Daddy's little pumpkin is 8 months old!

Little devil
Originally uploaded by Jaimemjfan.

Dear peanut,
Every month as I write your letter I cannot believe that another month has gone by. I may turn out to say this every month, but this is officially my favorite age of yours. You are so silly and sweet, cute and coy, busy and beautiful. Your father and I are loving every minute of you.
Like the others, you've learned a ton this month. You know how to work all of the pieces of all of your toys and when you wake up in the morning you play quietly in the crib until I go get you. You love to get up on your knees so you can reach your crib toy and will play with all of the pieces. You have a new "wheels on the bus" toy that you love and it has tiny people that are in the "seats". You actually know how to put them back in the bus and make them sing. We also got you a table like Ashton's which you love to stand at and play with. Your favorite toy this month, however, is your dog. You think Manny is the most hilarious thing you've ever seen and will follow him around EVERYWHERE smiling, talking and laughing. You follow him around like he follows us. You grab his fur and pull him close and then push him away when he gives you kisses. He is your most expensive toy.
You're still doing well sleeping although the last two weeks you've tended to get up twice a night instead of once. Your bedtime is usually 7 pm to 7 am. Once you pass bedtime, you shut off. You go from your usual happy smiley self to a fussy grumpy baby who rubs your eyes and begs to go to bed. As soon as we put you in your crib you immediately flop over onto your belly and put your blanket over your thumb to suck on it. You are certainly a creature of habit.
You're still doing very well at daycare although you come home with quite a few bumps and bruises these days. Mama isn't concerned because knowing how busy you are it is easy to see how you get in trouble. You crawl EVERYWHERE at the speed of light and it is very hard to keep you out of spaces that you don't belong. This month we bought a rug to cover the hardwood floor and when we set you in the middle of it surrounded by your $3,000 worth of toys, you make a bee-line for either the entertainment center or the dog food. Oh how you want the dog food! Tonight mama finally had to find a new home for it in the master bathroom far from your little hands. I'm guessing that you think that if Manny likes it, so will you - because after all, you love everything that Manny does.
Contrary to the way you felt about a bottle a few months ago, you now cannot see one without coming unglued. You like almost all varieties of baby food and want to eat everything that we're eating, too. You have discovered watermelon and love to suck the juice out. You still love pickles and lemons. Unlike last month, You LOVE your fruit and veggie puffs - they are now known around the house as fruit and veggie puffs rather than "poison puffs".
You are such a strong little girl. In addition to your crawling all over God's creation, you pull yourself up to a standing position with ease now. You're still unsteady on your feet but once you get your balance down you'll be walking in no time. You're becoming very independant - and though you've been able to hold your own bottle and feed yourself for several months now you quite often will insist on doing so now. You have a real problem with mama's one-at-a-time rule on the veggie puffs and will tell me so when I try to put some back in your little bowls.
Your vocabulary hasn't changed any in the last month. You still say "mama" and "dada" but that is it. I suspect that the next words out of your mouth will either be "doggie", "manny" or "oh my god - you are so cute I can't stand it!".
Everywhere you go you get SOOOO much attention and you just love it. Everyone everywhere comments on your red hair and blue eyes. You eat up the attention and smile at them until they ask to take you home. People are always also commenting about what a good baby and a good "shopper" you are. You are quiet and content and very used to being brought out to dinner or shopping. You are such a social baby and although you are still very happy and smiley, you have been a little more reserved in the past few weeks. Your big, open mouth smile has turned to a smirk and you often make people work extra hard to see those two little bottom teeth. (You also have one top tooth that broke through a week ago).
You are growing so fast Rylee Carmella and I love you so much. Tomorrow I will wake up and you will be 9 months or 9 years and I only hope that I can continue to write things down and capture on film what is passing by so quickly. I adore you, baby girl. Love, Mom