Riley {Eight Month Update}

Have nearly three quarters of a year really gone by since Riley was born?  Shouldn't I be used to this now?  Well, guess what - I'm not.  I don't think I'll ever get over how fast time goes by!

Key words to describe Riley this month:

• Playful.  Riley loves to play on the floor with her toys.  One of her favorite things to do is to play with blocks.  I build towers, and Riley knocks them down.  I put a block on her head, Riley vigorously shakes it off.  I perch a block outside of her elephant, which has circle, square, and triangle cutouts, and Riley pushes it in.  I give her toys while she's in her high chair, Riley throws them onto the floor.  You can tell she's starting to do things for a reaction and she loves to make us laugh!
• Transparent.  When Riley decided no more reclining in her sling in the bath, she made it known.  When Riley wants to be picked up, she makes it known.  Her cues are so clear these days, you're never left wondering if she's hungry, sleepy, or bored.  Riley lets you know, and she lets you know quickly.
• Mobile.  Again this month, no crawling.  But Riley can go from a sitting position to laying on the floor in the blink of an eye.  And once she's done that, it's a few quick flips from back to front before she's gotten herself close to whatever she wanted in the first place.  Who needs crawling?  

Riley had her six month checkup a month ago (a little late due to weather and the doctor's scheduling), and it was glowing.  She's a healthy little chub who's progressing just like she should.  The doctor wasn't worried at all about her lack of teeth and slowness to crawl.  And he reassured us that the dry, red skin she's had on her back for a few weeks is eczema.  We're trying some cream by California Baby and have had great results.

Riley has added peas, plums and peaches to her solid food repertoire, and I really owe you a post on baby food making.  We've homemade 100% of the food she's eaten, and I'm planning on starting meats next week!  It makes us feel wonderful to be able to have control over what she's consuming, and it's motivated Ryan and I to make sure we and Alli are eating better too.

I love that she's starting to do things just to get reactions.  She knocks things over when we're playing just so I will laugh or build it again.  I have a hilarious video of her shaking her head every time I put a block on her head, and you can tell she's doing it just to make me laugh.  This kid has personality for days, and I'm in love with her giggle.  It's turned into a belly laugh!!

Happy eight months to my little love bug!!