Journey will be 8 months soon and I have to admit, this has been one of the more tiring periods of time since she was born. She’s slowly taking the advice of her PawPaw and giving me a dose of my own behavior by talking all the time. Most of the time she’s either saying DaDa or MaMa or making sounds that start off as a low moan and increase to a high-pitched squeal.

Here are a few things I’ve learned in this new stage of parenthood:

Babies move really fast 

Journey is extremely active and loves to move around. Months ago, I learned the hard way that the days of leaving her asleep on the bed unattended were over. Now, she’s crawling and when she sees something on the floor she wants, she heads there at full speed. We’ll be doing a lot of baby-proofing this weekend because she is no longer confined to only crawling in her room.

Babies put EVERYTHING in their mouths

If it’s on the floor, on the chair, basically anything within arm’s reach it’s going in there. They have no filter for what’s a good or bad thing to eat. Actually I take some of that back… We bought Journey a few teething rings a few weeks ago and she hardly puts those in her mouth. Before I put her down to play, I do a floor test by crawling around on the ground. You’d be surprised at how often I find small things that have fallen and been forgotten that could be hazardous if she got a hold of them.

Babies learn each day through their environment

Each day, Journey is pushing the limits to figure out this thing called life. She intently watches our facial expressions to understand if we’re happy or upset and imitates the movement of our mouths when we talk. We read to her, play with her and ensure that she has stimulating toys to play on her own. A while back, we purchased a Fisher-Price jumper which she uses to exercise and blow off some steam. One of her favorite toys right now is the VTech Sit-to-Stand Learning Walker. She doesn’t use it to stand and walk yet, but she does use the front interactive face, which can be removed for play all around the house. 

Babies are still cute

….just not as cute during the hours of 1:30-6:00AM.

Regardless, I’m so excited about all of the things Journey’s doing! I know walking will be right around the corner and I’ll have on my running shoes.