Crosby Family Blog: Gwen is Eight Months Old!

At eight months old, Gwen is really moving up in the world! Her exersaucer had to be moved up a notch to accommodate her growing legs, and the side of her crib also had to be moved up a notch as she can now sit herself up. Gwen has pretty much mastered sitting up, going from sitting to laying, and then sitting up again. Initially she would only sit herself up when she didn't have her big diaper on, but now she's gotten the hang of working with the big diaper instead of letting it prevent her from reaching important developmental milestones.

Gwen also does this really neat move where she can pivot in the seated position. She places her hands right in front of her feet, leans forward on her hands, pushes a bit with her feet and lifts her bum. The little spot where her feet and hands are is the point she rotates around. It's neat and handy for getting to toys that are nearby without having to lay down to get them. Gwen is experimenting with being on her hands and knees, but she's not really crawling quite yet. She's doing some army crawling and other sorts of movements where she pushes herself along with her legs.

Some of Gwen's favorite playthings are paper, the telephone, a plastic serving spoon with a rubbery handle, the picture of Jacob and Rachel on the fridge, Dad's watch, a water bottle with a little water in it, her ricotta cheese cup, the pink monkey, and books. Gwen loves books. She loves to look at board books and turn the pages. When she is tired she turns them quite violently. She'll chew on a book if she gets the chance.

Gwen is getting really good about going down for her naps. She may talk to herself for a few minutes before falling asleep. She usually takes three naps a day ranging from forty five minutes to an hour and a half. At night she doesn't even want a lullaby anymore, she just reaches for her bed. She has slept through the night on and off, but most recently she has been getting up around 3am or 4am after going to bed at 7:30pm. It's a good chunk of time, but it's not quite sleeping through the whole night!

Gwen understands English! The little pink monkey that Gwen likes hangs on a peg in her room when its not in a pile of toys on the ground. The other day Jared asked Gwen, "Where's your monkey?" She looked at her pile of toys and didn't see it, and then she looked up to the peg where it was hanging. It was the first we've really known that she knew what we were talking about. What a smart baby!