8 Months

- 17lbs 4 oz (we think, she sucked down a huge bottle right before they weighed her)

- We are buying size 3 diapers in bulk (thanks Amazon) and 6-9 month cloths are best.

- Eating 5 bottles a day, with cereal at noon and a veggie mixture and cereal at night. She pretty much will eat anything we put in front of her. Bottles are 7:15 am, 10:30 am, 1:30 pm, 4:45 pm, and 7:00pm. This month we started transitioning Anna Grace from breast milk to formula. We started her with a couple ounces and then slowly have been switching out one bottle each week from milk to formula. She had no issues with it at all.

- We've tried giving AG Puffs, the little crackers that dissolve instantly. She doesn't love them, mostly she is confused on what to do with them. She likes picking them up and holding them in her hands.

- Columbia got a little snow, and by little I mean flurries. We broke out her monogrammed snowsuit from Andy's mom and took a couple pictures. AG wasn't thrilled with the suit, but she looked so cute.

- We decided to buy an exersaucer after seeing how much AG loved the one at daycare. She plays really well with all the different activities and can turn herself around to reach everything. It's been a lifesaver, since it's really the only place we can put her down and know she won't move.

- Anna Grace has both her bottom front teeth and from the amount of drool lately we think the top ones will come in shortly.

- We had a playdate with her friend Emma Grace. My friend Katie and I had our daughters a week apart and we are determined that they will be besties. They don't quite play together but it was so cute to see them interact a little bit. Plus it gave the moms a chance to catch up. Win Win!

- People cannot get over AG's hair. It's light brown/dark blonde, depending on the light, and is super fine and soft. I play with it constantly and have been known to nuzzle her head, which of course she hates.

- I call Anna Grace's hair the Kate Gosselin look, it's swept to the side in the front and sticks up in the back, no matter what I do. The hair bands just didn't look right so I switched to no-slip bows. I got them for under a $1 each so it's okay if they get lost. I've been shocked to see that AG really doesn't mess with the bows at all.

- I had a bridal shower to go to in Greenville so Andy had baby all to himself. People seemed to be shocked that I would leave Anna Grace with him for that long, but honestly he is so good with her and I wasn't worried at all. I checked in a couple times because I was missing them both though.

- We have had a couple trips to the pediatrician lately. Anna Grace is battling the same nasal congestion/runny nose/cough that everyone has at the moment. It doesn't help that our weather ranges from 30 degrees to 70 degrees within a couple days. Our latest trip was on Valentine's Day after two nights of coughing in her sleep and not keeping food down. (Middle of the night baths and laundry is no fun!) She ended up having a double ear infection, but thankfully the medicine has already started working.

- Bath time is definitely a favorite in our house. Andy will feed her dinner, while I get the bathroom warmed up and the tub and towels ready. Anna Grace would pretty much stay in the bath as long as we would let her. She sits up the whole time and plays with the washcloths and a couple rubber toys. As weird as this sounds I've been using our dog washing shower hose to wash her off and she loves it. I've been trying to get her use to water on her face and she doesn't seem to mind at all. I think swim lessons are in her future.

- Anna Grace hates being held like a baby now. She wants to the sitting up or even better standing. If you try to hold her like a baby she will dig her elbow into your crest and pull herself into a sitting position. This includes when she is exhausted and is being put to bed. She has no interest in laying down in our arms.

- She still isn't crawling but she is soooo close. She can get mostly on all fours from a sitting position, but she can't get her feet from under her. She usually flops onto her belly, which she hates, and rolls to her back immediately. We can't get her to stay on her belly for anything. When she moves around, which is most of the time, she rolled there.

- We can hold AG's hands and she'll pull herself into a standing position. She hasn't pulled up on furniture or anything yet, but I have a feeling it's coming.

- She is so curious. She is into everything and desperately wants our phones and the remote. We are going to do our best to keep both out of her hands as long as possible. She loves anything that makes noise like paper and ziploc bags.

- Anna Grace can visibly recognize me, Andy, my mom, and Camden now. She'll get a huge smile on her face if she sees any of us, even if it's from across the room. She'll turn around if she hears our voices as well.

- She loves to wave. Andy worked pretty hard with her and now she does the cutest wave to everyone. When we left dayschool the other day she and another baby were waving back and forth and it was so cute.

