Finley at Eight Months

LIKES:

 - Peek-aboo

 - Playing in water (pool, bath, etc.)

 - Being thrown into the air

 - Drinking water

 - Sitting up

 - Fruit, especially berries and peaches

 - Toast, pancakes, and most carbs

 - Basically all food she has tried so far, haha

 - Nursing

 - "Chasing" Eloise and dancing with her

 - Playing with hair

DISLIKES:

 - Not eating like every two hours

 - Not nursing as soon as she wakes up

 - When I leave the room/her sight

 - Falling over from sitting

 - Eloise screaming

FIRSTS/SKILLS:
 - Fireworks/Fourth of July

 - Time in a swing

RANDOM NOTES:

 - Clothes: 3-6 months

 - Diaper Size: 2

 - Now has her two bottom teeth and they are growing in well! And a little sharp... She bit me a couple times this month while nursing, ouch. 

 - Hair is looking lighter all the time. It's now lighter than Lou's and close to Dustan's color. 

 - Eyes are still blue! And the most wonderful eyebrows are still above them <3

Just at the very end of this month, we got Finley switched over to two naps! This new schedule is so nice, since that evening nap had started to become a fight every day. Same as Eloise, when we first started trying to switch to two naps, those naps became so short and sporadic. But we stayed consistent, and after about a week, then naps were good 90% of the time. And though it's a little late for Lou, we keep her up so that her nap aligns with Finn's second nap.

7:30 am - Wake up, nurse

9:00 am - Breakfast
10:00 am - Nap
11:30 am - Nurse

1:00 pm - Lunch
2:30 pm - Nap
4:00 pm - Nurse, snack if needed
5:30 pm - Dinner
7:15 pm - Nurse, bedtime routine
7:30 pm - Bed

Finley is still sleeping through the night wonderfully, and only woke us up once this whole month! Unfortunately, she has had a little more trouble going to sleep. She has needed to be rocked or nursed to sleep at night a few times, which can take some time. Other than that, she has been napping really well and sleeping until past 7:00 am most mornings.

This month, Finley has become such a good eater! She eats almost everything and is always capable of eating more than I would expect. She loves fruit and carbs the most, though her absolute favorite foods are probably buttered toast, blackberries, banana pancakes, raspberries, and german pancakes. She loves breakfast foods the most--she is definitely a Kraus!

Finn has really mastered the sitting up and is improving on her pincer grasp and leaning forward to reach things from sitting. She falls occasionally but is far more steady than last month. We love how upright she sits, with a straight back and her arms usually raised haha. She doesn't seem inclined to crawl anytime soon, which I'm fine with. She does some rolling around, but not a lot. She's very content to sit and play with all the random toys Lou hands her :)

As always... She is the happiest baby around! Finn had a few grumpy moments in the afternoons, until we realized that she sometimes needs an afternoon snack to tide her over before dinner. As long as she is well fed and her teeth aren't bothering her, Finley is so happy and just loves to smile!

Lou Lately

Eloise is just over 2.5 and is such a hoot! I just needed to write this short blog recording a few of her mannerisms and things she has said lately that just make Dustan and I laugh. I never want to forget these moments!

Whenever Lou gets something abnormal put in her hair (headband, towel head turban, special braid, etc.), she exclaims, "I look so beautiful! I'm getting married!"

Similarly, Lou will gather up an armful of toys--usually stuffed animals or action figures, but I've also seen it done with play food or other random objects--and say, "They're all getting married!" We have Frozen II to thank for that one.

Eloise is very interested in all things Disney princesses lately. She loves the movies and has all the major action figures. She loves to assign songs and sayings to the princesses. So if you ask her what a princess sings, she almost always knows their main song. Like Jasmin sings "A Whole New World", Pocahontas sings "Just Around the River Bend", Moana sings "How Far I'll Go", etc. And she knows these songs pretty well. We have music running most of the day.

When Dustan got home from work the other day, he leaned over and gave me a kiss. The following dialogue ensued:
Lou: "What are you guys doing?"
Dustan: "We're kissing!"
Lou: "....Like true love?!"

Eloise will regularly tell both Finley and I that we look "so beautiful" or look "so pretty", most often when we are wearing dresses. She also to wear a dress almost every day and loves to spin in them.

Recently, Lou has started to add the phrase "a little bit" to the end of many things she says, especially when she's a little upset or concerned. For example:
 - "I'm just sad a little bit."
 - "I just want to snuggle a little bit."
 - "She's being too loud a little bit."
 - "I'm just tired a little bit."

Eloise often asks me to do her hair, and wants either an Elsa braid (one braid) or Anna braids (two braids). The other day, I just did a little braid of her bangs, and Lou called it her "baby Elsa braid" all day long.

Lou has a few little sayings that Dustan like to call "mantras" that she says all the time.
 - When we talk about taking a bath, "Don't poop in the bath!"
 - When we see a cactus or talk about them, "They're pokey! Don't touch!"

Lou has quite a good memory and can recognize quotes from a movie when she has only seen it a couple times. Lou had only seen "The Lion King" once or twice, when Dustan randomly said, "I laugh in the face of danger, ha ha ha!" and Lou responded with, "Oh! Like the lion king!" Since discovering this, Dustan and I sometimes will quiz Lou with movie quotes, which Lou loves and she has quite a good memory for haha.

We've recently been helping Lou learn to say more meaningful prayers, and she is improving. But weirdly, she will almost always end her prayer normally, then almost as an afterthought say, "Oh! And bless mama's milk!" But she'll do this every time. So odd, haha.

Eloise sings all day long, and one of her recent favorites is the "Imperial March" from Star Wars. Not sure how she knows the tune, but she sings it and knows the name and likes us to play it for her.

Finally, one of my favorites, is when Lou comes up and wraps her arms around me and says, "I like warm hugs... like Olaf." This girl is the best!!