eight months old

how photo shoots go with an 8 month old:

i've said it before and i'm sure i will say it again, but this is easily my favorite age.  i'm not sure if it is her independence, her little voice, her new sleep habits, or if it just all of it combined.  she started crawling all over the place several weeks ago, which has been so fun.  everyone who warned me that i would long for her immobile days was simply mistaken.  i cannot get enough of those four little limbs and the places they take her.  it has been fun to see what actually interests her, which is basically just her dog.  she spends the majority of her day chasing him from one window to the next while occasionally stopping to play with a random toy or crawl on my lap for a quick hug.  i could just watch her all day long.  she has always been quite talkative, but it seems she never stops talking these days.  sometimes it's a sweet little whisper, other times its a high-pitched shriek.  we laugh at them all.  and her naps, don't get me started on her naps!  she has finally increased those little buggers from 30 minutes to 1+ hours and it is beautiful for all of us.  she also seems to be enjoying her food a lot more these days.  i mentioned previously that we had skipped the pureed food and followed the baby-led weaning approach.  she is still loving this method and we are finding she is eating a lot more of the food as opposed to spitting it all out.  her current favorites seem to be avocados, carrot sticks, and watermelon.  mealtimes have been a good opportunity to practice some sign language with her.  it is fun to see how much she understands these days.  we started a little late though, so she isn't imitating them too much yet.  i can't wait to see what the next month will hold for this little one.