Coleman Chronicles: Hadley is 8 Months Old!

Another month come and gone and now we have an 8 month old! Hadley, over the past 8 months, you have given your daddy and I just a glimpse at the type of love that our Heavenly Father has for us. I know I’ve said it before, but it is so difficult for me to imagine anyone being able to love you more than we do, and yet, He does… and I am so thankful for that.

No doctor’s appointment this month, so just a guess at your stats:

Height: 29 1/4 inches
Weight: 21 1/2 pounds (based on the Wii Fit)
Diapers: Size 4
Clothing: Mostly 6-12 month, some 18 month!

This month was an exciting one for us all, because your aunt Katie got engaged! Which means you’re going to have an uncle! Before they were engaged, and after one of the first times Eric spent any time around you, he and your aunt Katie were talking about you and about their future. Katie told me that he said “You know… I like Hadley a lot and I’ve only been around her a couple times, but if we get married… I’ll be her uncle. That means that I LOVE her!” He’s not even officially family yet, but I can promise you that he already loves you like he’s been your uncle forever. You are one lucky little girl, missy.

In other exciting news, we officially have a tooth! It took you 7 1/2 months to cut one, but it’s finally there! I first felt a little pin-prick on your lower gums on August 15th, then on the 16th I felt a bigger pin-prick, and it is here to stay. It’s your bottom middle-left (your left). That’s the official name of the tooth. ;) No sign of its partner yet, although I can tell your gums are still bothering you, so maybe it’ll pop through soon. You have made it impossibly difficult to get a picture of it, but I finally got a picture where you can see it this past weekend. Not the most flattering facial expression you’ve got there, but baby girl – I tried and tried and this is the best you gave me!

As of that same day that I felt your tooth, you decided you are too big for your play mat. Our routine in the mornings used to consist of me getting you up, changing your diaper and nursing you. Then I’d bring you into the living room and let your play on your play mat while I ate breakfast. Now, I have to either put you in your exersaucer or lay a blanket down and let you sit with a basket of toys to play with. No more of this lying down stuff!

You love to go outside – especially when you are fussy. It’s too bad that it’s been 157 degrees most of the summer. Okay, not really 157, but it has been between 100 and 112 for what feels like the past 3 months. It has been a brutally hot summer, so we haven’t been able to enjoy the outside very much.

You finally mastered the “log roll” this month, too. Prior to now, you could roll both ways, but you had no interest in using that skill to get around anywhere. And I was in no rush for you to become mobile in any way. Now when I put you down, if there are toys within your sight, you will roll and roll and roll until you get to them. No signs of crawling yet, though, which I am thankful for! I’m not ready to be chasing you all over the house, yet! You hate to be on your knees, so I think we’ve still got a few months.

We’re still going to your class at The Little Gym and it’s touch and go for you. Some days you are feelin’ it and others… not so much. You, along with one other little girl who is a couple months older than you named Kelly, have become known as the resident drama queens! You are both girls who know what you want when you want it! You did a handstand in class this month, though, which was a big improvement (with momma holding your legs, obviously). Before, when we’d try, you would just keep your arms up and wouldn’t touch the ground (such a little princess!), but not anymore! You plopped those arms down and held yourself up while I lifted your legs over your head. You were so proud of yourself afterwards!

You still love to be on the move. I have never been more thankful for a car with working air conditioning than I have been this summer. We have spent many an afternoon driving to Sonic to get momma a drink and to get you out of the house! Speaking of driving, we are officially using your big girl car seat, now! We went through 2 different ones trying to find one we liked the best. The picture below is the first one we tried. I’d say you were pretty comfy in there! But we couldn’t get the recline right behind the driver’s seat, so we returned it and got a different one.

You LOVE that spatula. It’s definitely your favorite “toy” right now.

This is one of my favorite pictures. Look at that sweet face peeking over the edge of your crib! You are sleeping really well at night. We usually put you down around 7pm after bathtime and you sleep straight through until 7 or 8am (although occasionally you wake around 4, but I can either give you your paci or nurse you and you fall right back to sleep.) You take 2 naps a day, usually around 10 and 2, although your naps are always a toss up. Sometimes I’ll get 2 hours per nap, other times only 30 minutes. But with the good nights, I’ll take some bad nap days. :)

You eat 3 meals a day now, and have 4-6 ounces per meal. I have yet to find a food that you refuse! If I mix a little sweet potato or peaches in with something you’re not loving, you’ll eat it right up! You also nurse 4-6 times a day, and still will not take a bottle! We tried putting a tiny bit of apple juice (about 1/4 of an ounce) in a bottle for you, and although you will drink it from the bottle, it also makes you throw up every time you have it, so no more juice for you! Unfortunately, you won’t drink anything else from a bottle.

One of my favorite things that you like to do is cross your legs at your ankles. You do it all.the.time and it cracks me up! In your car seat, lying on your play mat, in your stroller, in your tub, and in your bouncy seat as seen below.