7 Months, 8 Months, er, 8 1/2 Months

So it has almost been 2 months, but what can we say...it was a busy two months. Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year...crazy, hectic, fun!

At 7 months, Aubrey wasn't doing too much. The biggest change in her life was that we were moving her from baby food to mostly table food. Everything was still mashed or "magic bulleted" but her pallet was being introduced to variety of different foods. And, lucky for us, she really enjoyed everything we would give her and continues that trend. She is a fabulous eater and now only eats table food (well, every now and then she may have some baby food as we are trying to use it up). She takes three bottles during the day, but is losing interest. She will only take the full 6 ounces at night and even then it can be hit or miss. She takes the other two bottles in the sippee cup when eating then I move it into the bottle if she wants more. Love, loves, loves the sippee and has started to drink formula or water with it herself.

Shock and surprise, we got a little behind on taking the monthly photos and since Aubrey was in a good mood this night we decided to quick take them; however, she would get made if we changed her again so here she is a little over a week after November 23rd in her pj's (which are 12month, by the way) in front of our Christmas tree.

 On the movement front, she is such a laid-back little one that we thought she would just be super content sitting where she was and never look to move or crawl. Which was the case until she turned 8 months. Almost exactly to the day, Aubrey was fine just sitting with the toy that was given to her and had no interest to move. However, on the 22nd of December, we finally started to see her interest in moving around on her own start. She would go from sitting to her tummy. From then on Aubrey has been looking for ways to move, move, move. She is not a certified crawler yet, but she sure can get around a room.

Aubrey goes in spurts when she "talks." Lots of times it is still just the screaming bit and the goo-goo-gaa-gaa back of the throat sounds, but she has started to make actual sounds using her lips and tongue. No sound-object recognition, but so far I have heard four distinct sounds. Ma-ma-ma was the first sound, then ba-ba-ba, and most recently I have heard da-da-da and pa-pa-pa.

A little over a week ago, Barbie, my mom, and I felt a tooth in her mouth then later when Butter got home it seemed to disappear...darn disappearing teeth! During this week, we could tell she was uncomfortable, wanting to chew more, and drooling more. Only one night, though, was rough for her. And by "rough" for Aubrey I mean up for about 45 minutes to an hour around midnight. Eventually, we gave her some Tylenol and she was sound asleep for the rest of the night. On Friday, January 11th, she officially cut her first tooth and it has stayed. Her upper left tooth has started to come through...I was under the assumption that the bottoms always come in first, but I guess not. It seems though that Aubrey will probably be getting a few more soon. Still just a chewing and drooling machine!

Aubrey's 8 month photo shoot again a little over a week after turning 8 months this time though in a 24month onsie...not sure what I was on, but thought I grabbed a 12month, but didn't realize it until it was on and like I said Aubrey does not like to change so we left it.

Big sissy Isabel does so well with Aubrey. We will see how long that lasts because Aubrey has now discovered Isabel's hair and loves to reach for it and pull on it. So far Isabel nicely tells her, "No, no, no Aubrey," in a gentle teaching voice. We are enjoying the sisterly-love, but Isabel is deciding to give mom and dad, and Barbie a run. Stubborn, mischievous Isabel has reared her head! She pooped her pants twice this week at Barbie's because she wanted to wear "her" pull-ups (mind you she has been potty trained for over 10 months), she is back in the height chair at Barbie's because she wants to run around during eating time, and has to use a sippee because when she is done pours her milk out on the tray or floor. At home, dinner is a constant battle, and when she has to sit in a time-out, she sings, laughs, and tries to tell knock-knock jokes. Oh goodness, she can be challenge...albeit, often a hilarious challenge!  We had a good weekend so here's hoping for more of that in the coming weeks.

Some of the girls favorites right now are:
Activities
Isabel: dance, being a helper, tubby-time
Aubrey: snuggling and trying to crawl, tubby-time, playing "so big"...just today she started mimicking the hands in the air and then did it on her own! So fun!

Food
Isabel: cottage cheese, yogurt, toast, mini corn dogs and pizza
Aubrey: toast, peas, blueberries, and pizza (as long as she can eat it herself, she loves it)

Snacks
Isabel: Cuties, fishies, and anything she deems as a nummy
Aubrey: baby mum-mums (rice-based wafers)

Toys
Isabel: kitchen toys, make-up (hers and mine!), blocks (I think she just likes to dump them out), and balls
Aubrey: balls, stacking rings

Books
Isabel: Ten Apples Up on Top; Night, Night Little Pookie, Dora Books, and Elmo Books
Aubrey: any book we allow her to hold and chew...so right books don't really get to be on her radar that often

Entertainment
Isabel: books, coloring, Boots (as in Dora's best friend), Team Umizoomi, her tablet, and our iPad
Aubrey: walker, remote, iPad/phone, Dora (yes, she will watch it with Isabel)

Top (l to r): Aubs and Izzy watching Dora and Isabel playing in the bathtub; Second Row: At the pumpkin patch; Third Row (l to r): Aubs on Halloween wearing Elias' Waldo glasses and Isabel excited to be baking with frosting on her nose; Fourth Row: Christmas Eve 2012