We ended up going in early for a well-visit (versus at 9 months) so that Liv could get caught up on her boosters. That spica cast really threw us off! I am happy to report that she is currently vaccinated against everything she should be at this age (according to the AAP). Unfortunately, she has developed an extreme dislike of the doctor's office and the nurse that gives the shots; today she started crying when I placed her on the scale. I'm hoping this reverses during the next 4 months before our next well-visit. Her weight and height continue to be in the 50th percentile which means she is growing just right. She weighed in at 17 pounds 1 ounce, and her height is 27 1/4 inches! This explains why she is mostly in size 6-9 months but will wear 3-6 month onesies and clothing as big as 9 months (for her legs, definitely not her waist!).
Frank and I have noticed big changes this month! Olivia is tacting and manding -- sorry to bring my work to the blog, but I can't help but be incredibly excited. For those of you not versed in Skinner's analysis of verbal behavior, a tact is (in plain English) a label (of sorts) and a mand (in plain English) is a request. Olivia can tact cat ("dat" or "at") and dog ("dawh") as well as mand for sleep by using a made up sign (she puts her hands behind her head, which is how she sleeps). She also mands for attention by saying hi (it comes out a long "I" in the same intonation that I use). She also will wave hi or bye by opening and shutting her hand BUT she doesn't pick up her arm yet which makes it very cute! She'll learn -- the little social butterly. On top of this, she is stringing together many sounds in varying pitches and will even "sing" by softly producing vowel sounds in a sing-songy manner. I only wish she would do it on command! Whenever I turn the video camera on, she clams right up. Even though she loves being in the spotlight, she has not yet learned how to love the camera. I still have time. :-)
We've also noticed a bigger range of motion -- she purposefully puts her arms and legs out (not in that jerky, lack-of-control way) more, and she's doing great with PT. She sits up without support and balances incredibly well. She will move herself around by doing a push-up type movement where she throws her arms out so that her chest goes to the floor. Then, she pushes up but will move herself in doing this (either turn or push back). She is able to roll-over, but she doesn't seem to have control of it yet. We are so proud of her and so amazed at how big she is!
And boy does she eat! Olivia eats three big meals per day and is nursed first thing in the morning and last thing at night. She has formula in two bottles and mixed with her cereal. For breakfast, she will eat over 4 oz. of formula + rice cereal plus a half-jar of fruit. At lunch, she has her bottle plus a whole jar of veggies and either a half-jar or a whole jar of fruit. She'll have formula again as a snack. For dinner it's more rice cereal + formula (but only about 2 ounces total); this gets mixed with a half-jar of veggies. Plus, she eats a whole jar of a protein mixed with stuff (such as a jar of apple turkey cranberry). There will be a post soon about this specifically. We started offering her a sippy cup of water, but she only uses the handles to shake it, not to drink it. We also offer her Puffs (a finger food that easily dissolves), and while she can pick them up in her palm, she is not yet feeding herself.
At 8 months, Olivia can do the following:
says mama, dada, cat, dog, hi
signs sleep
"sings"
"dances" to music (bops up and down)
bears weight on her legs when held upright
turns in the direction of a voice
looks for a dropped object
can pick up small objects by palming them first
pass toys/objects from hand to hand
gets upset when we take away something she likes
will reach and try hard to get something out of reach
plays peek-a-boo (where's Livie?)
claps her hands
open & shut her hand
puts her arms above her head
shakes her head to refuse something (and sometimes says "na na na!")
can point (make the motion) and sometimes points to things
will follow my eye gaze to look at something
eats stage 2 jarred foods including proteins
loves veggies & fruits (yay!)
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