "High five," and she immediately gives you at least five of them!

She has gotten much better at waving and loves to wave at me when I go to get her out of bed each morning.

I can tell that she recognizes a lot of words and even the names of the people she sees most often, including our dog. If I ask her, "Emma, where is Charger" she begins scanning the room until she find him.

A big milestone we have reached this month is her constant attempts at pulling herself up onto furniture. She began this about a few weeks before Christmas and has been improving ever since. I bought her a leap frog learn and groove table for Christmas and that toy has greatly helped her in her pulling up efforts. Once she figures out how to get both feet under her, I know she will have it. In fact, I am going to make another predation... I predict that she will be pulling up within the next month.

Although she cannot pull up all of the way, she can get herself into an upright position while on her knees. This make is much easier to see over things like coffee tables among other pieces of furniture that are low to the ground. This new found ability has now opened a new world of exploration and new activities.

Miss Emma now has a new favorite game... Her and I sit on the floor, about two feet apart, facing one another. I then roll her a ball and she rolls it right back to me, deliberately and with quite a bit of control. We continue this over and over until she gets bored and decides that it is time to move on to another activity. I love this activity because it provides her with two important lessons... The first being cause and effect, which in case any of you do not know this or have not read this, is incredibly important in a babies development. Activities that teach cause and effect can actually make you child more intelligent, thus setting them up for greater success later in life. The second lesson this game aides in is hand eye coordination. Another important skill that she will carry throughout her life, especially if she decides to play sports.

She has also had a growth spurt this month and has moved into size four diapers along with size twelve month clothing. The kid sure does go through her expensive clothes fast!

Speech is greatly improving and she is able to mimic simple syllables. She is also attempting to repeat real words. In fact over Christmas weekend my Dad said "Hi" to her and she repeated it back to him! We were all very impressed by this!

So that is just a handful of the changes that Miss Emma has gone through over the past month alone. What a wonderful month we had full of love and excitement! I love you my Emma-Bear and am looking forward to all of the wonderful changes you will make over the course of this next month.