Marissa at 6-8 months

At 6 months old, Marissa had just learned to sit.  We would sit behind her to "spot" her in case she fell over, like Addisyn is doing here with her legs:

This girl was Dr. Cohen's little superstar at her 6 month well-visit.  I was probably playing peek-a-boo behind the camera to get her to smile so big. 

At 7 months she was more stable, but I still try to give her a safety net like this giant stuffed animal when we were at the library.

Teeth! Teeth!  I first saw her two bottom teeth at her gum line a week before 7 months.  This picture was a week later where they are clearly through, but you probably have to zoom in on the picture to see.  She bit Addisyn's thumb (that's what she gets for putting it in there) and gnaws on plastic toys endlessly. 

Marissa figured out she can tip the toy box over, which can keep her busy for a while.  This is a good thing because it means my left arm and hip get a break from holding her and I can tend to other household duties. 

Since she wasn't drinking much water from the bottle (and I took her sippys away after realizing they taught her to clamp her jaw down *ouch*), we tried drinking straight from a regular cup--FIRST introduced at 7 mo and 1 week.  I just have to tip a bit in so it catches in her mouth like a cup then swallow, otherwise her tongue pushes it all out and down her chin...tricky since she wants to hold the cup too.

Eating Gerber puffs--her FIRST finger food introduced at 7.5 months.  At 8 months, at least more go in her mouth than the bib or her seat.  In this picture, she knows one is in her hand, but she doesn't know it is in her fist and that sucking on her fingers won't get it out.

In the bouncy with mom--the bouncy is fun as long as mom is holding her.

Driving mom's car--oh she liked that a little too much.

...and driving the boat. When she was 7.5 months, we took the boat out to El Capitan lake.  As long as we held her up so her legs were extended and the life jacket wouldn't end up in her mouth or above her chin, then she was HAPPY!

Babies are so cute when they're sleeping too.  Marissa likes the orthodontic pacifier (I replaced all the straight Soothie paci's) and I use it as her cue at nap and bed times.  She also really likes the little bunny she got from my mom on Easter, and cuddles with it almost every night.

While Marissa keeps a fairly reliable daily sleep schedule, I am thankful for her flexibility since we are frequently on the go and have not had a consistent routine all summer.  She didn't quite make it to naptime this day, so she just fell asleep on Aunt Stacy at Grandma Ann's house.  Stacy was happy.
At 8 months she is starting to transition to just 2 naps a day.  Until now, she took 3 short naps every day, and I would consider one hour a long nap for her. 

A visit to Aunt Marcy's house wouldn't be complete without visiting all her animals.  Good thing Ms. Coco was mellow, because Marissa touched her (wet, dirty) snout, and thought playing with her nipples was pretty cool.  She pet the dogs and a cat too. 

I think we have a picture of dad doing this with all the babies; standing on his hand is our family tradition!  

In these two months, Marissa has grown two teeth and about two pounds in weight.  She loves looking in the mirror and knows when you are making a funny face.  She actively observes the world around her and doesn't like to nap when there is something new and exciting going on.  She seems to be understanding some spoken words, and I am working on using hand signs for basic words (more, eat, all done, please, thank you).  She is learning to wave by opening and closing her fingers--sometimes it is involuntary, but she did it back to me and I think she might be doing it for "all done" too.  She puts her arms up for me to pick her up and knows how to pull her arms center-and-up to get out of the carseat harness straps.  She can scoots around a bit on her bum or tummy or back, but she is not on the move yet.  She can roll over, but hasn't quite got the strength or technique consistently.  That's okay, because I'm apparently procrastinating baby-proofing the house.  It just means I go keep changing her surroundings or position to keep life interesting for her.  She doesn't like being left alone for too long at a time.

FIRSTs these months include: eating yogurt, oatmeal, spinach, and finger food, drinking from a real cup,  boat ride, beach, kids club at the gym, and a sleepover. 

Of all the exciting things that have been going on, I think I am most excited that Marissa's FIRST sleepover--away from home and away from me--went very well!  Grammy Susan took all three girls one night so I could go to an evening meeting, and Marissa slept all night long and was good for Grammy.  I missed feeling her baby soft skin at bedtime and felt oddly empty in the morning, but I was able to accomplish a lot in that time so it was good.




At nearly 8 months, Marissa discovered leaves on the grass by pulling over our picnic blanket.  The feeling of the grass bothered her at first, but then she started picking at it and found a leaf she tried to eat.  I like looking at her baby fingers in this first one:

Marissa loves swimming, but due to our schedule this day she enjoyed Grma Ann's lap, jealous of her sisters swimming in the clubhouse pool. 

To compensate that night, I let her play in the kitchen sink for bath (while I washed dishes on the other side of the sink).


Addisyn and Piper are still doting big sisters and try to give her twenty-million kisses at bedtime.

I bid you good night as I finish this blog at the peaceful 1am hour.