Eight Months!

Holy cow, it's been 8 months!!!  I feel like both babies have grown leaps and bounds from last month to this month.  They just seem so much older and are becoming more and more like little people.  It's definitely getting trickier to take their pictures because they are busy, busy, busy! 

They are wiggly and rolling all around.  Lyla is crawling!  Archer hasn't crawled yet, but somehow manages to move all over the place nonetheless.  They are very interested in their month stickers and spent most of the photo session trying to pull them off.  I had to give them the back of the stickers to keep them occupied and then pull them away and quickly take a picture.  It was hard work!  I think our future monthly photo shoots might have to be a two man operation. 

They are both interacting more, too.  A lot of the time they are just taking toys away from each other.  But sometimes they just smile and talk at each other.  It melts my heart!  

Lyla has figured out how to sit up on her own in her crib.  I was shocked to walk into her room after one of her naps to find her sitting up!  It was a moment that made me realize just how quickly she's growing up.  Adam and I decided to lower her crib mattress in case she started pulling herself up.  I'm glad we did because she has pulled herself up a few times on her toy basket, but not in her crib yet.  I have a feeling she's going to be climbing out of her crib before too long...

As I mentioned earlier, Lyla has figured out how to crawl!  She is all over the place now and I have to do double takes when I return to a room I've left her in to find where she's at!  The baby gates are going to have to be closed when I leave the living room from now on.  I also close the door to the babies' rooms if they are playing in there and I have to go to another room.  Since they are located on the second floor, I would hate to have Lyla crawl right to the edge of the steps! 

All that moving around means I am very nervous about her hurting herself these days.  She got her first bruise on her cheek when she fell against the side of the couch.  Poor thing!  Adam and I were standing right next to her and she just lost her balance while she was crawling.  I'm sure there are many more bruises in her future, but I sure don't like the thought of it! 

She's also into screeching really, really loudly and at a very high pitch.  Adam likes to say she's the next Mariah Carey, and I'm not so sure that's a compliment.  She's playing more with babbling and making new sounds.  She continues to be very loud and makes sure it's known when she wants something. 

Lyla has been more affectionate lately, too.  She's still very independent and wants to do her own thing.  But she'll snuggle with me and appreciates kisses and tickles more than she used to.  Her eyes are rather puffy and red in her pictures due to some sort of sleep regression.  She has been waking up several times a night crying.  We give her a few minutes to try to self-soothe, but I go in there if she gets too hysterical.  We haven't really figured out why.  Could be teething?  A sleep regression?  Nightmares?   Her reflux bothering her?  She just misses her momma?  I am definitely looking forward to it passing, though! 

Archer is getting more mobile, but just tends to roll towards whichever place he's headed.  He's also working on sitting up on his own, but only manages to look like he's a model posing on his side.  It's pretty darn cute.  He gets up on his hands and knees and rocks away.  He's so close to crawling! 

He is definitely more snuggly than Lyla and I eat that up!  He prefers to be held a little before he goes to bed each night or for a nap and I'm more than happy to oblige.  Though, it's not quite as cute when he wakes up at 3am for a snuggle.  But he's actually doing really well with sleeping!  On average, he goes to bed by 7pm and sleeps until 5 or 6am!  I will count that as a success!

Perhaps one of the sweetest things he's learned this month is how to give kisses!  He'll open his mouth and lean toward my cheek.  It's usually a little slobbery, but just about makes me cry each and every time!  And I swear he knows I am "mum mum mum."  When he gets really upset during the day or cries at night, he'll say "mum mum mum" until I go to him.  He is starting to have some separation anxiety.  He gets rather upset when I leave him alone in a room.  So I have started a distract and sneak away method that seems to work pretty well.  At least until he realizes I'm gone, then he starts to holler for his "mum mum mum."  Really sweet, but also really annoying.     

Each month just keeps getting more and more fun!  It's getting easier to get out and do things.  We can handle trips to the store now and we've even gone on a play date!  We are going to hit up story time this week.  Once the weather gets nicer, we'll get to go on even more fun adventures!  Bring on the next month!