What?

Eight months you say? What's the big deal? I mean, 7 was exciting, but 8- just another stop on the road of babyhood.

What's new?? Let's see...well, here is an example of one of my favorite activities- reading. I figured since I'm learning a few languages (Italian, by the way, is not one of them) I would just brush up on conjugations and such, I mean, there's nothing worse than an 8 month old with less than perfect grammar. I have masted the art of reading via osmosis so I just knock these books down and sit surrounded by them and viola! This is a daily ritual while mommy works on the computer. My other favorite things: baths, cell phones, pens (only with supervision), blocks, remote controls and my Fisher-Price sing-a-long/mirror toy that my Tia Tiff got me for Christmas!

I am getting quite good at sitting up by myself, crawling and pulling up on furniture. I am chatting up a storm, although still mostly mimicking the cadence of speech. I do babble a little, I say ba-ba-ba-ba, ra-ra-ra-ra and wa-wa-wa-wa as far as mommy and daddy can tell. No ma-ma or da-da yet, but they sure are pushing it!

Mommy has added lots of new stuff to my menu including: Apricots, avocados, nectarines, papaya, peaches, yellow squash, zucchini, tofu, cottage cheese, whole wheat bread, sweet potato puffs (thanks to Aunt Barbie), Cheerios and egg yolks. I love them all and the only thing we think might possibly be causing a reaction is the papaya. I seem to turn bright red every time I eat it-no fever or anything- just red. Needless to say, we've decided to hold off on that one for a while.

My schedule is relatively the same- Eat, play, sleep, repeat. I am down to 2 naps a day and four bottles (although the last 2 are only half the amount of formula because I eat all that delicious food in between). I now get my bedtime bottle before my bath so that mommy and daddy can brush my teeth- this had been a difficult adjustment to make, but I am doing better. The good news is that I love having my teeth brushed, of course as much as I love things in my mouth, this should come as no surprise.

My bestest friend is my Mulligan but I am starting to really interact with other babies as well. Mommy takes me to a daycare at the gym just for an hour or so a few times a week and I really enjoy the other kids. I am starting to develop a personality and expressions all my own. Mommy and Daddy say that every day I am becoming less of a baby and more of a kid!