- Andy has a super early business meeting on Tuesday mornings so he doesn't get to see Anna Grace at all before he leaves. I started making it a point to send him a picture on those mornings and it's become a favorite activity of mine. I get to really dress her up and we have a whole photo shoot, which she doesn't love as much as I do. It's a great reminder to take pictures since she is growing so fast.

Random things that have been around for a long time that I haven't mentioned.:
- Andy has always given AG Eskimo kisses. I can't wait for the day when she'll do it back to him.

- Her dayschool teachers say she is the easiest baby to put down for a nap. If she starts rubbing her eyes they put her in her crib and that's it.

- Baby girl is a hard sleeper and can sleep through almost anything. Her nursery is right off the kitchen so she hears us use the microwave, put away dishes, etc and it's never been a problem.

- Wheels on the Bus has always soothed her if she is upset. Andy and I have had to get a little creative with the lyrics to extend the song sometimes though.

- Other favorite songs are Hokey Pokey, One little two little three little, and especially the Skinamarinky dinky dink (from the Elephant Show).

7 Months

- Weighs 16 lbs 10 oz (50%)

- Wearing size 3 diapers and 6 month and 6-9 months clothes.

- On December 22 Anna Grace tried vegetables for the first time. We started with squash, then carrots, both of which were hit. We then did peas, which she ate, but didn't love, and then mixed vegetables. We also tried oatmeal, which she doesn't like as much as rice cereal.

- Still getting 5 bottles of 5 oz with one veggie and one tablespoon of cereal each night.

- I experimented and made a bunch of baby food for Anna Grace. I steamed a ton of organic carrots and peas and then pureed them in the blender. I froze everything in ice cube trays and then stuck everything in freezer bags. It was honestly a lot easier than I thought, although it took an afternoon.

- On January 1 Andy taught AG how to wave. She does what we call the royal wave, with just the fingers, starting from the pinky up. It's a little hit or miss to get her to wave back to us, but it's so cute to watch.

- She can, finally, put her pacifier in her mouth by herself. It's really neat to watch her work it around to get it right side up and then she just pops it right in. It seems like such a grown up thing to do.

- She can sit up without assistants for 10 minutes +. Even our pediatrician was super impressed by her stability. (PS I don't think there is anything better than a doctor complimenting your baby.)

- With Anna Grace's bedtime schedule starting at 6:00 pm we couldn't get to our regular 9:00 pm Christmas Eve service. So we went to the Children's Service at 5:00pm. We got her all dressed up and in the nursery not realizing that most people kept their babies with them and the service was only 30 minutes long. Oh well, just meant we got to Nana's house earlier for dinner.

- Andy and I were very adamant Anna Grace wake up in her house on Christmas morning. So we opened family presents and had coffee and just enjoyed out little family of three + Camden. Then we went over to my Mom's for brunch and more presents.

- The day after Christmas we drove up to Maryland to see Andy's family. We left at 4:00 AM, after our Christmas tree fell at 11:00 PM the night before, and after 10 hours of driving, 3 feedings, 3 pumping sessions, and a million diaper changes we finally made it. We stayed for 5 days and saw tons of family and friends. AG loved all the attention, but hated all the time in the carseat. We decided to leave at 8 PM on the last day to test driving through the night. It was definitely easier since AG slept the whole time, but boy was it hard on Andy and I. Thankfully, baby's school was open the next day so we could unpack the car and nap the whole next day.

- On January 8 we first spotted her bottom front teeth. They are coming in super slow but they are there.

- She had a terrible stuffy nose, which caused a cough, and then an ear infection. I'm thinking we should just go ahead and buy amoxicillin in bulk now. Unfortunately she always a fussy eater when she is sick, which is frustrating.

- For the first time the baby brought home a virus, and it was a big one. I woke up early Friday morning with a strong dose of what we think was the rotavirus. If you've never heard of it, thank your lucky stars. It was awful, and my mother and brother got it too. Somehow, thankfully, Andy wasn't affected and was able to stay home with the baby while I took three days to recover, Hands down, one of the hardest things I've gone through.

- I realized there were a couple things that AG has done for ages but haven't mentioned:

* She loves to touch faces, like all the time. Even when her hands are super slobbery. It's like she is memorizing what we all look like.

* She always crosses her feet while she eats. Her doctor says it's to help her balance. I think it's her being a lady. ;)

* As soon as we stopped swaddling AG she started sleeping on her side and stomach. As soon as we put her in the crib so rolls to her side, just like her mama.