This is what 8 months looks like

8 months! How can this be?  Elle, you have been the brightest spot in what has otherwise been a year I'd like to forget.   I am so glad you came to us this year, because we really, really needed you.  Thank you for being so wonderful!


This kid is growing like a weed.  She's tall and heavy -- Grace has 2 years and only about 10 pounds on her.  Elle is fast, curious, smart...she can stand up and balance all by herself, and recently started pushing a little stroller around, so we know it won't be long until she's walking.  I'm excited for her, a little nervous for us, but she's so ready.  She says "Mama," "Dada," "Papa," "Anna," and has said "JAH!" for Georgia.  She loves to stick out her tongue and blow her lips, real quick, and then I'll do it back to her, and back and forth we go until one of us cracks up.  She's an expert clapper, patty-cake player, and peek-a-boo master.

Elle loves food, not baby purees, but table food that she can feed herself.  When she sees my mom (Mimi) she reaches for her and then smacks her lips together like, what you got for me today lady?  I'd do the same thing if it got me APPLE JUICE AND HOT DOGS, MIMI.  Eric got Mimi a sign that says, "Children are often spoiled because no one will spank Grandma."  Pretty much sums it up.  (This is not a public shaming Mimi.  Never leave us again like you did last week, we need you.)  No teeth for Elle yet, but they've got to be coming soon since she's had quite a sleep regression the past few months.  At least that's what we're telling ourselves.

Elle is really friendly, and while men tend to scare her, she'll go by just about anyone else, as long as she's facing out and able to watch the action. This can prove a difficult task because she's so.dang.heavy.  She's especially sweet in the mornings when she sees Eric for the first time, giving him a huge smile and reaching for him because she wants a hug.  Then she wants to get down and explore and see everything, getting herself into some pretty precarious positions -- always making a beeline for the toilet, getting stuck underneath her push toy, getting stuck under the kitchen table, climbing into and standing up inside of her car seat and rocking back and forth, obsessed with getting Georgia's food and water.  Eric and I are continually astounded by all the things she can do, when Grace was 8 months old she had just started crawling.  We mostly have Grace to thank for inspiring Elle's early achievements, but we also suspect she has Big Nycz genes. Bigger, faster, stronger, baby.

Eleanor can watch a full episode of Sesame Street (Moms love TV!).  If you pull out Elmo or Abby, she'll light up and totally engage with the toy, flapping it around and chewing on its head.  It usually buys Grace about a minute before Elle is back to destroying all the princesses neatly lined up on the ottoman, which Elle just grew tall enough to reach. Once  she has sufficiently ruined Grace's life, she's on to the next thing, harassing Georgia, pulling on the curtains, finding and attempting to ingest all the flotsam on our new floors.  I call Elle a tinker because she's always trying to figure out how things work, the clips on her carseat, the wheels on the stroller, the coffee in the Keurig. If you're sitting on the ground and she sees you, she'll scramble across the room until she reaches you and then sort of climb up your body until you're holding her, even though you never actually picked her up.  It's a sneaky party trick.

It's remarkable to me how my two girls have such unique and distinct personalities already.  Grace, especially as a baby, was very cautious and reserved until she felt totally comfortable in a new situation.  Elle, I think, is a little bolder, a little more determined to do what she wants, whenever she wants.  I think back to when she was 3 months old and I brought her to my grandparent's pool, thinking she'd have fun watching Grace and the other kids swim, and how she screamed on the deck, not relenting until I brought her in the (much-too-cold-for-moms babies) water.  I love this about her, her curiosity and determination.  I hope she keeps that spirit, never letting self-doubt hold her back from anything she wants to do.  She's inspiring, silly, cute, chubby, she's just the perfect baby.   She's exactly what we needed, when we needed her, and we are forever thankful.

Elle?  Keep it up girl.  The world is a mess right now and we're going to need your determination to help fix it.  #Imwithelle