Brylee's 8 Months

Today, we celebrate the same amount of time that Brylee has been outside the womb as she did inside. (Technically she spent 36 weeks in the womb, but has now been on this earth for 34 1/2 weeks, but we'll look past all of that confusion...)

Cary and I were reminiscing the other night about how much Brylee has changed since she was born...just imagine how much she had changed and grown while in the womb!

These days she is thisclose to crawling, I think she just tells herself that she cannot do it and sits back up. But she is most certainly mobile, rolling all over the place...just maybe not in the direction she wants to go...She also tries to pull herself up on anything she can get her little hands on. A little harder on the leather sofa, but our jeans give her the perfect grip!

Food wise, she has been on Similac Sensitive since about 2 months old, mainly because we started her on formula from the beginning that gave extra calories for her preemie body, and then the sensitive formula because she acted like she had an upset tummy. We are now going to attempt to transition her to Similac Advanced because we found it for a better deal at Sam's...so here's to hoping!

Also regarding food, we have been really slow on the solids, mostly because of her seeming to have a sensitive gag reflex and also problems with constipation. But she is now on Stage 2 foods, and doing really well. Here is a breakdown of what she has had and her response:

Green Peas--did not like at first, but has grown to appreciate them
Carrots--still loves!
Sweet Potatoes--I think these are her favorites...don't blame her...
Bananas--she likes them, but they aren't really her favorite
Garden Veggies--likesSquash--yum! (that's not my daughter...)
Prunes--same as Bananas, but it took a while (and lots of prune juice) for her to accept
Peaches--same as Bananas
Wild Blueberries and Pear--yum!
Cinnamon Raisin Granola--yum!
Apple Banana Strawberry mixture--yum!
Macaroni and Cheese with Veggies--yum!
Green Beans--same as Green Peas...
Turkey in Turkey Broth--NOT AT ALL!
Watermelon--YUCK! (you should see her face when you try to give this to her!)
Cantalope--same as Watermelon. I think she doesn't mind the juice, just not the texture
Crackers--liked, until she tried to swallow a bit just a little big...then see this post.
Cheerios--has grown to appreciate, but still loves to fling them everywhere

She loves the water (see picture above), and one of our favorite activities is to fill the sink with water and let her splash around. I like to let Cary bathe her for the reasons of:
1) I tend to get a little nervous with water
2) more so, it is great father/daughter time. He loves to let her splash and play with her toys

Her skin is looking excellent, perhaps due to the summer heat and humidity. We aren't drenching her in lotion as much as we had to in the winter time, except for the couple of problem areas (her chin and some creases on her legs). It would be wonderful if we didn't have to do it so much in the winter, but I guess we'll see!

Last weekend, we think she gave us the 'milk' sign, so this week I have been working on signing more words (eat, colors, ball, animals), as well as working with the completed flashcards I have (well, somewhat completed. They have pictures attached...but most do not have the Spanish/French translation). I know that sounds like a lot, and I'm not trying to push all of it on her, but I want to learn as well, so we are going with what she tells me. So far, she has a lot of interest in the pictures and signing!

And her teething? Just a tease. No luck for this little one to have her first tooth appearance. Though there have been signs off and on, nothing just yet. And we thought she was going to be an early teether!

This last month at home with her has been so much fun, and I love watching her grow just before my eyes. We are all learning together everyday. This eight month update has so much to share!