Baby Update

I haven't done a good update on our teeny tiny girl for a while -- actually for almost 3 months! So I figured you were mostly checking back here to see some pictures of her anyway, I might as well just do an update.

• She is now 8 months old (will be 9 months on the 24th) and turning into quite a little character. She learned to grunt from her cousin, Colt, so now that's a big game between her and daddy.
• She is oh-so-close to crawling but just won't pull those knees up. I'm ok with her not being mobile for a little bit longer. She also pulls herself up onto her knees if there's anything available to pull up on.
• She got a lot of fun interactive toys for Christmas so it's great seeing her actually interact with them as opposed to just chewing on a toy. I do try to limit the number of singing/blinking/dancing/ toys she has out at a time to one or two. First because they get annoying, but also because I still want her to be interested in the toys that require a little imagination. I don't want her to start thinking that if a toy doesn't sing/blink/dance that it's not worth playing with.
• She started taking naps in her crib in her bedroom and that's going great. She still sleeps in our room in the Arm's Reach co-sleeper at night. She doesn't quite sleep through the night yet, so while she's still waking I like that I can check on her and soothe her without having to get out from under my own covers. We're working on sleeping through though, and she's making progress.
• We've started baby sign. She hasn't signed anything yet but I'm pretty sure she recognizes some of the signs I make. It's fun, and a learning experience for me too. I took basic sign in college, but when you don't use it every day you forget a lot. I've always had an interest in sign language so it's fun to have an excuse to get back into it and become a little more proficient (if baby signs count as proficient, lol).
• She now eats pretty much all baby food. I haven't tried any of the meats with her, but she's hit a good variety of fruits and veggies. Her favorites I would say are apples and squash, but she loves nothing more than her oatmeal. I'd like to start using my food mill to make some of my own stuff for her, but I worry about making the jump from made-for-baby foods to regular table food. Even if she can handle the consistency I don't want to disturb her system and cause her any tummy troubles. Plus at that point I would pretty much assume that she will lose interest in baby foods that don't have the flavors and seasonings of the foods that we eat. I have a book of baby food recipes, I should probably start there. Have any of you used a food mill or made your own baby food? I'd love to hear your thoughts or advice.
• We've also started putting her small bath tub into our tub for her baths because she was splashing water all over the kitchen (and me). This kid LOVES tubby time. I got her some tub toys for Christmas which she loves playing with but she really loves chewing on the wet washcloth. It's adorable :)
• She just got a late Christmas present the other day. We got her the Baby Einstein Around the World Discovery Center. It's the same as an Exersaucer just not made by Evenflo, so they can't call it an Exersaucer. It's really cute with lots of fun things for her to do. She lit up when we put her in it. She didn't know what to play with first, but she carefully went around and tested out each toy. The piano is definitely one of her favorites. The girl loves her music. She pushes one of the buttons and then looks at us to see if we're dancing. It's pretty hilarious. She also really likes standing up so this lets her stand and play which is nice. I don't want her to be in it too frequently, but I'm going to start babysitting my 3-month old nephew next week so during that transition it will be nice to have something that both entertains her and keeps her safe when I can't be right by her side.

So there you go. A short and sweet update. Anyone else have a baby near this age? What are they doing? It's fun to hear since babies vary so much in what they pick up and when.

Also, stay tuned for a Not Me! Monday post coming up. I've got some good ones :) Be thinking of yours to share!