8 months!

Violet turned 8 months old yesterday. I can hardly believe it. She looks more and more like a little girl every day and less like a baby. We didn't get too many pictures with the 8 month sticker on because Violet started to eat it.

No more pics with the sticker mom!

Developmentally, she is changing almost every day. She knows her name, the word "no", and she will sometimes come when called. She crawls everywhere now and pulls herself to standing constantly. She even is starting to let go to what she is holding on to and stand for a couple of seconds.

One day last week she woke up and started babbling "ba ba ba ba" and didn't stop. She thinks she's talking. It's really loud (i.e. annoying) and usually punctuated by a scream. I swear it seems like she's going to bust out with "Redrum, redrum" from The Shining.

She really enjoys playing with dad--he makes the pillow attack her and she attacks back. It's super cute. She is going through a separation anxiety phase though where she only wants to be held by me if I'm around and she cries every time I leave the room or even set her down. It's a little hard on me and everyone else that takes care of her.

She's got a great sleep and nap schedule down for right now. She sleeps from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m., usually waking once overnight. She takes two big two hour naps during the day. Most importantly, she is crib trained, which means she doesn't have to nap on mom and no one has to wear her to induce sleep. The 6 a.m. wake up is a killer but beggars can't be choosers.

In exactly one week, Violet and I head to Hawaii to visit Jenee--Violet's first foray into travel. We also are trying out a new pediatrician this week with a smaller office. And next month is Halloween. We just bought her costume but for now it's a surprise. I wanted her to be a "Zombie Baby" but shockingly there were no costumes like that on the market.

She's coming for you!