I've been thinking about writing a blog post for weeks, and really should have gotten around to it long before now. When you are chronicling the day-to-day with life that involves an infant, things can change very, very fast. Hazel is now on the cusp of her 8-month birthday (she'll officially reach that milestone in a week), and she has blown past the baby from my last post by leaps and bounds.
During her scrunchy face phase
A lot of this happened, it seems, in one fell swoop. Right around 7 months, she figured out a whole bevy of new skills within days of each other: she started moving forward fast and deliberately, she was able to manoeuvre herself in a sitting position from being on her back or belly, she began pulling herself up and standing for long periods of time, she started eating more food than she spat back out, and she started clapping. I was sure that this would also mean that she would start sleeping better (surely, now she could stop waking herself up trying to sort through how to do all these skills), but alas, that did not occur. She just moved on to the next skills, I guess.
Are these two adorable, or what?
At this point, she has added cruising to her list of abilities... if she's standing somewhere stable, she will take small, little tentative steps and get herself from point A to point B on her feet. Or, if someone has both her hands, she'll happily walk across the room. This all seems kind of fast to me, but I suppose she has two older siblings to keep up with. And... as I said before, she is almost 8 months old, after all.
Trying out the beautiful new (to us) chair in Hazel's room
I did manage to put together a little video montage of a bunch of these new skills, combined with just some day-to-day - take a look!
Anyway, the upshot is that our regular routine has changed dramatically around here. Gone are the days where you could trust that Hazel wouldn't be able to get into most things within the span of 30 seconds. We are now into gates and daily vacuuming and moving things way up high, and just... constant vigilance. Instead of leaving Hazel alone in her crib and having her put herself to sleep for naps, you'll leave, turn on the monitor, and see her standing up, holding onto the railing, and smiling cheekily at the camera (I kid you not). She will thwart barriers and find hidden wires with a precision that would astound you. She will patrol the entire room, and find the one piece of fuzz that didn't get sucked up in the vacuum, and pop it in her mouth before you are even able to react.
Wedged in nice and thoroughly
Left to her own devices, she would hurtle off the side of a bed without a second thought, smash plants and sample the dirt, then roll down the stairs. No, she has not done any of these things, but it is not for lack of trying. Being unbearably ancient (as if to prove the point, I have developed grey hair at both temples in the last few months) and having an addled brain from all those months and months of sleep deprivation, I feel as though I am only just barely able to keep one step ahead of her as it is. Who knows what will happen when she starts walking for real?
She LOVES music, right in her very core.
Anyway, I have a bunch of pictures that have been accumulating over the last couple of months, so I will stick those here, and get this posted before this morning nap has drawn to a close, lest I inadvertently wait another couple of weeks before finishing. It is yet another snow day today, and perhaps Hazel and I will venture out with the older kids a bit later on. She is much less mobile in a big puffy snowsuit :) Enjoy!
Playing accompaniment on the wooden rattle
Out for lunch
Linden and Liam on a crisp, snowy day
Snow baby!
Hazel and I have both had a never-ending fountain of snot for what seems like weeks now. But... that does mean more snuggles, which is pretty sweet for a baby that is usually too busy to snuggle
My 39th birthday party!
Sylvia (and Theresa and Scott) come for a visit!
This photo makes me laugh every time I see it. Lounging baby thugs!
Skating and playing hockey on Oathill Lake...
...
... and being pulled around on a sled, as the case may be.
Some eating shots, because, really, can you get enough of those?:
Best to get mostly naked whilst feeding yourself yogurt
Pretty pleased about the strawberries
During a fish face phase
Green smoothie = instant favourite
Turns out she loves blueberries as much as her older sister did at this age (also, notice the kitchen towel-as-bib technique?)
She's become a real lounge-eater.
Moving around:
Getting into as many cracks and crevices as possible
Baby yoga
Temporarily thwarted by a chair
All the other stuff:
Helping me sort out a ball of yarn
How to get the most of Sophie
Juniper and Linden work on the Mail Order Mystery that Faye got them for Christmas
Siblings
My parents come to visit. Linden shows Mary his beloved Pokemon cards
Riding high
Just being all cute and smily
Typical scene around here.
My amaryllis bloomed this year! Here it is in all its glory
Zsofi's birthday bash
Hazel helps with Linden's journalling
Snow day!
And finally, a little video with snippets from the piano recital that both kids performed in last month, as well as Juniper's violin recital from a couple of weeks ago. See you next time!
