Apartment Living With Hope

So I noticed the other day that it’s been a while since I’ve last blogged (last month was pretty sparse on the blog entries).  And as some family members have informed me, it’s been more than a month since I’ve blogged about Hope.

That doesn’t mean that nothing is happening with our soon-to-be eight-month-old.  Quite the contrary.  The Civee and I have been so busy following her around and trying to keep her out of trouble that it feels like we haven’t had much time to sit back and brag about her.

In the past month, she’s been crawling all over the place, even managing to make her way up the stairs (with supervision).  She’s pulling herself up on couches, tables, chairs and people and can walk while holding on to things.  She can stand for a few seconds (but seems to fall whenever she realizes she’s standing without holding on to something).  She can wave (but not yet do the wave) and give high-fives.  The sounds she’s able to make have grown (and should grow even more in a few months once she’s had her palate surgery).  And her diet has expanded, now including:

• Peas
• Artichokes
• Carrots
• Pears
• Avocados
• Squash
• Potatoes (sweet and normal)
• Crackers
• Cheerios
• Ham
• Pork
• Turkey
• Salmon
• Parsnips
• String Beans
• Bananas

Perhaps most important (to The Civee and I at least) is that she falls asleep (or gets quiet) right as soon as we put her in her crib around 8 at night and doesn’t wake up until sometime after 4:30 the next morning.  Getting her to nap is still a chore, but we’re making progress.  (Having said that, we know her sleeping patterns will change tonight and we won’t get any sleep for a long time).

We’ve had to do a lot of childproofing and because we don’t have a lot of open space, it still feels like we have to keep an eye on her while she plays.  Hope doesn’t like her playpen, possibly because she knows she can’t get anywhere from inside.  But some of Hope’s relatives got a garage sale deal on a little tykes playset, which has helped out a lot.  The Civee and I call it her little apartment, and as you can see below, it does a great job of keeping her occupied: