Life on Lofty Lane: Finley Irene- Months 2-8 (It feels impossible to keep up!)

Already 8 months old! (well almost 9!)

It's hard to process it all... where to begin?? Obviously this time with Finley has FLOWN by. We are busy with our lives running here and there and all the normal activities. When I look through photos, the MANY photos I have taken since I am always taking photos, it is unreal how fast it is going. I'm so glad I have taken all these pictures as it helps me to remember it all and I really love looking at them. While I can't share them all, be prepared, because I am sharing a ton in this post.

I have failed with the monthly updates on the blog, but thankfully have come through with my short updates every month with a picture of sweet Finley. This angel has brought us an immeasurable amount of joy. Her smile completely melts me every time and I just want to hug and kiss her constantly.

In these photos you see huge changes in our sweet baby as she's gone from being a skinny legged tiny baby to a chunky legged big baby practically overnight.

Our early months, while more tiring with nighttime feedings, were a dream. She's been the best baby and so easy. We kept Finley in our room for 6 months... I say "we", but if I am being honest it was me who couldn't bear to be as far away. It was wonderful having her so near. I got to where I would lay her down with me if she woke earlier than normal and loved watching her fall back to sleep and smelling her sweet scent. She's smile at me so happy to be close and we both slept so peacefully. And I can't even believe I am saying or sharing that as I was always so worried about doing that before. But this time I decided it was ok as long as I was very cautious.

I felt no reason to hurry into feeding Finley solid foods so it really was 6 months before she had actual baby food. It didn't take long at all for her to love eating and she now enjoys some fairly tasty baby food pouches. At first it was once a day, then twice and now we eat 3 times a day usually plus the bottle feedings. With her bottles, she usually has 7 ounces now, but for a while it was 4-5 ounces.

Her napping has gone through several transitions. We had absolutely no schedule for several months. After the holidays I started working towards some more consistency. The challenge has always been the afternoon pick up times and activities for Emerson and Cameron that interfere with Finley's schedule. It was hard to get her on a schedule but after a while we had a semi schedule worked out. It was 7 months before we had a real routine that was consistent. Now that it is summertime, it is easier on Finley. She naps better now. When she was just a few months old she did't nap more than 20-30 minutes in her crib and now she naps 1.5-2 hours many times.

It's been fun watching her learn and grow stronger. We were slow to really focus on tummy time but got with the program eventually. Finley went from hating it to loving it. It is hard to keep her still now as she wants to roll all over and crawl. She actually gets pretty irritated if you try to hold her back, but you have to roll her back to change her diaper.

Soon we will be upgrading to a normal carseat instead of the infant carrier as we have reached the point where it truly is so hard to carry her in her car seat. When we do this transition we will really miss the convenience of the infant carrier. So hard to believe this time has already come.

I know this is the shortest blog post ever, but getting in to more detail is a real challenge and I want to make sure I at least get this one posted! After this, I need to do severe other updates, too!

Here are 100 pictures for enjoyment and some videos of our sweet baby girl. The photos did not all stay in order, but for the most part they did. We love, love, love our Finley Irene!