Caroline is 8 months

Can you believe I am so big already?



Cute little smile with squinty eyes and a wrinkled nose. She reminds me of the way Rylan smiled when he was about her age.

I was feeding Caroline her breakfast the other morning and accidentally left the bowl within reach on her tray. When I turned around, I found her quite pleased with her messy attempts to feed herself!

My baby girl turned 8 months on Friday and is officially forwardly mobile. She took her first crawling "steps" a few weeks ago and has been gaining speed and distance ever since. She is also already interested in the stairs, especially the low one leading to the wood floor in our entry way. She camps out over there and you can see how hard she is trying to figure out how to scale that ledge. I love that I can sit on the floor with both kids and within just a few moments look down at Caroline's smiling face and feel her trying to scramble into my lap. She is definitely a mama's girl right now and doesn't like to be in anyone else's arms but mine.
I am experiencing the first trials of sibling squabbles as she can now reach and grab Rylan's toys, knock over his towers, and wreak all other kinds of havoc. Rylan also seems to think she is now big enough to wrestle with him and I am constantly having to referee his grappling, tackles, and "head bucks" (head butts). Most of the time he is just being playful, but he doesn't know his own strength. Caroline is also a pretty good sport about it, because she adores her brother, but I know it can turn ugly in just the blink of an eye.
Caroline is a great eater and in addition to nursing 4 times a day, she eats three big meals. She can feed herself animal crackers, a messy, but yummy treat after dinner and she is learning how to drink from a sippy cup. She still just has the two bottom teeth and loves to test their sharpness, much to my discomfort while feeding her. She sleeps 11-12 hours at night most of the time and naps for about an hour in the morning and sometimes up to 2 hours in the afternoon, but is much more unpredictable in her sleep patterns.
It is fun to see her personality emerging more each week. Caroline is more vocal and intense when she is upset about something. She has a strong set of pipes and her screams can shred your nerves and bring on an instant headache! Unfortunately, I reinforce it by picking her up a lot of times because it is so painful to hear and I don't want her to wake up her sleeping brother. She has definitely learned a sure-fire way to get noticed. Even Rylan says, "No screaming, Caroline." When she is not screaming, which really isn't that often, she is so much fun. She loves to swing at the park, be tickled on her belly, and laugh at her brother's antics, especially splashing in the tub with him. Caroline is such a delight and a blessing to our family.