eight months

my dear ramona bean,

you gave me a helluva time getting good photos this month. you are moving and a-grooving. i couldn’t even make you smile bc you just wanted to stand and wiggle and scare me to death with your antics on the rocking chair. so, no more rocking chair.

you are an army-crawling machine! one day before you turned eight months old you got up on your hands and knees and did some “real” crawls but mostly you’re dragging yourself with your arms and pushing with all of your legs. it’s cute. and however you do it, you sure can get to where you want to. you’ve also started pulling yourself up onto low things. there’s a floor cushion/foot ottoman thingy we have and you snake your little belly and arms up onto that. and one morning last week i was taking a shower and you tried to crawl right in there with me. you also like to try and be like max by standing up at the couch or the coffee table. your legs are strong but you’re not entirely certain about the balance thing yet.

the fun surprise this month was the two little teeth that just seemed to pop up overnight. they suit your big-little grin so much, poking out from behind your lower lip. the buds arrived with little fanfare but something else in your mouth is sure making some commotion. you are obviously uncomfortable and your nose and mouth will not stop running (snot and drool, respectively). maybe your two top teeth are next?

also, suddenly, you seemed to show intertest in solid foods. we’ve reevaluated baby-food-making in the powerdriver kitchen and now just offer you whatever we’re eating. sometimes we mash it up or cut it into small pieces but you are just as content and skilled at scraping bits of fruit (apples and bananas and pears) off in your mouth from the larger chunk you hold. eating this way with you has encouraged papa and i to eat more whole foods — things we feel most comfortable offering your new, little belly. nona fed you almost an entire cup of kurdish lentil soup when we were visiting minneapolis. and you also gorged on pita and melitzana at anna’s. the night before we went to minnesota we went out for sushi with diri and dido and you ate everything we offered you including a teeny bit of wasabi!

the only things you absolutely won’t eat are applesauce (you crazy, lady) and anything pureed offered to you on a spoon. unless you have control of that spoon. avocado and peanut butter and the spicy tomato salsa from papa’s breakfast burrito at crema seem to be your favorite things this week.

you’re spunky. and i sense a little stubborn. you are spirited, extremely independent, and really tough. you are determined, content, and an excellent communicator. we are having so much fun.

love, mama.

see how she’s grown!: seven months, five months, three months, one month, one week.