Zia: her eighth month

Holy Cow has she grown this month! Hiking, eating, talking, climbing. She's really starting to "play," rather than just lick. A super fun development. She initiates peek-a-boo every chance she gets (with her dress, around a corner, or her little hands over her eyes:) Plays "how big is Zia?" (raises her arms and laughs for "Sooo big!"). Bounces until we notice and say "Bounce-a, bounce-a!". She loves to knock over block towers we build. (This is, apparently, quite hilarious:) And hand clapping is Big Stuff right here. There's something else...I'm forgetting ;)

P is infinitely impressed with her expanding repertoire of tricks. Which I find fabulously funny, since he was a total anti-trick kinda baby. Seriously, he would smile for no-one. Clap for no one. When people would try to play peek-a-boo, he'd look at them like, dude, I ain't no trick monkey.

But Z seems to be quite the social crowd pleaser. Smiling and ducking bashfully, then popping back up for some chatting.

She Loves going out and about in general. Especially if she can get down and wander around. Terribly tricky, since she still prefers to taste the world around her :)

But the last few trips to the yard have seen her eating fewer and fewer pieces of pea gravel. And today she stacked a block, instead of snacking on it. She started putting things IN things, so that she can dump them out (full laundry baskets actually elicit squeals of joy as she tosses contents over her shoulder.) And, with whoops of joy from big brother, she properly vroomed a car this morning;).

She's still nursing quite a bit at night, so my brain is still hazy :). But she's settling into an aaaalmost schedule. (umm, fina-frickingly - P was like a goddamn soldier with his to the minute naps. Miss Z's chaotic sleep habits have helped me grow a go with the flow 'tude for sure;) Some days are still your best guess, but we're getting a leeeeetle dependability :) Nodding off (still rocked in the wrap, other than those few successes, she won't lay down and nurse to sleep - she just crawls around the bed and cries. Its easy in the wrap:) around 10 at night and rising for the day around 7, sometimes even 8! Play, breakfast, play, nap. Then play hard all afternoon and zonk again right about the time I'm trying to cook dinner. This makes getting food to the table in a timely manner quite a challenge, but we're adjusting to late dinners :)

She's also adjusted to Superman in the last month! They take walks together - she's even fallen asleep in his wrap! She perches on his lap to share his lunch, hangs out with him while I clean the kitchen and splashes him when he scrubs her filthy toes each night. Ethan is in heaven (after P's anti-Papa babyhood) getting to baby his baby.

Below, random phone blogging order (sigh) is Z in the yard, having clambered onto the wheelbarrow, she was delighted to discover she could make a wheel turn. And Peaches having her first raspberries and blueberries - both picked fresh in our yard! (She liked them both :)