Sorraya: 8 Months

Eight months old!!

Smiley! That is what most people describe Sorraya as. Strangers or friends. It is no secret she loves to smile! And thank goodness for those smiles! They are reminders of God's grace! She is a go-with-the-flow kinda gal. Curious about what's going on around her and along-for-the-ride. She has such a sweet personality, although some feistiness is starting to show. Sorraya is fairly predictable and easy to please. She is a busy little thing. Always moving and squirming. She loves to kick her legs and twirl her feet in circles. Her hands are very involved. Always grabbing or touching something in front of her, or just having them up and ready for the next task. She is not one to cuddle much, but likes to be in the action and seeing what is going on. She has been scooting around on her arms and pushing with her feet this past month. She has no problem getting to where she wants to go. When she see's something she likes and wants to get her hands on, she is determined. When Chris sits in the recliner with the foot rest up, she always goes for the tag that is under there. She also loves the computer cord and getting in-between the table and couch. All those places mentioned are ones she is pulled away from. She will try to go back... very small amounts of discipline have begun! She will get frustrated sometime and just stop moving and lay on her belly with her hands and feet up off the ground and just "fly" or "swim" and whine till she gets some help. We bought a baby gate this month, so that should tell you how she is getting along. She has mastered the army crawl. She now gets up on her hands and knees and starts rock back and forth. She will even make an arch with her body and be up on her hands and her tip toes. Right before she turned 8 months, while in Duluth, she crawled on her hands and knees a number of times. She loves grass! She will scoot over to it and just play with it and try to eat it. Sorraya found the door stops in our house and loves to make them rattle. She has found pretty much everyone in the house at some point. She loves Ryken's cars and enjoys chewing on them. When she is in her car seat, she will have the chew bead necklace and she will just chatter away as she chews. It's sweet to hear. Sorraya has a time at night that if she is in the car, no one can talk...she just screams. It is around 7:30 and later. So we try to avoid that as much as possible. Other than that time, she is an excellent rider in her seat in the car. She loves her dad's beard. She often has one or both hands on it when she is in his arms. She loves it when dad plays with her. Thrown in the air, tickled, kissed on and just loved on in general. She swung in a swing the first time this month and just loved it! She was smiling and twirling her feet around in circles. She just sat so relaxed and was content. Sorraya still spits up plenty, and now that she us scooting around, she plays in it and smears it all around. Sorraya got to hear her first marching band this month. She was fascinated with the grass around and then heard the music and looked up right away and watched. Sorraya likes to lay in the spots on the floor where the sun shine through the window. Sorraya doesn't really care to be  corralled in toys. We have an Exersaucer that she will sit in for the max of 10 minutes most days. Same with the Johnny Jump up...she would just rather be moving around. But then she will sit in the bumbo better than the other too. It all depends on how much is going on around to keep her distracted. She likes to be in the action. Sorraya got to ride on a train for the firs time. She also experienced sand at the beach for the first time. She played with a balloon this month and enjoyed that to its fullest! The Ergo carrier is a big hit for Sorraya. She enjoyed it and likes to peak out and see what is around...as well as she will nap quite easily in there when the time is right.

Sorraya tried some baby oatmeal as well as some mashed banana for the first time this month. She loved the oatmeal the first time. She smiled after the first bite. She devoured it. Cried in between bites because it was taking "too long". The rest of the times we have tried it have't been as successful. The banana was enjoyable to her, but she does't keep much in her mouth. So half way through the month, we stopped feeding her any solids. We will try again soon. She still is nursing full time. Every 2-4 hours. 

Sorraya is still a good sleeper. Fully unswaddled. She goes to bed around 8-8:30 at night. She likes to sleep on her side and then usually ends up on her stomach at some point. She will sleep with her bum in the air too. She will get up 1 or 2 times in the night to eat. She has gotten up a handful of time in the middle of the night, wide awake, and will not go back to sleep. I usually come down stairs and let her play for an hour and then she will eat and sleep again. But we are working on that to stop. We don't want her to get into that habit. Night time is for sleeping. She wakes up anywhere from  7:30-9:00 in the morning. Ryken and I love to go get her in the morning. We are greeted with smiles most mornings. She naps in the morning a few mornings a week... unpredictable when, just that it will happen some mornings. She then takes a nap in the early afternoon when Ryken goes down as well. And just as the morning nap is, she will have a early evening nap on occasion. She is quick to fall asleep in the car when we drive. 

She is 15 lbs 3 oz and is 25 inches long.

She is a joy and a delight! We are thankful for our healthy, sweet, smiley little girl!