Eight Month Videos

 

You love zippers! In fact, when Daddy and I say the word "zipper," you point to them. You have even figured out how to unzip them. Daddy tried to catch you doing this yesterday, but you soon noticed the camera and lunged for it. Apparently, you are more fascinated with cameras than zippers.

 

 

He finally managed to sneak and record you in the middle of zipping. I love watching us spending time together. Little moments like this are so sweet. I savor them dearly.

 

 

Besides unzipping things, you are also enjoying kneeling. You like to balance up on your knees. It is so fun to watch you learn how to use your adorable little body in new ways.

This Week's New Firsts

Quinn, I know I need to backtrack and catch up on a few things that I have not documented, but today I want to make sure that I write about some recent firsts. This past weekend, you met Santa for the first time. Let's just say that you were not a fan of him this year. You immediately cried after being set on to his lap. Your little face was heartbreaking. You looked afraid. But I was there to hold you and comfort you. Look at your sweet little nose. It was still red from crying.

 

Below is a picture at home before visiting Santa. You were much happier at that point. Look at how darling you are! I can't believe that your first Christmas is almost here. I have dreamed of sharing holidays with a child and now it is finally coming true. I could not have imagined a better baby to spend my holidays with than you, dear Quinn.

 

 

Another recent first is that you have started to babble a lot. You say dada, gaga, nana and a few other fun little sounds. It literally happened overnight. You have actually been a pretty quiet baby overall. You are expressive and interactive, but you like to observe and take things in, too. But now you have decided it is time to become more vocal about things. I tried to capture it this morning, but unfortunately my camera was a distraction. But here is a short little clip before the camera ruined it:

 



 

When you learn how to do new things, it is magical for your daddy and me to witness. You are so special to us!



The Upside

 

Quinn, I am terribly behind! I have not posted your 8 month pictures yet. I have not talked about your latest developments. I have not posted pictures from your Aunt Laramie's visit, either. To be honest, you are going through a dreadful sleeping phase right now. Daddy and I are exhausted and are not sure how to help you sleep like you were last month. I hope that you will start sleeping a little better soon, so I have time to update this more often. Even though it has been challenging lately, I will say that your sleep difficulties do come with the upside of many tender, cuddly moments. I just captured the picture above. You are still upstairs sleeping on Daddy right now. He is loving it, as are you. It was special for me to peek in and see you sleeping so peacefully. I love my little family so much.

This Week's Funny Pictures

 

I captured your first "fake", forced smile for the camera!

 

You make such a mess with yogurt, but you love it.

Crawling Video

Quinn, you have been crawling for a month now. When you first started, you had to work so hard to awkwardly scoot an inch. Now look at you go! You amaze me.

On The Move!

 

"Not only am I a turbo crawler now, but I love to stand up, too!"

 

"I can even take a couple of steps while holding on to things. Look at me  hold on with only one hand!"

 

Happy girl. Seven months is such a fun age!

 

Quinn's two top front teeth have broken through within the past couple of days. Here she is feeling them with her tongue. I hope she gets some relief soon. I hate to see her hurting, and of course I would love if we could all go back to better sleeping.

 

Quinn seems so proud of herself when she stands up. She has such enthusiasm for everything. She wakes up in the morning feeling excited to start her day. Her energetic attitude is contagious. I love it!

The Little Things

 

Sweet Quinn, you are constantly reminding me that the little things are what really matter in life. This a cliché, so I have avoided using it up until now; but maybe it is one for a reason. Maybe this phrase is overused because it is true and there are not adequate alternatives to describe the sentiment. Since you were born, the little things blow me away. Things like what I tried to capture in this picture above. You were practicing climbing and standing with such determination, all while holding a sock in your mouth like a fierce little puppy. Of course you took the sock out before I could grab the camera, but the image is in mind and heart forever.

 

Today I experienced another little thing that was something big. It was nothing more than a trip to The Home Depot. Although we went there to pick up something boring, it turned in to something magical. I had you in the Ergo, and as we were walking around, you kept leaning back, looking in to my eyes and giggling. I began giggling back. Then I started taking giant bouncing steps as you looked up at me. We both laughed and laughed. I suddenly realized that I was in public and looked a little nutty, but I didn't even care. A few people in the aisle were looking at me, but oh well! It did not matter, because I was in the moment with my wonderful daughter Quinn and was totally in love. We were joyful and connected. It was beautiful.

 

It is hard to explain how special it was, but I am actually crying about it as I write this. Reflecting on this experience reminds me of how the little, simple things are what really matters in life. Locking eyes and laughing with you in the middle of a hardware store, as both of our hearts swelled with warmth and love, is what is important. I am so thankful that I am your mom, Quinn. You are the most powerful teacher I have ever known. 

Lucky Number Seven!

Quinn, you turned seven months old at the beginning of November. A lot happened in the last month, so we had a lot to celebrate.

 

Your love for music grew. You love making music, listening to it, and you especially love when Mommy and Daddy sing to you. Mommy sings to you randomly during the day, but both of us sing to you as part of your bedtime ritual, when we give you a leg massage after your bath. You have both of your parents loving you and serenading you each night. It is really special for all of us.

 

You are learning how to mimic what we do. This picture is of one of the first times you waved back to us. Daddy and I were so excited when it happened. It was like we connected with you in a whole new way. You don't know what it means to wave yet, but soon you will. You can also point when we point, but I have yet to capture it on film. 

 

You are learning how to use your body in so many ways. Last month, you figured out how to crawl, how to go from being on your stomach back to sitting up, and how to pull up to standing. You are officially mobile and the baby gates are up. 

