8 Months Into Motherhood: Lessons Learned
Every time Naiya turns another month old, I feel like I've only just blinked. The fact that she's four months away from her first birthday absolutely blows my mind.
Today, I’m sharing lessons learned from 8 months of motherhood, some of Naiya's latest milestones and a spring dress I'm currently loving.
8 Month Milestones
This has been my favorite age yet. Naiya is so alert and she's really taking in the world around her. Interacting with her is becoming more and more special by the day and she's developing the sweetest personality.
One of my favorite things this month has been picking her up in the morning from her cib. Naiya wakes up around 6:30am-7:15am.
She's always patiently standing in her crib, gripping the spokes, cooing and smiling at me.I can't think of a better way to start my days--especially work days. Her excitement for a new day puts everything into perspective.
She's also so close to standing up on her own without holding onto something. I think we're going to have an early walker and I can't even imagine how challenging that's going to be!
Sleep Training Update
Sleep training has continued to work extremely well for us (more about how it all started here).Naiya naps three times a day with at least a couple of hours of awake time in between.We put her in the bath at 7pm every night, I nurse her and she's asleep by 8pm through until the next morning.
I never thought I’d be such a routine-driven mom but now that we know it works well for Naiya, I’m so in.Since we’re all sleeping better, we finally feel like humans again and we couldn't be more thankful for a routine that’s working for us.
Off The Charts
Naiya is now 18.6 pounds and 28.5 inches long. She's supposedly off the charts for a 9-month old (even though she was measured before her 8-month birthday).
No wonder carrying her has become so much harder! This weekend, we took a family trip to San Diego and the whole time, Naiya wanted me to carry her.
I gave in but it was exhausting! It feels like I spent the weekend weightlifting.I look back at her newborn clothes and wonder how she was ever so tiny!
Update On Solids
Naiya's been a hungry girl this month! In addition to nursing, she's eating protein three times a day! This is especially great since she had so many G.I. problems early on in her life and it seemed that she was allergic to everything.
She's been thriving and we feel so fortunate.In terms of solids, we're loving a baby food delivery service called Raised Real. It delivers flash-frozen mixes of fresh fruits and veggies right to our door based on her age.
We've been mixing proteins like peanut butter or egg whites into these amazing packets.Naiya's current favorite packet is made of beet, sweet potato, date, cinnamon and coconut butter.
This saves us loads of time but doesn't cost us more than we were spending on fruits and veggies beforehand.
From there, we steam the fruit and veggie bags in our Beaba Babycook and blend them up. This machine is so easy to use, we highly recommend it.
Outfit Of The Day
Wearing this tweed dress I recently scooped up from Mango today. I love its spring color and the fact that it's such a classic cut.
I paired this dress with white sandals (similar here and here), white sunnies and a pink bag I can't get enough of by Pop & Suki.I topped off the look with a white tweed coat that I'm loving for spring.
Photography: Azusa Takano