Jason Griffey

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Originally uploaded by griffey

I realized that I hadn’t spoken up here in a long time, but it’s mainly due to the fact that I’m having too much fun with Eliza to write about it. 🙂 She’s come so far in the last two months it’s hard to enumerate all the changes: standing, cruising, scooting, clapping, not to mention things like sleeping through the night nearly every night. She’s fast-forwarding to toddlerhood all on her own, weaning herself down on the amount of formula she’s drinking with no input from us, eating more and more real food, and is just a little bit of balance away from running around the house on her own.

My favorite thing right now: shes learned to play peek-a-boo, and if you give her a cloth will cover her head herself in the clumsiest way she can, hold it for a second or three, then pull it down looking for you. Adorable.

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Eliza has her first cold. She has the runniest little nose I’ve ever seen. And sneezing, and watery eyes, and general fatigue. She still smiles at me through the snot, which is sweet. But you know she isn’t herself when she prefers quiet, sitting-down play time. We’ve been reading lots of books together. Thank goodness it’s her favorite activity, besides standing.

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Eliza has learned how to clap. Now she can’t stop doing it. She claps for everything, and all the applause is great for mommy’s ego! 🙂

In other news, she stood alone for about 2-3 seconds yesterday. She started off holding on to her “toddle truck” and then decided to let go. She stood there, without holding onto anything, and just looked at us. It’s amazing how brave she is getting.

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Eliza just learned how to move herself forward yesterday. It’s not crawling in the traditional sense but more like an “army crawl” or what some people call “creeping.” Basically, she keeps her belly on the floor, puts her butt in the air, pushes with one of her legs, and reaches forward with one of her hands. We’ve been trying to entice her to move forward for months. What was the first thing she finally went for after all those attempts? Mommy’s lap. Then I tested it with other tempting things placed just out of her reach: my cell phone, her baby monitor, a ball, some favorite toys. Yep! She can move forward alright! It isn’t elegant or fast, but at least she’s getting somewhere. Video to come soon.

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Eliza turns 8 months today! Such a big girl, in all senses of the word. Wanting desperately to walk, not very interested in crawling. Learning how to navigate the scary world of daycare, being without mom, and lots of new emotions. Developing likes and dislikes and letting you know them. Napping like a champ for the first time in her life. Eating everything, including some grown-up food. It seems like she’s not even a baby anymore.

Favorite foods: spinach (although it hurts her tummy), mango, prunes (still!), sweet potatoes

Favorite toys: lift-a-flap books, balls, links, a small stuffed giraffe that she chews on, peek-a-blocks that rattle when you shake them, plates/bowls/cups, bubbles

Favorite hobbies: standing, standing, and more standing. Trying to cruise, especially around her crib. Playing with Indy (the dog). Trying out new sounds. She currently likes “dadadada” best. Playing with her new friends at daycare.

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First things first: is that the biggest Buddha belly you’ve ever seen or what? I rub it for good luck.

On to daycare: It has been pretty hellish for both of us, I have to be honest. Last week I left her for 2 hours on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. She cried the whole time on M and W, and only cried one hour on Friday. Improvement! Today, the teacher said she cried for maybe 15 minutes after I left, then she was pretty much okay. A bit fussy here and there, but not the constant screaming of last week. Yay! She’s smart. I knew she would figure it out, but it’s hard knowing that she is upset and I can’t do anything about it. Hopefully things will continue to get better. Stay tuned!