Life's Little Souvenirs: Eight Months Old.

Guess who turned eight months old!?

Age: eight months, four days

Weight: 13 pounds, 5 ounces

Height: 25 inches

Favorite food: fruit, fruit, and fruit!

Loves: books/bedtime stories, sitting up, and playing in her exersaucer.

Dislikes: keeping her head bands on her noggin' and laying on her back

Alright, so, this passed month has been both atrocious and adventurous!!!
I never thought that my sweet, adorable, tiny, little Avalyn could be capable of producing the most blood curdling, and mind blowing screams one has ever heard! She has been teething for almost two months now and I swear for the longest time I thought that I would never get my precious baby back. She was a totally different baby when her teeth started to bother her! She refused to eat solid foods for almost three weeks, would scream bloody murder when we would take her bottle away from her after she had finished eating, and some days she would do nothing but whine and cry ALL day.
Basically everything that the books said COULD happen did. I was convinced we were being punished because she had been such the perfect baby from the day we brought her home from the NICU.
We invested in EVERY teether toy and remedy out there; or at least it sure felt like it. She would be content with one thing for a few minutes before she would go back to the screaming. I have a lovely stash of teether toys, Tylenol, teething gels, and teething tablets. I have about three of the self feeders that we like to try frozen fruit in, but truthfully, the only thing that seemed to help her through the worst days was sleep. I felt like a terrible parent for letting her sleep most of the day and all through the night, but I was at my wits end. As long as her tummy was full, I didn't care if she didn't eat the food I gave her. As long as she was not screaming, I didn't care if she slept all of the time. As long as it gave her relief, I was all for those dreaded teething tablets.
Eventually the worst of it passed and now we are waiting for these little teeth to cut through. She has three little bumps (the incisors and canine teeth) on the bottom right of her gums and the middle of the three is the biggest so I think that will be the one she cuts first. We still have a rough day here and there, but she is eating her solid foods again so I think the worst is over...for now...
Teething pains aside, we have had a great month!

My little darling had her eight month well visit (not a typical exam for babies, but her new doctor has her on monthly visits so as to monitor her weight gain) and it boy was it an interesting one! First of all, let me say how much I really love our new pediatrician! He is spectacular and is very good at explaining things to us; such as the difference between her weight/height on a typical baby growth chart versus the preemie growth chart! I love how he explains both of the charts to me.
So we learned that Avalyn is growing how she should be and that the feeding schedule we have her on now is a good one; although now we are thinking about starting her on solid foods three times a day now instead of two. She is currently getting 6 oz. bottles every three hours with the exception of over night because she is sleeping through the entire night. I personally thought that that many bottles was a lot but he suggested to keep giving them to her because she does still need to catch up. We also discussed a few of our concerns as far as her hunger strike and he did confirm that it was due to teething and that it will not last (thankfully she is starting to eat again!).
Our biggest concern was her coughing; since she has come home from the NICU she has had this questionable cough. I was so worried that she had contracted RSV or had Croup, but thankfully the doctor dismissed those ideas. He told us that she is showing signs of allergies; which generally start to pop up around six months. He asked us if we have pets; which of course we do, and he gave us the "look". He was not saying that she was allergic to the cats or dog, but it could very well be a possibility. It could also be due to the excessive amounts of pollen; which is what is giving Brian and I a hard time. The amount of pollen down here is simply ridiculous! But he suggested to keep using her cool mist humidifier at night, keep her nose clear, and to get a wedge crib pillow or to prop her up when she is asleep. He informed us that with these allergies and with teething she is just all sorts of uncomfortable. He could tell by the way that she was breathing (with her mouth open) that she was suffering from some serious congestion. Poor thing! He prescribed us a low dose of Zyrtec for her to see if it helps.
I am not going to lie, I was very hesitant about giving her the Zyrtec, so I put off giving it to her until the weekend when Brian was home so he could help keep an eye on her after giving to her; I was paranoid about an allergic reaction.
I was also a litte skeptical about trying the wedge pillow, but Brian and I figured if it did not work we would just return it. At first she kept sliding down off of the damn thing and we had to move her back onto it about three times the first night she used it, but after about a week of using it, she pretty much stays in one spot.
Since trying all of those things she has been feeling much better! Of course she can't stand having her boogies sucked out of her nose, but I don't blame her on that one. That is just annoying!
So the part that made our visit rather interesting was when the doctor was giving Avalyn her look over and she gave him a major freak out. This little baby was completely fine with him touching her, talking to her, etc. but once that stethoscope came out and he put it on her chest, she looked up at him and her little eyes got huge, filled with tears, and she did this sort of scared grimace thing with her mouth and then just started bawling! I was so confused by her reaction considering she has seen this doctor before and seeing doctors is nothing new for her.
Of course after I picked her up she was completely fine the rest of the time. We think she is starting to become leery of strangers when they are near her; I really hope it is not the beginning of separation anxiety!

As the month progresses we are beginning to hit several milestones!
Avalyn is now able to sit up on her own for several minutes before collapsing onto her pillow. She is starting to want to stand more and for longer! She has even stood at our coffee table for a few minutes and watched the T.V. before I scooped her up because I could not stand the thought of her being able to stand with the furniture's help. It was definitely one of those "devastated momma" moments. I want her to be my tiny little bug again!! She is so close to rolling over from her back to her belly and she is able to roll from belly to back like it is nothing.
She is starting to become much more aware of her surroundings when we are out and about town. We no longer leave her in her car seat when we go into stores; she either sits in the cart or is carried by Brian or myself. She has started to get so excited over things...she does this crazy cough/pant thing when she gets excited...I swear people must think she never gets out by the way she reacts to being in a store.
She loves going into book stores and helping me pick out books to read to her at bedtime. We took her into Barnes and Noble to pick out some books as a little "Happy 8 Month Birthday" gift and she went NUTS. Brian was holding her in the adventure position (facing outward) and I would pick up a book and show it to her and she would do her crazy cough thing and flail her legs and then squeal. Funniest thing EVER! I hope to catch it on video some day.

Well, another month has almost come and gone and before we know it Avalyn will be a year old...I am so not ready for that! Where does the time go?!

On that note, I leave you with some of our favorite photos and videos from this month!