Kayla Raine: 8 months

You are now 8 months old and you've learned all sorts of new things. The first being your new laugh; it must crack you up because you do it all the time, which cracks us up. And so we all just sit around in one big laughing circle. Some have found it hard to interpret the sound as your laugh, but I know better. Someone thought it was "forced laughter" and another "fussing", but I said "No, she's just laughing. Its her new laugh". Keep it comin', we love your laugh!

And This Little Piggy? You can't get enough of him. And the last little piggy that cries 'wee wee wee' all the way up to your neck is the funniest thing ever. And then you stick out your other foot just to make sure I get those little piggy's too. Patty Cake is another big hit. Beyond that your new interests include listenting to messages on the answering machine, your stuffed bear Bo, kicking and splashing in the bath, and trying to grab Daddy's bubbles. They're all equally thrilling but the most thrilling to you is watching your videos on youtube. Secretly I think you know what a big star you are.

Recently we've become acquainted with your new friend Temper Tantrum. Occasionally he pays a visit. If we let you touch the books on your shelf ONCE when you get dressed, then you insist on doing it EVERY TIME. But mostly Mr. Tantrum pays a visit when you're busy playing with your toys and we have to move on to something else. But I don't blame Mr. Tantrum, who wants their toys taken away?

We found more ticklish places on you this month too. We already knew about your feet and tummy, but kissing the back of your neck right behind your ear makes you laugh to no end. You love the attention and the kisses so as soon as the tickling stops you throw your head back so we can do it again. You also created a new tickling game in your highchair. You raise your arms high above your head and I say "Soooo big!" and reach in to tickle your tummy. That game you never tire of. We have to restrain ourselves from tickling you too much so we don't wear you out, but we could listen to that new laugh non-stop.

And speaking of non-stop... you do laps around the house now, still just army crawling, but you are fast. Nothing is off limits to you and sometimes we have to go looking for you. We installed a safety gate at the top of the stairs so now you have free roam of the entire second floor... and you use your freedom well.

Kayla, you make things so easy. You sleep exactly 12 hours straight through the night and you have for months now. In fact, you don't even make so much as a peep the entire night. You eat very well and we've finally gotten you to like bananas. You've can easily entertain yourself in your crib before and after your sleep. We listen to you through the monitor just babbling away. No sooner do you go to sleep than we find ourselves missing you and want to go get you up and be with you.