Looking Up: Vivian Paige: 8 months

3.3.2015

8 months!

Well this has been a busy month! A lot of firsts, adventures and exciting surprises!

We started off the month with a visit from Vivian's Great Grandma Nonie and her Great Aunt Lauri. It means so much to me to have Vivian spend time with these 2 women. I spent practically everyday of my life (up until I went off to college) with my Nonie and I believe she is partially responsible for who I am today. She taught me how to be a strong, smart and independent woman and allowed me to explore my love for fashion and beauty at a VERY young age....yes, I was french braiding my hair, wearing make-up and accessorizing in preschool!... I probably need to channel that inner fashionista again (for myself that is, Viv's style is always on point ;). Anyway, I digress... bottom line, Nonie has been an incredible influence on me and I hope I can be half that for Vivian. Watching Vivian and Nonie together just warms my heart. As for my Aunt Lauri, well she was raised by Nonie so that should speak for itself. She's also the first in our family to get a masters degree and that strongly influenced me to get (both of) my mine. Lots of awesome women in Viv's life! I'll be shocked if she grows up to be anything less than spectacular.

During her visit from Nonie and Lauri, Viv started to get sick for the first time :(. It started with pink eye, then a runny nose, fever, and cough. It turned out to be a virus (of course) so we just had to let it run its course. It lasted about a week and overall didn't really seem to phase her. Her runny nose and cough interrupted her sleep so she took extra naps, and she definitely wanted to cuddle more than usual, but other than that she acted like her normal sweet playful self. I, on the other hand, was definitely more dramatic. I was afraid she was going to have trouble sleeping the first night that it was really 'bad' so I climbed in her crib with her... she just wanted to play so I decided we could all just sleep like normal.... that is no sleep for me, great sleep for everyone else! She was all better by that Thursday/Friday.
My poor sick baby:(

Our next big adventure was our trip to Galveston. Adam had a 2 week TDY, so I thought it would be a good idea to drive down to Galveston to surprise my mom for her birthday and stay for a week or so. The surprise was great! The trip to Galveston was NOT! This was my first time to drive out of Tulsa with just Viv. Tulsa to Galveston is 8 hours so I decided to split it in 2 days. We left Thursday and headed for Dallas. That trip was great.... 4 hours, no traffic, 2 short stops, happy baby. We stayed the night with our friends and had a great little visit. The next morning I planned to go by the same schedule (head out after Viv's morning nap) because the last time I checked the weather it was supposed to start warming up by late morning (it had been cold/rainy/icy). Well, right before I put Viv down for her nap it started snowing!? I didn't think it would get that bad in 2 hours time so I made sure to leave by 11 (2 hours after the snow started). By the time I made it to downtown Dallas the roads were like driving on an ice skating rink!! In the thick of it (on a bridge I couldn't get off of) it took me 2 hours to go 2 miles and there was no turning back! It would have taken me just as long to get back to my friend's house as it would to keep going, so I decided to push on (at 20mph) and get the hell out of Dallas! 7 hours, only 3 20 minute naps, and a migraine later we made it to Galveston! NEVER again! Thankfully, our visit was really fun (and relaxing). We didn't do a lot other than visit with family and friends and eat lots of yummy food. On the way home, my sister joined me to help with the long car ride and visit with us a little longer. We made a pit stop in Gatesville to see Nonie again, and my Aunts Karen and Tracey. The trip home went much smoother and boy was it nice to be in my bed again!

Nonnie was so excited about her surprise birthday gift!:

Viv this month:

Her little personality is coming out more and more! It's so fun to watch! She is such a sweet natured and strong willed baby

We haven't measured or weighed her lately, but she is definitely growing! She's slimming up a little though since she's constantly on the move... I'm doing my best to keep those chubby thighs

Wearing 6-9 month clothes

Sleep just keeps getting better! She sleeps 6:30p-7a, naps 9-11 and 1-3. We dropped her 4pm nap and she seems to be doing great!

Still breast feeding like a champ and continuing baby led weaning. It has been a very slow process... some days she refuses solids all together and other days she eats a ton! She really likes an audience, so the more people who are around her the better she eats.. what a little ham! So far, she's had avocado, banana, broccoli, green beans, carrot, sweet potato, pear, mango, waffles, ham, tortillas (she's definitely a carb lover!)

New Milestones

-Pulling up and climbing on everything! She found the stairs :/

-I anticipate that she'll be walking by 9-10 months....
-She learned to give (big, wet, open mouthed) kisses... it's the sweetest thing!
-She has definitely learned object permanence (knowing things/people are still there even when they're hidden), stranger anxiety and separation anxiety

Likes (this month)

-Playing with toys with lights and sound, and that she can climb/stand on

-She LOVES dogs!!

-Her new favorite Song is "Do Re Mi"

-She likes to shake her head 'no' at everything

Dislikes (this month)

-Being told 'no'... so I've started to say 'let's not' instead, we'll see how long that lasts..

-Diaper changes

Viv's first snow!!