Week 36-December 22-28-Hi baby! This week you have started head banging! I read about this happening but thought nothing of it because you hadn't done it yet! It is fine unless you are near a corner or a hard surface, so when I see you do this, I just move you to the middle of the room. You are rocking back and forth on your knees now. It is fun for you. Papa and I can see the joy you get from being able to move so freely and easily. You are making lots of new sounds. And babbling a lot now. You have so much hair on your head too. Everything about you is growing and changing. You have been biting me with your new teeth baby. It hurts so much. I take the boob away from you when you do this and tell you to be gentle. Usually I gasp loudly and you stop and look at me. But then you'll do it again, so it doesn't really stop you. I refuse to yell at you to stop which is what some people told me to do, but anyone who yells at a baby is crazy, I think. We are going to Mammoth tomorrow morning early, so I will let you know about your first time in the snow next week baby.

You are my heart and my soul. I love you so much.

Week 35-December 15-21-Hi baby girl. Papa and I started sleep training you. We actually began on the 14th and it lasted until the 16th. Well, its a start....Papa would lay down with you after eleven pm and get you to go back to sleep when you woke up, instead of me nursing you throughout the night. You did protest but by the second night had already adjusted somewhat. Unfortunately, we didn't keep it up and now you are back to nursing every few hours. We will try it again after the new year. On the 16th, we noticed that you are getting your two bottom teeth in the middle. So many teeth, all at once. It doesn't really seem to affect you other than a runny nose. You are on your hands and knees all of the time now. It seems to be just a matter of days before you are mobile.

I love nursing you. It is precious bonding time that you only share with me. It will be too soon before it ends and this intimacy transitions into a different one. I am not ready to give it up, but we want to have another baby and so it has become a decision that needs to be made. So far, I have not weaned you even from one feeding. At eight months, I feel you are still too young to be taken off the boob.

You push yourself backwards now. Although not yet crawling, you are able to get around. You have managed to wedge yourself in a bookshelf and between the couch and glider. Papa and I try to coax you forward with fabulous toys and even our phones, but even though you very much want these items, you do not come forward. We wind up bringing you to these instead.

When upset, you scream and you know the order of actions. When in the car seat, I unbuckle you, I then pick you up. Once I took a little too long to pick you up and boy, did I get yelled at.

I love the innocence of this age. At mommy and me, there are three other babies your age. The moms usually sit next to one another and chat about our babies. While we do this, the babies are touching each other, climbing on the moms, but not their moms, other babies' moms. It is sweet to see the lack of boundaries, the light and energy within you. It restores some of the innocence within me, or at the very least makes me aware that it does exist.

You lay on your tummy now, with your arms and legs in the air, like an airplane. Your muscles are strong. Everything you do is preparing you for crawling. Everything you do, you learn though playing. It is fascinating. At what point do people stop learning though play and begin learning through books and sitting still and listening to a lecture? Having been a teacher for so long, I feel I understand children better now with you, than from all of the training I went through.

You have started to say, "Yaaaaa". It is adorable. We went shopping with Yana and while she was holding you, she muttered to herself that an item of clothing a pretty and you said, "Yaaaa". She was floored that you agreed with her!

When you are sitting and you start to topple over, most times you can catch yourself and sit back up. You also can push yourself from a laying position to a sitting position. You are becoming super independent, it is remarkable.

I love you more than life itself, and so does Papa!

Week 34-December 8-14-Hi gorgeous girl! On the 9th, you got on your hands and knees for the very first time! We are so proud of you and waiting for the moment you take off crawling. You also started balling up your fists and holding your arms rigid while saying, "AAAAHHHHHHHHH". It is very funny. Most nights this week, after our bedtime routine of walking Zed, reading one or two stories, bathtime and putting on our pajamas, you are waking up and playing. I usually can get you to sleep in twenty minutes, thirty tops, now it is taking the better part of an hour. I have been putting you in the pack and play where you play quietly and then call for me, we snuggle and go to sleep. For a while, we had your routine down pat, but this has thrown me for a loop. After the new year, when everything goes back to normal, I will get really strict again about your bedtime and being home in time for it. I can't even leave you alone to play in bed for fear you might fall off, so we think we will get you a crib. Although, we do keep saying this and never doing it. Love you so much baby, you are the light of our lives!

Week 33-December 1-7-Goodbye gummy smiles, goodbye gummy kisses...two top teeth are coming through! You are a little bunny! You have been nursing more than usual and your nose was running, but I thought it was residual from the cold you had in Seattle. We went to Mike and Yael's for Shabbat dinner on the 3rd and she fed you some challah and noticed your teeth. I thought teething would affect you much more than it has. It really hasn't phased you at all. To be honest, I was sad about it. You are changing so quickly, my heart aches, but I soon recovered and now revel in your toothy smiles! You are able to get onto your tummy now from a sitting position. You are skipping naps, the world is just too interesting to sleep. When we stand you up, now you like to stand on your tippee toes. When on your tummy, you lift your whole body into a push-up. Almost always, you raise your arms to be lifted. On Sunday, we went to my Uncle Bob's and Aunt Carol's for a Hannukah party. Grandpa was carrying you around and when he gave you back to me, you began to cry and reach for him. Let me tell you, you made his world that day! His heart went all aflutter and his eyes grew misty. You two already have a special bond, that day, you sealed it! Love you baby! My heart, my soul!

Week 32-November 24-30-Hi Baby, Happy Hanukah! You are interested and curious about everything, food, sounds, Zed...and everything makes its way into your mouth for you to touch, taste and hold. You love my dad. The moment you see him, you smile at him like no one else. Even Grandma has to work for a smile from you, but Grandpa, forget about it, he is yours and no one else's. I know it makes him feel special. He and I have a special bond, a bond that a father can only have with his daughter and I feel that it has been continued on with you. I hope that you and your papa will have this connection as you two grow together. I know that you will.

You love to hold people's faces in between your two hands and squeeze their cheeks. Gummy, drooly kisses are also a favorite of yours to give away. I love those kisses, they are something special. Now when I come to pick you up, you raise your arms to be lifted. How do you know to do that?

You like the game of peek-a-boo. I will sit you on the bed and hide beside the bed, pop up and say 'boo!' over and over. The smile I get in return is priceless. Cameras cannot capture it, but my heart will remember forever.

You have been doing hand transfers from one hand to the other with your toys. Long naps have also become routine for you. At first I didn't know what to do with all of the time I had, but now I am prepared to conquer big projects, one at a time. So far, though, I've been napping with you. You are so sweet to snuggle with, warm and cuddly soft. For the past two days, you have been balling your little fists and waving them in the air and saying 'eeeeeee' over and over again. It is funny to watch you. You have lots to say, mostly vowels sounds, 'ahhhhhh' and 'eeee', sometimes, 'gaaa' and 'maaa' which you can imagine sends my heart aflutter. I love you. The joy you bring to your papa and me is immeasurable. We celebrated Thanksgiving together this past Thursday. Everybody loved you. On Friday, at David and Robin's house, you were passed around among different cousins. You are a really great baby, fun and easy going. You rarely cry, only when you are too tired. Everybody wants to be around you, including your little cousins. I love you, my heart and soul.