Dear Bennett :: 8 Months

Bennett girl, you turned 8 months old on July 15th. I can't even believe that is possible! You are a little peanut and everyone who meets you loves to compliment your girly features and your petite little frame. You still stun everyone with those big blue eyes you got from your Dee Da and that head of hair you got from me :) Your once jet black hair is now dirty blonde and we are thinking you will be a toe head like your big brother pretty soon! 

Speaking of your big brother, I'm pretty sure 90% of our pictures this month include Liam! You are crawling all over the place and standing on everything and even trying to take some steps holding on to furniture. Liam is loving watching you grow up and is your biggest cheerleader! His favorite game with you right now is crawling races :) 

You have always been a better eater than Liam ever was as a baby, but it is official that you are a better eater than Liam is currently. You are done with pureed baby food, you LOVE any and all table food. It is amazing. Your Dee Da and I always say your favorite food is meat :) 

Some other favorite things this summer have been beach trips, going to the pool and spending time with family and baby friends!

This month we also noticed your bottom 2 teeth have come in! There's something new every day with you, squish. We're loving life with you in it!

Dear Bennett :: 7 Months

Giiiirl, you're 7 months old! And it's summer!! 

We took you on your first beach trip over Memorial Day Weekend and you were in heaven! Unfortunately, you are still loving to put anything and everything in your mouth so sand was a pretty large temptation! We had to keep you confined to the GoPod if someone wasn't holding you, which you got tired of pretty quickly...and who can blame you!? Crazy to think of you as a little toddler girl running around with Liam on the beach next year. 

Bennett girl you are quickly becoming a little pistol! You know what you want and let us know when you want it! :) The squeals and grunts and cackles and screams that come out of that teeny little body are hilarious. 

Even though there was lots of GoPod sitting, big brother hat wearing, and pay attention to me squealing, you were SO much fun. You make us all laugh so much! 

Liam wasted no time rubbing it in your face how much fun it is running free in the sand and waves, building castles, catching fish, and swimming in the surf. You'll join him soon baby girl! 

You are sleeping like a champ these days and it was no different at the beach! You are napping for a little over an hour in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon, and sometimes take a cat nap late afternoon. You are also sleeping through the night! Yay Queen B! 

Big Jim and Zuzu spoiled us all as usual and took us on your first boat ride. The life jacket was not a hit...at all...but we made a memory and that's what matters! 

The next weekend, we took a long long road trip with everybody except Dee Da to see cousin Jack get married in Georgia! You and Liam were TROOPERS during that car ride! 

I got to show you off to so many family members who had never met you and loved every second of bragging about what a sweet baby you are! 

Me, you, and your brother got some good time together but we really missed your Dee Da! I am just so thankful for what great travelers you both are! Also, how much you love your Zuzu, Big Jim, JJ, and Bubba Bo! They were so helpful and loved having you both there as much as I did. We got to swim in the lake, dance the night away at the wedding, and catch up with family who we rarely get to see. It was a special weekend! 

What a joy it is to be your mommy, B! You charm anyone who comes in contact with those big blue eyes and tongue-y grin :) You are the best. 

Dear Bennett :: 6 Months

Miss priss, you are 6 months old! Just like that! I can't believe that half a year has gone by since I delivered you at 4am, first saw that crazy head full of black hair, and knew life would never be the same. It's true, life has never been the same since we welcomed you into our family, but at the same time I can't remember what life was like without you! B, we are so in love with your sweet, sassy, hilarious, spunky self! We are getting to see more and more of who you are with every passing month, so even though this baby phase is passing by WAY TOO FAST, it's easier to bear when every month means discovering more of your little personality. 

 I think it's safe to say you are going to be like your brother and love being outside as much as possible. The weather is continuing to warm up and we are loving taking advantage of backyard picnics, walks to the park, and watching the geese fly in.

This month the two biggest milestones have been learning to sit up by yourself (yay!) and taking your first bite of table food. 

I just have to say, being a mom this time around is so much easier! I would never have broken the "rules" and given Liam table food on a whim, but I have felt so much more freedom to trust my instincts and let go of my false sense of control this time around. So, this month when we visited Nan and Pops in the mountains and you wouldn't stop lunging for every bite of my food at dinner, I decided we should go for it. There was a banana on the counter and as you can see from the picture, it was a major hit! You are ALL about table foods...hallelujah. 

You are still as happy as can be sleeping in your pack n play in the closet. I have never known a baby to prefer the pack n play, but at least it makes you a wonderful traveler! Maybe one day you will have a room outside of Mommy and Dee Da's closet. 

For the first time in years, we decided to stay in town to celebrate Easter instead of heading to the beach. We got to go to service at church, hunt for easter eggs, and eat lunch with family at ZuZu and Big Jim's house after. 

We also got to celebrate our bestie Aunt Laney's birthday this month! 

Liam is still the funniest person in the world to you and you are so ready to be able to keep up with him! I am praying that as your relationship continues to grow, Liam will remain protective and sweet to his baby sister and you will always look at him with admiration and love. 

 We love you Billy Girl! 

Dear Bennett :: 5 Months

Hey pretty girl! This month has been really fun with lots of smiles, giggles, personality, and fun people! With the weather turning into beautiful warm spring days, it's been so fun to get you outside more. These pictures were from a little impromptu backyard photo shoot with your big brother, Big Jim and Zuzu making you laugh for me :) I got a few that I love, but these 3 are probably my favorite because they are so YOU. Bashfully sweet, wildly excitable, big brother loving, perma-tounge grinning girl! 

This month, we got serious about sleep training because you were still waking up multiple times a night since the sleep regression hit. After about 3 nights of letting you cry/giving you your paci/letting you cry some more throughout the night, you finally gave in and started sleeping from about 7:30pm to 5am. Letting you cry it out was so sad since you are so rarely upset, but we knew you could do it! 

Soon after that, we had some fun visitors! Your Uncle EJ, Aunt Megan and cousins Sullivan, Eli, and Nora came to stay with us! We were so excited to have them in Raleigh and for you and Liam to get to play with your cousins, who also happen to be your besties ;) We decided to give the Scalfs our bedroom and our family all piled in Liam's room. It was perfect timing to see how you would do in your crib since I would be on the floor right next to you if you started to make noise and wake Liam up. Well, turns out you hate your crib...bummer. I think the crib was too much room for you to roll around in and you missed being snuggled up in your bassinet. For the rest of the weekend we decided to set the bassinet into your crib and you did fine after that. It was also good to find out that Liam is a pretty hard sleeper! Your little noises and cries in the early morning didn't wake him up, hallelujiah! 

For now, I think we will hold off on moving you into Liam's room because I'm selfishly not ready to mess up his sleep habits. 

The visit with the Scalf's was so much fun. I love that you and Nora are so close in age and if your Aunt Megan and I have anything to do with it, will always be close friends! 

 :: Fun Things :: 

-You are a bubble blowing machine this month and it's hilarious!

-You are still wanting to put everything in your mouth and chewing like crazy.

-We had you cry through the 45 minute intruder and you have started stretching your naps out to sometimes 2 hours! 

-You have found your hands and love to try to grab people, toys, Amos etc. :) 

-We've started testing letting you ride in the stroller without your carseat and you seem to love it!

-For as laid back as your personality is, you are a MOVER. You love to roll around and try to get your knees up under you to scoot!

-You are getting more blond hair in and pretty soon I bet you'll be looking just like your big brother!