She:

>Went from zero to crawling in about three days, and now she’s all over the place. I’m fast figuring out what needs to be babyproofed: she will go directly for cords and electrical outlets, but so far hasn’t shown any interest in opening cabinets.

>Enjoys pulling things out, like books off the shelves, chip bags out of the pantry, and toys out of a basket. It keeps her occupied for a good while until she’s surrounded by a mound of stuff and gets stuck.

>Loves to be outside, and it will almost always calm her down or distract her. But we have to watch her closely because she has already had a choking incident involving a piece of grass.

>Immediately starts making noise if you bounce her up and down. Other favorite games include being turned upside down or held up in the air, pattycake, and playing “Where’s Mermaid?”

>Always has a big smile for me when I open the door to get her out of her car seat.

>Waves at herself in the mirror almost every morning, and is waving to people much more now, although it isn’t always consistent. She also gives me hugs, and I think she might even know what the word means. We’re working on it.

>Drinks three 4 oz bottles of breast milk at daycare, plus two meals of baby food – cereal and fruit for breakfast, and vegetable for lunch. Then she nurses once when she gets home, once before bed, usually once during the night and again in the early morning. On the weekends it’s more relaxed – more nursing, more random foods that we are eating. As you can see, she is well fed.

>Has such long and shaggy hair on top that it looks like she’s wearing a toupee. But I still have to leave it down for daycare otherwise she’ll pull the tie out and try to eat it.

>Wears almost all twelve month clothes now.

>Has had constant congestion for the past few weeks. I’m not sure if it’s a lingering cold or just allergies, but David and I have it too.

>Definitely knows her name and I think she even understands when we tell her “no.”

>Smiles easily, but doesn’t laugh often so it’s the best thing ever when she does. I never know what is going to set her off (most recently it was me sucking her fingers) and the same thing never works twice.

I:

>Know her first birthday is still three months away, but I can’t help stressing about her party already anyway. All I want is something simple, cute, and fun. Preferably with mermaids.

>Have been consistently running 3 times a week with Meredith in the jogging stroller (she’s used to it now), and cooking 2-3 times a week as well.

>Went a long time without buying her clothes because of gifts and hand-me-downs, but she’s outgrowing those and now I buy her a little something almost every time I’m out shopping.

>Am stressed because Meredith’s pediatrician is closing her practice and cancelled our 9-month well baby checkup at the last minute. I picked a random new doctor at a large local practice and we’re going in on Monday, but I’m worried that I won’t like her or that we won’t get the personal service that we’re used to.

>Adore all of Meredith’s sounds: her machine-like noises when she’s nursing, all her little snuffles and grunts when she wakes up in the morning, her loud breathing when she’s concentrating, and of course her babbles and laughs.

>Have been struggling with how much time Meredith spends in daycare. We know there are some benefits and we’re trying to focus on those, but it’s not what we really want. For now we’re trying hard to pay off some debts so working part-time will be an option for me one day.

>Noticed recently that Meredith is developing calluses on her knees and it makes me so sad! Her perfect soft baby skin is toughening up. There’s a metaphor in here somewhere.

For reference:

No months
One month
Two months
Three months
Four months
Five months
Six months
Seven months
Eight months