Guess who’s eight months old?
My little teether, that’s who!
Tala’s top two front teeth are lurking under the surface, turning a little more white and a little less pink each day, adding “fffff” and “tttthhh” to her growing repertoire of babble. Those same two teeth are waking her up at night, crying until one of us pops a cold pacifier straight from the freezer into her waiting mouth. Or she’ll wake up at 6am ready to party.
Every morning, I gently nudge the corners of her mouth into a little smile (which never stays little!), hoping that today’s the day! But so far that day hasn’t come. Until they decide to show up, we have some tough nights and early mornings ahead of us. Hang in there, little teether.
Guess who’s eight months old? My little crawler, that’s who.
Once she figured out how to scoot backwards, it was only about a week until Tala started pulling herself forward on her belly, commando-style. Then another week or so until she got up on her hands and knees in a proper crawl. She doesn’t know how to sit up by herself yet, and she barely even bothers with toys—not when moving around is so much more fun.
Once Tala started crawling, I got down on the floor with her and discovered a whole new world of potential dangers. To my horror, I realized she could now very easily crawl to Rogue’s bowl and eat cat food, or even worse, get to the litter box and cram Rogue’s finest into her mouth. We’ve had to make some changes—no fancy babyproofing equipment yet, it’s mostly been rearranging things here and there. So far, so good.
Guess who’s eight months old? My flavor-loving baby, that’s who.
No bland purees for this baby. Like her mommy, she loves Daddy’s flavorful cooking: slow-roasted lamb stew, Turkish red lentil soup, salmon burgers, steamed apple with a dash of cinnamon, garlic chicken tikka, pan-fried cod with roasted sweet potatoes. Ancestors from both sides of my family—Filipino and Indian—must have been smiling down on her with pride when she attacked her first helping of curry sauce over rice.
Guess who’s eight months old? My smiling, happy baby who loves to stand up on her own two feet. (I’m her favorite thing to hold onto for support; the playpen is a distant second.)
My cuddly bundle of separation anxiety who now, more often than before, bursts into tears when I put her down, the squirmy wriggler who puts up a vigorous fight when getting dressed, the tiny fashionista who hates outfit shots (even if she has the cutest outfits).
My champion napper (who’s capable of two-hour naps twice daily!) who still falls asleep on Marlon’s chest and my arms sometimes. Shhh, don’t tell the baby sleep experts, but we’re not too crushed when that happens.
Guess who’s eight months old? My baby, my Tala, my beautiful little girl, that’s who!
Oh, she is so adorable! I can’t get over her beautiful hair. Hang in there with the teething!
Thanks, Catherine. I have recurring dreams that all her teeth come out at once. Wishful thinking!
She’s so beautiful – that last photo is a real heart-wrencher!
It makes it even harder for us to put her down when she’s fallen asleep like that.
Lovely smiles from Tala!
Long-time lurker here. Cheers!
Love delurkers! Thanks for your comment
I love watching her grow up
What a cutie! I have to admit my fave pic was her crying fashionista shot. Hehehe 
Hugs from Tita Gatchy!
Sometimes there’s nothing I can do to console her. So I just take a picture. Haha.
No way!!! It’s so crazy that she’s 8 months old already!
She’s gorgeous and looking more like you everyday.
I relived going through the milestones you mentioned with my older daughter as I read this. I’m going to treasure them even more with my second as we don’t plan on having another baby!
Virtual hugs to Tala for the teething pain – this too shall pass, sweet girl!
Awww enjoy every moment, Chi. Well not the pooping and screaming moments, but… you know what I mean
She is beautiful! Love that outfit shot eventhough she’s crying hehe.
Hehehe
Hi Deepa! I love your blog, your writing style and photos, especially of your adorable Tala! I am an expectant mom and reading this post makes me more excited to meet my own daughter soon.
Thank you for your lovely comment, Jackie! I was just rewatching Tala’s ultrasound video yesterday, it brought back what it was like to be so excited, not knowing what she would look like or what kind of personality she would have. Have a wonderful pregnancy!