Lainey Ann 8 months - Lots of Firsts

Eight months ...I cannot believe she is 8 months old. It is flying by. She is still a total delight to our home. She loves her jumper still and is totally entertained in that especially when I am cooking dinner and Benjamin is "mowing" around the kitchen before dinner. Praise the Lord for that little johnny jumper! She loves food and just like Benjamin I have to keep a steady pace of shoveling the food in her mouth or we will hear her scream. She really only cries when she has a dirty diaper or the food is not coming fast enough... she is a true Erickson as well. She is passionate about food!! She loves her new little toy "my Pal Violet" that talks to her and plays music to her as she is going to sleep at night. Uncle Brent and Aunt Elle gave it to her and we are so grateful! She is still nursing and doing great. She eats 4 times a day and is still a great sleeper although she is waking up earlier the past few days as the mornings are a little brighter. We cannot complain she sleeps until 8:30am or an early morning for her is 7:45am. She likes to sleep like her mommy and daddy and that makes us happy! She is enamoured with Benjamin and they are really becoming friends, which makes me so delighted. He calls her "baby" and she thinks that is her name. She turns her head when we say "Baby" but not Lainey Ann. I wonder why? Benjamin screams "baby, baby" all day long.... Oh well she will learn it eventually.

Her first car ride at Benjamin's play group. She is one of the only girls in a group of boy second babies of our group. She will have her pick of all the cute boys to play with! There's Harrison, Henry, Mills, and Anders just to name a few!

Lainey Ann in one of her favorite places... Her Jumper!

This is just a cute one that is just so her - mouth open wide and smiley!! She's all bundled up in her winter hat for the January Snowstorm we had in Dallas. It was too icey to "play in the snow", but fun to look at it and watch Benjamin run around saying "WOW"...Snow!

I don't know if it is because we have been so busy with Benjamin or if it is because Lainey Ann is the second baby, but she just now started holding her bottle. Frankly, she has not had a lot of bottles, so this is just a new fun task that allows mommy and daddy to have hands and feet to chase Benjamin! Here's Lainey Ann hanging out with Daddy in the office. Yippee, I can hold my own bottle...

Lainey Ann sitting up. She is getting really steady at sitting up and she first did it with Grammy and Grandpa Erickson while we were at the Baylor Bowl game in Houston about December 29th. But throughout January she has just gotten stronger and more steady and will sit and play with her toys. This is revolutionary for me, because Benjamin only "sat" for 4 days before he started crawling. Lainey Ann will roll over to get toys, but she does not have any real interest in going anywhere. Wherever she is sitting and playing at she is happy...as long as we are in the room. THIS IS NEW...she is starting to cry when we leave the room - this actually just started a few days ago. She is very happy with her brother and mommy and wants to be with the family. She especially loves her Daddy time too at night snuggling watching Basketball.

My first tea party at 7 months old.... At Christmas my mom invited me and Lainey Ann to a Christmas tea party. It was so fun showing her off to my mom's friends and Ainsley and Lainey Ann got to to a craft and got to take pictures with Santa.

My first walk with Benjamin and Lainey Ann in our double jogging stroller. It was SOOO Much fun! We use our everyday stroller most days, but this one Daddy can attach to the back of his bike. It converts to a double stroller. Benjamin was sweet with her and he read her books while we walked.
Our first trip to the Lake together as a family

Silvia is with us for three weeks until she goes back to El Salvador and she dressed Lainey Ann this day and she said she looked like "Dora The Explorer" with her hat and her jeans and browns sandals. She's ready for an adventure! Go Dora Go!

We propped her up on the picnic basket and then she proceeded to plop down on her head - ooops. It was a really cushy picnic blanket :)

Lainey Ann's first swing ride - I think she looks a little like her BIG DADDY in this picture. It is a very Harman expression. She was a little tentative, but then she really liked it!