Elise is 8 months old!

At eight months Elise is so, SO, SO, incredibly FUN!  I spend all day with her, and it never gets old (okay there are definitely a few moments when it's rough, BUT...)

She cracks me up, and my favorite thing to do is just watch her as she goes about her day and figures things out.

• She is so good at picking up small objects with her fingers.  She can pass small pieces of food from one hand to the other, and put them into her mouth all by herself.  Occasionally she will let one drop, but she has pretty much mastered the "pincher" movements.
• She is such a cuddler!  At times I get tired, but truly I love that she's so cuddly.
• She gives hugs.  She melts my heart when I pick her up and she puts her little arms around my shoulders and holds tight and buries her little head into my neck.  Aaahhh...greatest feeling ever.
• I think she's giving kisses now too...either that or she just likes to eat mom and dad's face.  I can't tell!  But she opens her mouth and leans in to my face, and I tell myself she's giving me kisses, ha ha!  
• She knows how to clap, and will do it when she is happy or when mom and dad cheer, "yay" and start clapping, she will join in.  She claps with one hand open, and the other hand closed in a fist with just her pointer finger sticking straight out.  It's hilarious.
• She loves to throw toys and has a great arm.  We bought her a few small balls that she loves to throw, but she will throw any toy she has in her hands. She also loves banging two toys together.
• She is not crawling yet.  I wouldn't be suprised if she skips crawling and sticks to rolling until she's ready to walk.  I try to entice her with a toy just out of her reach, but she fusses for a minute, and either she rolls to it, or she just decides it's not worth the effort and focuses her attention on another toy ;)
• Even though she is not crawling, she rolls back and forth (like a pendulum) to get to where she wants to go.
• The past few weeks she has started displaying more separation anxiety and gets fussy when I lay her down, or when I leave her alone.  I have been frustrated (not only because my arms get so tired from holding her lol) but also because I was not sure if holding her so much was going to turn her into a spoiled monster, or if it was the right thing to do.  I researched the issue and found that it is perfectly normal and all babies go through this stage at her age, and my responding to her is the right thing to do.  The more I comfort her and hold her, the safer and more secure she feels, and the sooner she will learn that she can self soothe and allow me to leaver her alone without crying...well at least I hope that's the case!
• She loves "puffs" and I love watching her eat them.  She is so cute picking them up and putting them in her mouth and sucking on them.  Occasionally she will stuff three or four in at a time, and I have to dig them out of her mouth frantically, lol, but for the most part she knows to suck on one at a time!
• She is growing a lot more hair.  It's coming in light brown, and in the natural light it has a bit of a reddish tint to it.
• Her eye color changes.  They are not very blue any more, instead change between green-hazel-brown-gray-ish.  When people ask me what color her eyes are I seriously respond, "good question!" because I still have no idea :)
• She outgrew her infant bathtub a few weeks ago, and has been bathing in the "big girl" tub.  She gets so excited when she knows it's bath time.  All I have to do is start to fill up the tub, take off her clothes, and she starts squealing with excitement, laughing, and kicking her legs!  She loves to play with the drain in our tub, along with her rubber bath toys.
• Church has become a chore.  She is not fussy, so I shouldn't complain, but she is so wiggly and active.  She loves to babble, squeal, and move around constantly.  Sacrament feels like an eternity!  And if I'm being honest, I haven't been to RS in over a month because after two hours of wiggly babe, Dan and I are both ready to go home.  
• She laughs a lot at the silly faces we make.  She also laughs if I turn away, then turn back around quickly and make a weird noise.  Get's her every time.
• She loves being outside, and she loves looking out the window.
• No teeth yet.  She is still griding her gums, and chomping down on everything.  Maybe she'll cut that first tooth soon??

Okay, I could keep going on and on about the little things I love and what she is doing at eight months, but I better stop.  Suffice it to say, she is my and Dan's best little bud, and we love spending our days with her!  Here are some recent pictures:

Having fun in the tub!