8 @ 8

E turned 9 months earlier this week, and since we've been pretty silent here lately, we thought we'd give a quick update by reflecting on 8 firsts during her 8th month of October.

1st Cold Weather Bundling
It was definitely cold enough in October, even early, for E to don her snowsuits, mittens, and hats for walks with Mommy and runs with Daddy. She's not a big fat of bundling, but she does so enjoy being outside, listening to the crunch of leaves under our feet, laughing if we "peek-a-boo"over the visor of her stroller, and watching out for the squirrels, doggies, and kitties that run our neighborhood.

1st Tea Party
E's Nana came to visit for Nanna's birthday, and D and E took her to a local tea shop for lunch. At home, E treated Nana to another special pretend tea party. E especially likes nibbling at the plastic petit fores. (And, since then, she likes a tea party fairly regularly, including this one on Halloween.)

1st Tactile Play
E really took to all sorts of new tactile play experiences too. She loves running her hands through navy beans. Literally, navy bean play can last 20-30 min. If that seems surprising, then, clearly, you're not aware of how fun it is to dump, scoop, pour, and pinch navy beans. And, the educators in us are thrilled that it's a great way to develop fine motor skills. She's expanded beyond navy beans to include dry pasta and a new favorite, Mommy's necklaces. Other than a few "just touch" reminders, she's really good about not putting everything in her mouth.

(And important aside, her physical therapist who comes to the house recently, as T likes to say, "cut the cord." She will no longer becoming because, as she explained to T, "There's really nothing more for me to do. I can't justify coming to help her. She's developmentally right on target.")

1st Finger Foods (with success)
T has been making E homemade (yes, organic, if you know T well) baby food for a few months now. T's making the food increasingly chunky. E enjoys eating solids, especially squasholi (that's broccoli and squash combined), fruity chicken, applesauce, and berry smoothie. In October, she began eating more finger foods, and although it's a work in progress, she's having some success. She especially likes her Os. (We realize in writing this that we don't have any pics of her finger food efforts, but we do have this photo where you can see how much she enjoys her high chair, the Keekaroo.)

1st Puzzle Play
We had picked up some wooden puzzles at garage sales over the past few months and imagined putting them away for a few more months, but E's really taken to a couple. She likes pulling the pieces out over and over again. Putting them back will come with time. But, the one with a picture of a car is a special favorite.

1st Cold
Toward the end of the month, E caught her first cold--really her first sickness of any kind since she was in the hospital. We feel pretty lucky. She was pretty miserable and spent a couple of days sleeping almost entirely on Daddy's chest. Needless to say, T caught up on lots of TV and movie viewing.

1st Tooth
At the same time, E's first tooth popped up. In retrospect it was hard to know which caused more pain and tears, the cold or the tooth. But, she ended up with a little white nub of a front tooth. When she was finally feeling better on Halloween, her bib matched her own jack-o-lantern mouth.

1st Halloween
E had a few costumes. The chick ended up much too small. Tigger, much too big. But, she didn't seem to care or know what the heck all this dress up was all about. Nonetheless, she enjoyed helping T hand out treats.