Lenore at 8 Months

8 Months Old

See my two bottom teeth!?

Her stats (percentiles from BabyCenter):
Height: 29.5 inches (above 95th percentile)
Weight: 19 pounds (between 50th and 75th percentile)
Head Size: 18.25 inches (above 95th percentile)

We went to the cardiologist last week and received a good report! Her heart is normal-sized (which I'd never heard them mention it being other than normal-sized, but still good to know). The pulmonary stenosis is no more, as well--it all looks normal now (hooray!). There are still some areas between the upper chambers that are open, but our doctor believes they will close up entirely by the next time we see him (in a year). So YAY! He said that things look great and that we have no reason to be concerned.

We also went to the pediatrician last week for an ear check--she'd had a runny nose on vacation and was extra fussy and fevered over the weekend, so I took her in Monday afternoon. Sure enough, another ear infection. Mid-week, she had a mild reaction to the antibiotic, but the nurse I spoke with said that it was not a full-on allergic reaction. She said that some kids, some times, develop a rash from amoxicillin that lasts 1-8 days (usually around 3 days), and that it wasn't a concern unless it worsened, which it did not. She just had some small, light pink polka dots all over her body for a few days.

What she's doing this month:

• She is still crawling and pulling up whenever she can. We've seen maybe some slight and/or accidental attempts at cruising, but nothing consistent. Not as many bumps and bruises so far (fingers crossed!) as Lewis had in this phase. I feel like she's learned how to get out of a situation safely, fairly quickly.
• She, of course, still gets into things she shouldn't (blinds, the dishwasher, etc.), and I say 'No No' and shake a finger at her. She looks at me with the biggest grin, which is too cute for words.
• She still plays shy sometimes--if you sweet talk her, she'll tilt her head to the side, sometimes even batting her eyes. 
• She takes two naps a day. There are some days when it's 1 hour + 1 hour, and others when it's 45 minutes + around 3 hours. She's a little unpredictable still, but at least she's napping.
• Sleep has improved overall this month. She's been sleeping a lot more with the ear infection and teething, of course, but even before that, we did some moderate sleep training that she caught onto pretty quickly. I haven't had to get up with her overnight this week (which I'm sure will end now that I've written it down). She has been waking up between 5-6am, and I feed her, and then she goes back down for a couple of more hours.
• Nursing is better this month! I realized the other day that I haven't had the after-pain for a while now. We must have figured out a better latch again, thank goodness. With her eating more solids and not being nursed to sleep at naps now, I feel like the number of times a day that she's nursing has dropped quite a bit this month. Like maybe 5 times a day??
• Speaking of solids, she now eats all three meals with us. Dinner is still the biggest meal for her, followed by breakfast, then lunch. Breakfast and lunch were only added as a way for me to keep her contained (to keep her in my sights and NOT climbing the stairs) while I finish making dinner or while Lewis is eating dinner if Kevin is working a little later. She hasn't been as much into food this week, probably from her mouth being tender--she has still eaten some finger foods, but she's been pretty anti-puree, for whatever reason.
• The day before and on our way to vacation in Pensacola, we ended up accidentally stopping at Chick-fil-A 3 days in a row (we wanted a place for Lewis to be able to run around a little). In that time, she got quite a taste for their chicken nuggets. She and Lewis would split a 4-pack, at first--she would eat 2, and he would, with a fight for every bite, eat 2. We then started getting a 6-pack, and she totally ate 3 one day to his 1-2. Lenore + Chicken = Love :) She's also a fan of their waffle fries and the blueberries from their fruit cup. 
• She LOVES playing with Lewis. They both light up when they see each other. Lewis loves coming in and saying goodnight to her and giving her a kiss. He also loves twirling her hair, as he does mine, but we have to get on him about being too rough with her baby hair/scalp.
• She is wearing mostly 12 month clothes now. There are still a few 9 month ones that will stretch and fit her, but just a few.
• Tooth Count: I'm going to say 3! One of her top front teeth is fully visible now, but the other one is still hiding under her swollen little gums. It should pop through any day now, I predict.

Couldn't pick a favorite picture, so here are a few more:

My sweet girl :)