Now we are Eight

We celebrated eight months with no pomp: Ivy has had a bad cold all week and yesterday was an especially bad day, at least in the evening. Fever of 101.5, nose faucet, phlegm that she would cough up and then choke on. And the cold this week has really showcased the "TEF Cough" that so many of these kids get - floppy trachea equals terrible bark. Poor little thing.

It feels like milestones are slowly growing farther and farther apart. This is not a bad thing at all, for me - I feel like life is sorta-kinda slowing down a teensy bit and that's really nice. A few new things:

* Figured out how to feed herself. She loves the (unhealthy, of course) little puffs that melt in your mouth, and it was fun to watch her figure out how to get a hold of one on her tray and get it to go in her mouth. She still has to use two hands sometimes.
* Has been able to get from sitting to hands and knees, reaching for a toy. She will rock back and forth a tiny bit when I put her down on the floor, but prefers the tummy. Well, really, she prefers to just sit. And then get frustrated when her toys are out of reach.
* The other day she was outside on a windy day and she stuck her tongue out to feel it, and left it there. We were out for ten or fifteen minutes, and that tongue was out the whole time.
* Chews on the nipple of her new sippy cup, but doesn't know how to lean back to get anything out of it.
* Sort of pulls up on me, loves to get up into a (supported) standing position, but doesn't think to pull up on anything else.
* NEEDS mama. Touching mama is not enough. Sitting right next to mama is not enough. Being surrounded by mama's arms but lying on the changing table is not enough. There must be total body contact. Very important.
* Loves being thrown around. That gets the most giggles. But she's not a super giggly baby, on the whole.
* Really enjoys her day care buddies. It's so sweet to see her smile at them when they run by, or play with them on the floor.
* Doesn't care about water. Doesn't hate it, but doesn't get excited for bath time like some babies I know.

I continue to have a hard time leaving her at day care. I like work, and I'm glad she has other kids to interact with, but I miss her a ton when she's there. I visit her for every lunch hour to nurse, and none of the other moms do; it's partly to keep up my milk supply but also because I can't bear the thought of being away from her for almost ten hours every day. But we make do.