Evie at 8 Months is Great, Great, Great!

I know I say this every time, but Evie is STILL the cutest ever and she continues to be so. much. fun!  Her personality continues to emerge and she is a delight to be around.  I want to focus this 8-month post more on her darling personality rather than on the tasks she's accomplishing (although I'll give a quick summary of those too . . . we don't want to forget ANYTHING).

It's kind of funny how several of her personality traits existed when she was a newborn, but it hard to decipher if that trait would stick or if it was just something I was imagining.  When babies are newborns sometimes it's hard to know if that's really their personality trait, or if the baby is just in a newborn coma or whatever.  That being said, one personality trait that Evie has had since she was newborn is patience.  I might even go as far as calling this a special virtue because I think we all wish we had more of it!  She'll always let me know when she needs/wants something, but if I'm right in the middle of something, she usually does a fantastic job of letting me finish before she gets super upset.  It's amazing!  When she was a newborn she would cry when she was hungry, but if I couldn't get to it right away, she didn't go into a complete crying attack.  (Although if I waited too long and took too much advantage of her patient ways, then we did find ourselves in the middle of a crying attack.  Lesson learned for all of us!)  I had friends comment on this all of the time.  She still carries the same demeanor as she gets a little older and wants/needs other things.

She's sensitive.  She seriously exhibits sensitivity towards others.  If she sees another child/baby crying, she gets concerned.  If she sees someone fall down, she gets concerned.  She has even put on a big, huge frown at times when she sees others suffering in some way or another.

She's friendly.  She'll usually throw a smile to just about anyone.  She especially loves little children and wants to be friends with all of them.  Now that she's more vocal, she'll even try to "talk" with them and it's so adorable!  She interacts fantastically with her little cousins, HaLee and Carter who are of similar age.

She's happy.  Man, is she happy!  She is the happiest baby I have ever known, and I'm not just saying that because she's mine!  She is full of smiles and laughter and she continues to brighten our lives every. single. day.  She pulls some of the most fun faces (I included one below) and she keeps us smiling at every moment.

She's eager to learn.  She seems so much more attentive and alert than other babies of her age.  She's constantly focusing on things, trying to mimic sounds/behaviors, and has a LOVE for books.  There are two things that will calm this girl down if she gets fussy.  1) A bath.  2) Reading Books.  Beau and I always say she's the smartest baby ever.  Of course we don't have hard proof of this, and I can admit to being a little biased here, but she definitely is smart!

She is SO sweet!  This has been a personality trait that has been apparent since her newborn stage.  Everyone would tell me she would grow out of the sweet and cuddly stage, but guess what!?  She hasn't, and I hope she NEVER does.  She is sweet and tender (which goes along with her sensitivity) and I think this is going to stick, folks!  She is affectionate and still loves to cuddle.  Some of my most cherished times are cuddling with her in the rocker and singing songs to her.  She is my most sweetest angel.

Of course she has several other traits (like we all do), but these seem to be the most prominent at the moment.  I know you're dying to hear what she's up to so . . . .

• She started eating fruits early in the month and now she's starting to eat those little puff-cereal snacks.  We've just barely started introducing her to other "whole" foods.  She's still a GREAT eater.
• She got her 2 front, bottom teeth.  She was a good little teether.  She was hardly fussy and never broke out in fever or runny nose (or other teething symptoms).  She just wanted to be held a little more during the 1-2 days that the teeth broke through (which I wasn't complaining about), and she didn't really want to eat with a spoon (because the spoon would sometimes hit the sore gums and that was no good).
• She can clap.  Yay!
• She can wave hello and goodbye.  This is still a little spontaneous, but she definitely knows what she's doing and will often times wave to herself in the mirror.  I love it!
• She can sit up by herself.  This JUST happened.  She's been able to sit by herself on a soft surface (bed or couch) for a couple of weeks, but she would continue to fall over when on the floor.  We finally mastered this within the last couple of days . . . which means crawling is right around the corner.
• Speaking of crawling, she has been able to scoot herself about anywhere she pleases.  She can now get up on all fours and it's only a matter of days (or hours) when she figures out how to actually crawl.  
• She started this fake little laugh.  It's a riot.  
• And, she has a fake cough too.  Silly girl!

As always, I'll leave you with a glimpse of this adorable and sweet baby girl.  This was taken today.  This is her adorable outfit she got for Christmas.  Have you ever seen a cuter baby in all your life (well, other than your very own . . . because I know we're all biased towards our own babies . . . as we should be!)!?!?!