8 months

Somehow another month has passed and today Caroline is 8 months old. 

We are pretty fresh off of an 8 day trip to Memphis for Thanksgiving (fresh enough that sleep patterns haven't quite returned to normal.)  She is also getting over a yucky winter cold with a chesty cough.  Hopefully, with winter weather on it's way we will be able to catch up on naps and snuggle time this weekend.

We had such an enjoyable, relaxing time in Memphis for Thanksgiving.  We had not been home since Julie's wedding in January.  We enjoyed seeing the city, eating good food, shopping, and being with family.  We were not ready to leave at the end of the week. 
Caroline was able to meet most of the remaining family: Poppy, Mamaw, Papaw, Gennifer, Samantha, Lesa, Uncle Doug, Mary, Joe, Jackie and a few friends: Ben and Mollie, Jason and Patty and Lucas.  It does a heart good to see your baby surrounded by so much love.  She certainly didn't mind the extra attention.

Caroline is definitely now a crawler.  She moved from the Lambs to the Bears class at school on Nov. 18.  I think the big kids in her class must be egging her on because she has taken off in the mobility arena.  She can crawl across the room and pull up on the hearth of our fireplace.  The couch is still a little tall to pull up on but with a little assistance she can stand and hang on. 

Caroline has improved her eating in the last month as well.  We were able to do 2-3 meals a day while on break.  So far she seems to prefer anything orange: carrots and sweet potatoes.  She will also eat applesauce and bananas.  We just started squash.  I think she likes it too.  Peas didn't go over real well.  We'll come back to those when she is ready for a little more texture.
Still no signs of teeth, so sadly, no turkey at Thanksgiving. We have tried to offer a sippy cup with water but so far she just gnaws on the rubber spout.  We may need to try a different cup so she can better differentiate between a teether, a bottle, and a cup.

Caroline is in a size 3 diaper.  She wears mostly 6-9mo clothes.  We've been getting the last few wears out of our 6mo sleepers.  The toes are getting a little tight. 

Caroline is a very happy baby.  She loves music, lights, ceiling fans, bath time, her Daddy, and bouncing.  She loves to play with tags (on anything-blankets, pillows, toys) and she often finds and is intrigued by the edge of a rug or blanket.  She is very interested in power cords- of course we are keeping her away from them.  We have just started playing with a musical activity table. 

Caroline is social and doesn't mind being held by other people. 
The most upsetting things to her right now are having her nose wiped and going to bed before she's good and ready (she's a night owl like dad and a play all day, no rest worker like mom).  ;)

She is very close to saying momma.  Will thinks he heard her say it, but it is not as consistent as dada.  She also started making a "buh" sound on occasion. We are working on using the baby signs for milk, eat, and all done.  I would like to add a few more. 

 We look forward to celebrating Christmas with Caroline.  She opened her first gift from Lollie at Thanksgiving.  In three weeks she should be really good at ripping into packages.