Eight Months Old!

Dear Valerie,

You are eight months old, now!

This month was pretty lousy. You were sick, I was sick, your dad was sick. You had your first course of antibiotics, and your poor little gastrointestinal system is still reeling from that. You've also been super-clingy, due in part to the sickness, and due in part to me being at work more than usual. For a baby, especially one who doesn't take naps on any kind of schedule, I must say that you have an uncanny sense of time. If I work one hour later than usual, you get antsy and fussy, and cling desperately to me as soon as I get home. It breaks a poor mama's heart, and I'm only working part-time! I honestly don't know how other moms work full-time.



One exciting thing that happened this month was that you learned how to roll over. You rolled over from your back to your front for the first "for-sure" time on March 8, and it quickly became one of your favorite pastimes. You haven't rolled over from your front to your back, yet, which I guess has to do with the fact that you have no real interest in being on your back. It's easier to play with your toys while you're on your front. It's funny, though, because I remember when you were really little and you didn't like tummy time at all, and I felt like I was doing something wrong. I guess you got the hang of it eventually.



You have recently expanded your vocabulary to include the letter "d", which means that you say "dada" fairly often in the course of your babbling. I don't know if you know what you're saying, but I love hearing your voice, and I love that it sounds like you're actually talking. I don't even mind too much that you stumbled on the letter "d" before the letter "m", although I probably would be more quick to call it real words if you were saying "mama". You definitely love how responsive we are to your "talking", however. You might not quite know what it means, but you know you're doing something that gets you lots of attention, and you love that, so you keep on making the "dada" noises.



All in all, though, I've got to admit that I'm happy that this month is over. It broke my heart to see you sick, and it was made even harder by the fact that I was too sick to really take care of you as well as I would have liked. To your credit, though, you were such a trooper through the whole thing. Even at your sickest point, you were still a laughing, friendly, beautiful baby. Your parents could learn a thing or two from you about joy. Thank you for being such a joy, Valerie.

Love,
Mama.

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