Eight Months with Lyla

Baby Lyla Rose is 8 months old!

Folks, 8 months is my favorite age.  Just my favorite.  I seriously can't get enough of this sweet girl.  She just makes me want to keep having babies.  She is that endearing right now--pure joy.

This is not to say that we have not had any challenges as of late.  We have.  There definitely have been some days of really rough sleeping patterns-- Lyla hardly napped, fought sleep and went to bed late in the evening, and then woke up early in the morning.  (I'm going to blame it on the root of all evil that is teething.)  All of which made for a really overtired, grumpy baby and subsequently, really overtired, grumpy parents.  Add in the fact that I just reduced my work hours AND we bought a house (which is a post for another time) and there were certainly days that could have produced a great deal of stress.  Fortunately, Jake and I have really been in sync lately and putting in the extra work with each other.  I have to say, it sure makes parenting a whole lot easier--even (especially) on the more challenging days.

BUT the challenging days have been so very few.  Oh sure, we still spend the vast majority of time chasing down our very busy daughter who wants to get into just about everything she is not supposed to (there is a playroom in my future, people. A PLAYROOM. I have only dreamed about such things).  In addition to clapping, she has now started dancing and excitedly bounces to just about anything that makes her laugh or smile.  And she gives kisses!  The biggest, slobbery, wet, open-mouthed, sweetest kisses of all time.  I don't think I have mentioned it here, yet, but she has just this one little dimple on her right temple and it might be about the cutest thing I've ever seen.  It's like her whole face can't help but light up when she's happy.  She is becoming more and more social by the day.  We were grocery shopping recently, and I think I ended up talking to someone in nearly every area of the store because my child was being so absurdly charming.

We're lucky and she hasn't started walking just yet, but she crawls like a little speed demon.  She pulls herself up on everything and can stand without assistance for short periods of time.  She is trying to master the art of moving from furniture piece to furniture piece while on her feet--sometimes she is successful, sometimes not so much. She can also climb up onto things that are low enough to the ground (i.e. an overturned laundry basket), so now we have to make sure she doesn't do any serious face plants.  Crazy girl.

At the beginning of January she started her first water babies class. She loves it!  Obviously, the goal of the class is just to get her comfortable in the water from an early age, but she does such a great job kicking her little legs in the pool and getting dunked under.  We sure hope she continues to love the water as much as she does!

You'll notice there are fewer photos in these posts-- this girl is on the move and is difficult to photograph!  That, and I just find myself too busy playing with her (read: chasing her around the house) and it's hard to stop and take photos.  All that said, we still have a few cute shots from last month (likely more than we will ever have with our subsequent children).  Enjoy!