Eight Months

I can't believe my baby is already 8 months old. It has gone by so fast. She is a very active baby - she cruises along everything. The last few week she hasn't been sleeping very well - usually getting up once or twice at night to eat and some nights she won't go back to sleep unless I rock her for 30-45 minutes. I'm tired...but in the morning when I see her big toothless grin I can't be mad at her. She is such a happy baby. She eats great and is always hungry. She can down size 2 baby foods no problem and follows it up by chowing on finger foods (cheerio's or fruit puffs are her favorite).

I'm at the point right now where I'm trying to figure out if I should ween her or not. She really isn't ever full by just nursing and I usually end up giving her a bottle within an hour anyways. I feed her about 3 of the 5 bottles she gets during the day. At this point with Luke and Claire I just let nature take its course and weened them - but with Tayson I really worked hard to keep nursing him until finally right before he turned a year I finally gave in and stopped. I think Sophie would be perfectly happy if I just stopped but there is such a big part of me that is forcing this since she is my last.

Here are some things I will miss when she stops nursing:

• Her funny laugh cry she does when she knows it's coming or I switch sides. She is so excited.
• Knowing I'm giving her the healthiest thing I can do for her.
• Burning an extra 500 calories a day.
• When her little hand tickles my back and I'm not expecting it.
• The way she always pushes at my boobs like a puppy to get the milk to come out faster.
• When she growls while eating.
  
• The sweet looks she gives me.

And of course some things I won't miss:

• Being the only one who can get up to feed her in the night (early morning)
• Pumping at work
• Wearing nursing bras