Eight months is a wonderful age!
At 8 months, Mercy:
is getting closer to being mobile. She still can't crawl yet, but she is almost there. She gets on her knees, but can't figure out how to move them forward. She will often get on her hands and knees and move backward. She can move a tiny bit forward, but she often ends up on her belly, stranded and frustrated because she can't pick herself back up. She is way more interested in trying into stand than crawling anyway. She is constantly trying to pull herself up with the aid of the couch, crib, chair, etc. She can't quite get her footing right yet to do it successfully by herself, but if she is trying and we give her a little lift of her bum so she can stand, she makes this half laugh/half defiant noise to express pride. It's hilarious.
started to wave. We were waving at her for a few weeks before she finally did it. And she did it to some strangers (to her). Our friend from college, Mark, and his wife came down to visit us. It was their first time meeting Mercy. As I was about to take Mercy upstairs for bed, she waved to them goodnight. It was so adorable because she was so sincere. Ever since then, she has been waving nonstop. Actually, she seems to wave more to inanimate objects than to people. If we have a balloon around the house (which is often since she loves them), she will always wave to it. She will wave when she first wakes up from bed or a nap, sometimes to me, but most often she just waves as we enter a new room or as we're walking down the stairs.
had her first swimming experience. We joined the YMCA and take her swimming some nights after Tim gets home. She adores it. She loves to splash around. She'll kick her feet and move her hands sort of like a doggy paddle. The lifeguard told us that she seems to really love the water and looks like she'll be a natural swimmer. She also, of course, just likes smiling at all the other people in the pool and waving at new people who are just entering the pool.
likes to flirt with John Wayne. A friend from church gave Tim this little sign with a picture of John Wayne that we had set on a bookshelf. Whenever Mercy would pass it, she would stare at him and smile and give him these coy/shy/flirty eyes. She'll also look at him and avert her eyes and smile and keep looking back. It's hard to explain and I couldn't get a good video of it, but it is so adorable. She doesn't act like that around anyone else (or any other picture, for that matter).
started eating cheerios and more "real" food that she can feed herself like pasta, strawberries, bananas, etc. She doesn't really like being spoon-fed anymore. She now eats breakfast, lunch and dinner. She also nurses about 5-6 times a day.
is now taking two naps a day. And her naps are also longer than they were in the past. Once in a while, she'll take a two hour nap! I don't know what to do with myself because I'm used to her being up after half an hour. But yeah, generally, her naps are usually at least an hour each, which is very nice for me. She now sometimes sleeps on her stomach.
is going through a phase in which she hates being laid down (except for sleeping time). When I lay her down to change her diaper, she usually gets pretty angry and cries. Same thing with dressing her. She also hates being put in her car seat and will usually arch her back and lock her knees to make it more difficult for me.
has finally started to enjoy READing books, not EATing books. In her first eight months, we couldn't really read to her because she would just try to grab all the pages and put them in her mouth, wouldn't sit still, and generally just became pretty frustrated, but now she is interested in the pictures in the book and will sit and let you read to her. She likes Hop on Pop and this little book about puppies and kittens. She even turns the pages.
witnessed her first blizzard and had her first sleigh ride.
can grab small objects with her thumb and index finger.
makes this cute chirping noise when she sees animals.
enjoys (lightly) smacking her head on things. She thinks it's funny.
loves to bang her sippy cup against her tray over and over again.
does this adorable thing with buckets, cups and any other sort of object that is hollow. She'll put it up to her mouth and say "ahh ahh ahh" in this very cute high pitched voice because she likes the sound of the echo.
will sometimes give Tim and me a kiss if you ask her, "can I get a kiss?"She leans forward, opens her mouth wide, sticks her tongue out and points her eyes upward (as if she's unsure or something. ahaha). You can tell she is shy about it and doesn't always like doing it.
and is still extremely social and vibrant around others. She loves everyone, even strangers, and is generous in giving out smiles and waves. What a sweetheart she is.
Here are some more photos of sweet Mercy:
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| Mercy never falls asleep anywhere but her crib usually (except sometimes in the car), but this night, she was so exhausted as Tim was bringing her up to her crib. It's very rare for her to sleep on someone, so this picture is extra cute. |
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| Mercy and Gramps (her favorite person) |
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| with Grandy |
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| lazy Sunday |
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| Grandpa came for a visit! |
