Orlowski Family Blog: 8 Months

Caitlin, our little 8-month old…there is no stopping you! You are officially a crawler and you are fast! You’ve created your own style of crawling (one leg out to the side) and I love it. I hope you continue to do this in life...find what you want to do and figure out how to do it your way! Shortly after you mastered crawling, you started pulling yourself up on objects (couch, coffee table, mommy, daddy, etc.). We are quickly learning about the areas of the house that require immediate baby proofing. Your little knees are getting beat up as you crawl across the wood floors but the baby leg warmers help minimize the “wear and tear”. You’ve taken some tumbles already, but I’m afraid it’s just the beginning as you learn to get your feet under you. It’s hard for me not to be able to catch you every time you fall, but I suppose it’s a lesson every parent has to learn some time.

Congratulations! You graduated from your six-week baby sign language class. We are continuing to work on everything we learned, but I need to do a better job of remembering to practice! One of your new skills is pointing at everything. Each time you point to something, I tell you what the object is. Sometimes you point to the same thing over and over again, so it goes something like this…Caitlin points. Mommy: “That’s a couch”. Caitlin points. Mommy: “That’s still a couch”. It’s very cute and I’m hoping if I keep at it, you will learn some new words. You are absolutely mesmerized by Maximus (our dog). He is getting smarter though (especially with you on the move) and he knows to stay in high places.

Your new favorite show is “Super Why” on PBS. The cartoon teaches kids about the alphabet, words, spelling and reading by using nursery rhymes to solve a problem. There’s singing at the beginning and end of each episode and you love it! Most of the time you squeal and dance during the musical numbers. The cutest part is when the four main characters say their names and then there’s a pause for you to say your name. You don’t know how to say your name yet, but you know that you’re suppose to respond in some way, so you usually let out a little noise to let the Super Readers know you are ready to help save the day by solving the problem and finding the super answer!

You and your daddy had the opportunity for some father-daughter bonding time while I went on a 5-day girls trip to Destin, Florida with my best girl friends. Another wish I have for you…to find a group of girlfriends that love and support you. You were on your best behavior for Daddy and I really appreciate that. The two of you stayed very busy and went to Gymboree classes, sign language class, a trip to Corsicana and a visit to Grapevine Mills mall. You have an amazing father. He took such good care of you and I wasn’t worried at all. I guess you were showing off for Daddy because while I was gone, you really started crawling.

I packed up your 3-6 month clothes this month. I’d been delaying this task for a while. Something about putting those clothes into a storage bin reminds me of how fast you are growing up. I swear when I returned from my trip, you were ten times bigger then when I left! You are drinking 7 to 7.5 ounces of formula a day and eating level 2 baby foods, but I haven’t introduced any proteins into your diet yet. I’m not in a big hurry to do this, so we will probably start next month. Your new favorite food is yogurt and your hand and eye coordination has improved, making it easier to feed yourself small pieces of food.

We love you sweet pea!