Double Helping: 8 Months Old!

My sweet little ones are 8 months old-- WOW! How does it goes by so fast? It seems like a lot has changed over the past month. Here's a little bit of information about what's new with them...

Ella (aka Bean, Miss Bean, Tiny girl, Bean Girl... you see where I'm going with this)
Adjectives to describe her: Loud, Funny, Snugly, Wiggly, Beautiful, Sweet

My little Bean girl. She's such a fun, sweet little thing. I love her personality and see a little of me in her. I highly anticipate a sarcastic sense of humor from this one. She still continues to "scream" loud with excitement and "talk". When she wakes up from her naps, she enjoys "talking" very loud and squealing. Every once in a while you'll hear Evan chime in as if to tell her to be quiet! It's so funny to listen to her over the monitor. It's nice to know she wakes up a happy little girl though.

She loves to throw her arms up and down in excitement almost toppling over. I haven't seen her do it, but she has been able to push herself back up into a sitting position after laying on the floor. Unfortunately, she cries quite often when you walk away from her. I could just be turning around to "find" Evan and her eyes will well up with big tears! It's very sad. She'll cry and hang her head. :(

For some reason she loves baby wipes. It's odd to me because they're cold and she reacts to them, acknowledging that they're cold, but she loves them anyway. She loves them wiped all over her face. One time she grabbed one and put it on her bare belly. She did her "sniff" thing, but with one long one, breathing in very slowly. It was hilarious! What's wrong with this girl!? =)

She's still toothless, but her day will come soon I'm sure. She enjoys "dancing" to the music her toys make and likes to jump. She's in absolute heaven if you sit next to her on the floor allowing her to keep one hand on you for comfort, looking up occasionally to make sure you're still there. She's extremely cuddly and enjoys just sitting on your lap being held with her blankie. She'll then reach over and rub her head up against yours to cuddle from time to time. She's seriously the sweetest thing ever!

Evan (aka Buddy, Moose, Big-Big Moose, Chunk-- from Auntie Squeazle)
Adjectives to describe him: Busy, Fun, Smiley, Heavy, Handsome, Snugly)

Evan is ALL boy. There's no other way to describe him. He loves to jump, slap, stomp, climb, and move all the time. He has no fear and likes to figure out new things. He is full of excitement and let's us know by his squeals and yells. We love that he smiles all the time and loves to give you big giant snuggles. He'll grab the hairs on the sides of your face and bring your face right up against his as he coos in comfort. He'll laugh when you rub your nose up against his. Evan's a big boy too, weighing over 21 lbs and possibly closer to 22 now, but I haven't weighed him in close to 2 weeks. He was 21 lbs. 2 oz. at the doctor's 2 weeks ago; he's just a solid boy. He's unable to sit still anymore while you hold him, moving all around and reaching for things while climbing over you. Everything is of interest to him and deserves (so he thinks) his inspection.

His two bottom teeth are coming in really well and are quite sharp! And we're thinking he's working on a top one. For just starting to crawl, he does amazingly well, taking off and going pretty much anywhere he wants to. There are a few new things that he likes to do. Out of nowhere (usually while he's eating solids) he'll begin to clap. He likes to hold things up really high up over his head, usually with something in each hand. And the newest, messiest thing is that he likes to do is blow food out with his lips should there be any left over. He'll look at me and smile while raising one eyebrow. As cute as it is, I just tell him no and move on to Ella. For obvious reasons, it's not something I'm encouraging! haha =)

They both love solids, but don't want their milk as much anymore. Their doctor said that it's very common for milk intake to decrease as solids increase. I'm very happy if I can get 5 oz down Ella every feeding! Stinkers. I've been known to add a couple ounces of milk in to their solids to make sure they're getting more fluids. I've tried the sippy cup, but it still seems pretty difficult to suck out of. Perhaps I need one of the ones where it flows a little easier and not worry so much about the spills.

Our schedule is still pretty much the same, although we tend to play "catch-up" at times in the morning because they'll sleep up until 9 a.m. sometimes. Bad thing is that I don't wake up until I hear them awake so I don't realize how late it is. I've been setting my alarm the past week just to stick to my schedule. I'm so thankful that my babies will sleep 12 - 14 hours at night, plus their daytime naps (although things were a little off when they were sick!) Good little babies!

Ella and Evan are both incredibly ticklish and have learned to expect it when I change their diapers and/or clothes. They'll usually brace themselves and start to smile even before I tickle them. Very funny. It's so sweet to watch them reach for you, especially when they are upset or hurting. I saw a lot of that the past two weeks when they were sick.

We have so much fun with them! They keeps us VERY busy (even more so now with crawling in the mix), but wouldn't trade it for the world! We love them so much and are so thankful to be their parents! We love you Ella and Evan... you mean everything to us!