 

You enjoyed many walks in the stroller. And you have even gone on a few runs with Mommy, too!

 

You grew to love books more than ever. You love to be read to each night and before each nap. You are able to point at things that catch your eye.

 

And when you turned seven months, you did not allow me to capture one single picture with your sticker on your overalls. You ripped it off so quickly! You are so fast now.

 

On your picture day, you also learned how to sniff air in and out of your nose loudly and quickly. So I captured a bunch of pictures of you with this expression on your face. It was hilarious.

 

I did catch a sweet smile.

 

Or two.

 

 

Look at my beautiful baby girl. Sitting on Aunt Elsie's quilt in our big back yard in Georgia. Watching her dogs play. Taking the world in. So special...

 

You were fascinated with your "7 Months" sticker, even outside.

 

Here you are, chilling out after a tip-over while reaching for leaves.

 

You are so alert.

 

Here is a sniffing-mixed-with-a-smile shot. Happy Seven Months, beautiful daughter of mine. You are so loved and adored.

Our Lady Bug

 

Quinn, you were a lady bug for your first Halloween. We decided that this was a perfect costume for you since we have lovingly called you "Quinn Bug" as a nickname. You are truly the cutest little bug I know!

 

I can't get enough of your smile. It melts me each and every time.
You have such a bright spirit.

 

Crawling in your big, puffy costume was a little tricky;

but you managed to figure it out.

 

 

You wanted to chew on leaves out in the yard. You seem to be teething again, although nothing has poked through yet.

 

 

Look at your concentration.

You are learning and taking in new information all the time.
I love watching your mind work.

 

I love your big, beautiful eyes.

This is your funny "teething face." When you make this face, I know that your gums are bothering you.

We went to visit Daddy at work on Halloween. We surprised him. He loved seeing you dressed up! We walked you all over the college campus. Daddy took a couple of pictures of us together, since I am usually the camera person and we don't have enough of the two of us.

 

I was so happy to celebrate the kickoff of my first holiday season as a mom!

 

 

Daddy was so happy to see you after work. We dressed you up again and took some pictures in the yard. You manage to elicit goofy smiles from your parents on a daily basis, little Quinn. We are just so in love with you that we can't help silly grins when we see you and hold you.

 

We match! But seriously, I do think we are a great match as mother and daughter. I would not change a thing about you. I could not have dreamed up a better fit than to have you as my daughter.

 

One more of us. Look how adorable you are!

 

This is the funniest part of the day. Since your bedtime fell at the time that trick-or-treaters would come knocking (and cause our dogs to bark), we set our candy outside with a note. I would have never fathomed doing this before you were born, but having a baby and wanting that baby to sleep at night causes you to do interesting things.

 

Trick-or-treaters found my sign a little too wordy and complex. So they kept stepping over our bowl to pound on the door. Daddy panicked that you were going to wake up, so he added this sign to the door. I laughed when I saw it later that night. I told Dad that he had become the Grinch of Halloween. He said that the desperation for sleep must have influenced the tone of his creation. We had to take a picture of this, since your father is not at all grumpy on Halloween. Before having a baby, a sign like this would not have amused us like it did.

Fun Pictures From the Past Week

 

Two peas in a pod.

 

 

You are so squeezable!

 

Eating and playing with bananas.

Learning to Crawl!

Look at you, Quinn! You are moving! It is amazing to me that your frustration has completely vanished since figuring out how to move forward. It must have been so difficult for you to see things and not be able to reach them. But now you can get to things! What a weight off your little shoulders. It is a lot of work...listen to how hard you are breathing in the video. Your determination melts my heart.

I just thought of something: I am sure that when you watch this clip one day, the phone in the video will be out of date. In a way, it already is; since most people don't have home phones any more. They just use iPhones and smart phones instead. But you will probably view this phone the way I see giant, corded phones with rotary dials. Wow, I suddenly feel old.

Growing Up!

Quinn, we have been busy and having a lot of fun lately. You have been really enjoying your morning walks. Daddy often takes you out while I run, but sometimes the three of us walk together. Walking as a family is one of my favorite things. I love being outdoors with my two favorite people!

 

Although there are many happy moments, you have been more frustrated than I have ever seen you lately. You are so close to crawling. You try and try, and when you can't quite figure it out, you cry. Daddy and I have been cheering you on. We believe in you and know that very soon, it will "click" for you and you will be on the move (yikes!).

 

 

Poor little bug! You are trying so hard! Luckily, last Friday, you learned how to do a scoot/crawl hybrid movement. You can now move forward, although it is a lot of work. So you are a lot less frustrated. You have become more efficient each day, so I am sure you will figure out how to truly crawl soon. This is so exciting, although I am overwhelmed at the task of baby-proofing our home.

 

 

You are also learning how to climb up on things. Here you are pushing yourself up to standing. You did this all by yourself. You amaze us, Quinn.

 

Here you are climbing up on your new box of diapers. I love your expression in this picture. 

And look at you in your first pair of jeans! For some reason, you look so grown up to me in jeans. It almost made me cry. I can get a glimpse of what you will look like as a preschooler. I am savoring the baby days with you, Quinn. You are growing so quickly. Although I want you to grow and thrive, I am sentimental that you will be a toddler before I know it.

Your little baby face just flat-out melts my heart. For some reason, this picture stood out to your Daddy and me. We think it captures your soul...you are kind, insightful, loving, gentle, and connected to the world around you. You are so squeezable and loveable. I hope that you will always feel how much I love you while you are growing up. Even when you are grown up, I am certain I will love you just as fiercely as I do today.