*** I wrote this on time, and then I waited and waited and waited for a good time to take pictures of our little stinker. But her picture taking days are long gone and we are on to bigger and better things like crawling really, really fast. So since she turned 8 months old two days ago, I decided I would just go ahead and publish this post without pictures. I know, I know…nobody is even gonna scroll through it now, but hey, at least I’ll have it documented!
Our Tera-girl is 7 months old! It’s crazy how fast time flies! These pictures are getting harder and harder to take! I’m already almost a week behind on getting this post published, so I will try to keep this brief.
Weight/Length: Tera weighs around 14 pounds. Still less than Moose! Haha!
Eating: Tera loves her food! I haven’t found a food that she will not eat! I have continued giving her purees, and I even bought a couple jars of baby food, mostly prunes, since I have no idea where to buy prunes or how to make my own! We have also started to give her some little bites of whatever we are eating at dinner time. Like I said, I still haven’t seen her turn anything down! The other morning I made a pot of oatmeal, and all three of us ate it! It was really nice making one dish and having it feed all of us! She is still breastfeeding every three hours, although in the past few weeks I think she has started eating less breastmilk and more solid food.
Sleeping: AHHHHHHHH!!!
As I write this, I am functioning on about 1.5 hours of sleep. Yeah. That is not the norm, but it seems like no matter what I try we can’t get this sleeping thing down. Tera will wake up at least 5 times a night- usually she goes right back to sleep when he give her back her pacifier, but often she wants to eat. I usually feed her at least once in the night. Her nap times are also horrible and she usually lays down without a problem for 20 minutes, only to wake up bright eyed, bushy tailed and ready to go! If you remember to pray for me, Theo or Tera you can certainly pray that sometime soon I would be able to start getting the rest that I need. Tera doesn’t seem to fare too badly on so little sleep, but I’m running out of sane-ness and it’s spreading into so many other areas of my life (in very negative ways).
Clothing/Diapers: Rocking cloth diapers still! I’m loving Tera’s solid poops that I just plop into the toilet. I don’t have to rinse the cloth diapers anymore, and I can just throw them straight into the washing machine!
Tera is in between 3-6 month and 6-9 month clothes. I have her in both. We got two HUGE boxes of clothes from my sister in law, and I don’t even have room for all of them! We are so blessed to have older girl cousins and receive all their hand-me-downs!
Personality: Oh, Tera. She is adorable. She is so much fun. She is delightful. She is entertaining. She is SO. SOCIAL. She won’t sleep or hardly even eat if there are people around her. She loves to squeel and talk and smile at anyone and everyone. She is very dramatic and if she is set down where she doesn’t want to be or if she gets nicked with something, she HOLLERS like her life is ending. She also loves watching people and Moose is her favorite form of entertainment. If he graces the room with his presence, she is delighted.
Loves:
- Moose!
- Daddy and Mommy
- Her blocks and any type of string/wire/cord (dangerous!!)
- Food. All types
- Being outside
- Bath time
- People. People who smile at her. People who talk to her. People who want to hold her (although we did go through a week or so of stranger danger). People who walk past her. People who are in her line of vision. This girl loves people.
Dislikes:
- Being laid on her back (diaper changes are TORTURE!)
- Being left alone
- Sleeping
New Developments:
TERA CAN CRAWL!!!! I don’t know if I should be very excited/happy that she has hit this milestone, or terrified about all the was my life is going to change! Yes, as of yesterday, Tera crawled! All of my stuff on the floor is slowly finding new homes in high places.
Tera can sit on her own without any assistance! A month ago, I never would have left the room with her sitting (she toppled too easily). Now she rarely falls over (but if she does, you’d better believe she lets EVERYONE know).
Deliberate communication: We can now tell what Tera is trying to say to us. She “yells” at us at the dinner table, which means she wants what we are having or more of her food. She screams if you put her down on her back, telling us she doesn’t want to be there. She fusses quietly when she is ready to sleep. She has obviously been “communicating” from the beginning, but its starting to become more and more clear what she is actually trying to say. I’m glad we have started teaching her sign language, so she can start communicating that way and we don’t have to listen to and interpret different loud hollering noises!
Daddy and Mommy: Busy, busy, busy! The month of March has something almost every single day for us. I decided to start picking up more shifts at work. It’s a great chance for me to get out of the house, Theo gets to stay home with Tera, and we have agreed that my paycheck goes straight to our home renovation costs! Right now I’m working towards new carpet in the bedrooms!! Theo is also working really hard, and has had several shifts where he and his partner are going nonstop (without bathroom or food breaks!) for 20+ hours. I feel like there is a law against that, but his company is not exactly the most organized company. We are praying that the Lord will provide a different/new place for Theo to work. Trusting His timing is always difficult. In addition to both of us working, I’m in charge of two bridal showers at church, am putting together and missionary care package (it’s a bigger deal than it sounds!), am teaching Sunday school and Theo’s parents are coming to visit next weekend for Tera’s baby dedication! Phew! I’ll be glad for a rest once April rolls around!