8 months!

Today is, you guessed it, Jillian's 8 month birthday! Crazy how fast time has flown by.

Her personality is really starting to shine. She's usually happy, curious, energetic and full of smiles and giggles. Loud noises and new things scare her and she looks to us for comfort. New people also scare her and she stares at them and then her bottom lip starts quivering.

Jillian is truly such a source of joy in our lives. Every night before we go to bed, we go in and watch her sleeping. We give her little kisses on her forehead; Jeff calls this his ' sweet indulgence' to end each day.

Here's some things Jillian's doing lately:

~ Puts her feet in her mouth as 'comfort' when she's upset and doesn't have a paci available. This usually happens during diaper change time.

~ Just in the past few days she's realized that splashing water in the tub is fun. I have showed her how to splash many times, but she wasn't too interested.

~ Now when I hold her and she's resting on my hip she holds on to me with both hands. Many times she nestles into me. I love it; it's the closest thing to her hugging me :) Along those same lines, Jillian loves when I wear a necklace.... easy entertainment. When I'm not wearing one, she reaches for it, but then realizes I'm not wearing one.

~ Continues to love eating. She eats just about anything I put in front of her.

~Fits perfectly into 9 month clothing. Size 3 diapers.

~ Definitely in the midst of separation anxiety. She usually SCREAMS if she finds herself being cared for by anyone else other than me, Jeff or Bama. She also is starting to whine/wimper when I leave the room, even when she was happily playing (this happens more late in the afternoon when she's getting tired from the day). I turn around and tell her she's a Big Girl and can handle it. I also try to keep talking to her even when I'm out of sight, so she knows I haven't abandoned her. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

~ Very Curious. She reaches for anything and everything and wants it in her mouth. I'm amazed at how strong she is - she can hold in one hand the remote, my iPhone, and big toys. I can remember a few months ago when she couldn't hold much in those tiny hands.

Of course I had a little photo session with our Big 8 month old today. I couldn't narrow it down, so there are quite a few photos ;)

Jillian, we love you more than you'll ever know. Well, when you have kids of your own, you'll realize how deep our love is for you.