Team Barron: Adeline is 8 months old!

Miss Adeline Hendry Barron,

You are 8 months old! Wow. You are showing so many signs of growing up already, but you are still my little baby doll. You are about 20 pounds, wear a size 5 diaper and 9-12m clothing. Your hair is thicker and your eyes are slowing turning a hazel shade. Your mouth went through a growth spurt and you got 4 teeth at one time. They never seemed to bother you, but you chewed on ANYTHING you could get your hands on.

We nicknamed you "Busy Body." You NEVER STOP MOVING and love to explore anything in your path. We wish you were a cuddler, but you are not. We aren't complaining, but it would be heavenly to snuggle up with you when you are still....but you are rarely still! You are so curious about the world and talk to things, study objects, and bang around to hear what things do. The only time I seem to snuggle is when I hold you and bounce you around to help you fall asleep for daytime naps. You'll drift off and put your head on my shoulder and believe me, I relish it. I hold you for a long while because I know it's the only time you'll be still in my arms.

You are still a fantastic eater and enjoy every jar of baby food that I have given you. I decided to give you the Stage 3 baby food now that you have so many teeth to help you chomp! You usually tell me you are hungry by smacking your lips together. It's really cute and funny too. You are a big fan of puff cereal, yogurt melts and your favorite - the ol' graham cracker. I think William might give you a run for your money on the graham crackers. I can't seem to stock enough of them. I also started giving you water in a sippy cup and you figured out how to suck on the cup quickly. You like water and take several big swigs when I offer it.

Adeline, you are ON THE MOVE NOW! You want to crawl SO BADLY and get up on all fours only to crash land on your belly. So, you figured out how to roll around rooms to get what you want. It's pretty impressive to watch and slowly but surely, you are gaining ground on the crawling concept. You reach out for things and if you cannot roll towards them, you swim on your belly until you reach the object.

And the big news - YOU SAID MAMA!!! YIPEE! Be still my heart! Dada was holding you and you reached out to me and said, "MaaaaaMaaaaa!" I was so excited and very proud of my love bug!

You learned to play peek-a-boo and will initiate the game whenever you find something to cover your eyes. We'll ask, "Where's Adeline?" and right on cue you pull the blanket off your face and bust out laughing. Simply precious.

Dada taught you how to wave by waving back at you in a mirror. This is a game you guys like to play every morning before Dada leaves for work. If someone waves at you, it takes a second to register, but you wave back with a big smile on your face. Clapping is another milestone that you almost have figured out.

Your sleeping patterns at night are great. You seem to know it's night time and dive towards your bed when I take you upstairs for your nightly bottle. You rarely finish the bottle and many times I put you in bed awake. You roll on your side, put your blanket by your neck, hold a pacifier in each hand and fall fast asleep. You look like a precious sleeping angel. Like clockwork, you are exhausted by 6pm. You sleep soundly from about 6pm until 4/4:30am. If I give you a small drink of milk, you will usually snooze until 5am. But, that is about as long as you go. So, Dada and I have learned to appreciate starting our days at 5am. YIKES but we wouldn't have it any other way. You wake up so happy, full of hugs and you have LOTS to say. Mornings are some of my most favorite moments with you. It's a peaceful time of day - just you and me downstairs in a quiet house. We chit chat and play peek-a-boo.

Naps are tricky these days. We take William to school and pick him up at the peak nap time. So, you tend to nap in the car. It's not ideal, but it's the only option so I roll with it. That said, it makes your daytime naps in the crib SO HARD. You just don't want to do it and it's mostly because you nap in the car. Hopefully, as you get bigger the nap times might change and we can adjust them around the school schedule.

You love your Dada so much. He's the first word you said out loud and when he walks in a room, your head spins around and you belly laugh. He brings you so much excitement. He has introduced you to the ceiling fan, flies you around the room like an airplane (you beam with a smile, laugh and kick your legs) and plays with your Gymboree puppet. You LOVE LOVE LOVE puppets. It's adorable to watch your eyes and your big smile when you see a puppet. You reach out and touch the puppet, give him a hug and are truly mesmerized by his song and dance.

And William. Oh William. How he ADORES you. He tells me every day how thankful he is that "I went to the hospital and got you." He's proud to be a big brother and he watches out for you all the time. He wants you to discover the world with him and he's the first person to ask for seconds for his little sister. He can make you laugh in a way Dada and Mama cannot. You follow him like a hawk and you know when we are about to pick him up from school. You wave your feet around in your carseat and scream when he gets in the car. More often than not, he'll reach for your hand and hold it the whole way home.