Wades of 108: Ava: 8 Months

I didn't mean for this blog to turn into just Ava's monthly updates. I do have other things I want to talk to you about, so maybe I'll find the time one day!

Eating: She's still nursing in the morning and evening, but we had to start giving her formula at daycare. She's now eating three meals of solids a day, two at daycare and one in the evening at home. In the evening she also gets finger foods of some sort, like puffs, banana, or watermelon. And she figured out the sippy cup this month and has gotten pretty good at it (we've just been putting water in it for now).

Sleep: We went through a patch where she was waking up too early, and was waking up earlier and earlier every day. It started with 5:45, then 5:30 then 5:15. She was obviously not done sleeping because she'd either fall back to sleep nursing or be up for an hour and then be ready for a nap. Finally she woke up at 4:30 and we let her cry it out (not fun at 4am!). We had some inconsistent sleeping due to travel too, but after a few nights of letting her fuss I think we're back on track. This week she's slept straight through from 7pm until 6 or 6:30am. (fingers crossed, knock on wood, please don't jinx us)

Illness: Good news on the ears front (again, knock on wood). By the time we saw the ENT, her ears weren't infected any more, just a little bit of fluid. And she hasn't been sick lately, so hopefully they won't get reinfected. We have a recheck with the ENT in a few weeks and hopefully the fluid will be gone by then and we'll be in the clear. I did take her to the doc once for her eczema. When she started on formula it really flared up, so we're still trying to figure out which formula to use. We started out with a regular one (Similac Advance) but I suspected a cow's milk allergy because she broke out around her mouth and her eczema on her belly and under her chin got really bad. We switched to Nutramigen (non-cow's milk hypoallergenic formula) and used a steroid cream the doctor prescribed and it cleared right up. I'm still not sure if she really needs to be on Nutramigen (it's stinky and expensive, so I'd prefer her not to be) so I'm trying to experiment to see if that's what caused the eczema or if it was something else going on or just coincidence.

Activity: This month we went to the park and swung for the first time, which she loved. I finally bit the bullet and started bathing her in the big tub. (She was taking baths in the infant tub inside the big tub.) She loooooves it and loves playing with her bath toys. We've gotten good at taking her to restaurants now with her sitting in the high chair. For the most part she's content to watch people come and go, munch on crackers and drop her toys on the floor.

Milestones: She finally mastered rolling from back to belly, so now she can roll to get to where she wants to go. She got her first boo boo at daycare after rolling herself into the bookcase there. We've found her on her belly in her crib a few times in the morning, but she still much prefers to sleep on her back. When we took a little family vacation to the beach last weekend we had fun watching her scoot around on her belly, although she can only really go backwards. She backed herself halfway down the hall at one point. And she's finally growing some hair, even though it's hard to see in pics. It's fine and light (who would've ever thought I'd have a blonde haired, blue eyed baby?) but filling in all over. Also, she pooped in the tub for the first time. That's a milestone, right?

She really is the sweetest. I'm having a harder and harder time coming up with "dislikes" every month. On this, my first Mother's Day, I couldn't be any more thankful to be her mama.

Swinging for the first time: