8 months

As quickly as these months are slipping by, she's going to be nine months old before I get to her 8 month update. So here we go. At 8 months, Amelia:

• can crawl, but still isn't that intersted in crawling to get around. If there's a toy or something out of her reach that she wants, she'll crawl over to get it or whine until I get it for her. She is much more interested in pulling up, and lately she's been testing herself to see how long she can stand without holding onto something. I'm afraid walking is not far away for her.


• loves to eat! Squash still seems to be her favorite, but she loves almost all baby food. She gets so excited and kicks her legs when the spoon is coming for her.


• is a dream to bring to restaurants now that she is old enough for little puffs cereal. She loves being able to feed herself. We just pour some onto her high chair and let her go to town while we enjoy our meals. We had to start being bigger tippers because sometimes more ends up on the floor than in her mouth


• has a temper and has mastered the art of throwing a fit! I better go ahead and order Dr. Dobson's books now. I think I'll start with The Strong Willed Child.


• is understanding the meaning of "NO" and has decided she's not a fan. Oh my.


• Still loves her bath, and tries to be a daredevil and stand up in the tub. We've already had lots of head bumps.


• just loves her Daddy and lights up when he walks in a room.


• is pretty crazy about Mama too, and the three of us have so much fun together.


• is getting tough to handle sometimes with that temper and a newfound hatred of sleeping, but most of the time she is an absolute joy. Her little personality is really coming out, and we couldn't be more thrilled to have this silly, funny, high maintenence, happy girl in our lives!

And now a few photos. Here she is enjoying her new maracas and wearing the pretty Mexican dress we brought her back from our trip.

Doing what she does best. Testing what she can do and scaring her mama to death!

Did you notice the biggest new development of all???? She is getting hair! Those bows can finally stay in without a headband! Her hair is so light, it's hard to see in photos. I'm not sure if it's going to be red like mine, or dark blonde like Cliff's. Both of us were blonde as children, so it's a toss-up. I do think it might be curly. It's so cute when she gets hot, and it starts to curl (and frizz) up like her mama's.

Looking cute in her very first t-shirt, ha. Aunt Mare brought this back from Destin. She was too busy to let me get a good pic.

She had some special visitors this weekend. Uncle Chris and Aunt Kathryn were in town!

Aunt Ann also came in from Texas for a visit.

Then Sunday night another special guest stopped by, Amelia's big sister, Taylor! Did you guys not know that Amelia is not our first child? She's actually our third, after Cash and Tay. Taylor was a student at Mississippi School of the Arts last year, and we served as her host family. We loved having her around as we got ready to welcome Amelia into the world. Even though Amelia kicked Tay out of her old room, she still loves her. We were so glad she was able to come meet her.

And I have to be a proud "host mama" and brag on Taylor. She graduated first in her class and will be going to Ole Miss in the fall on a full scholarship. She is an awesome girl, and we know she's going to do great things!

So that's the latest on our 8 month old. Less than 4 months now until she's one! Yikes! Gotta start planning that birthday party!