Well, it's March of 2015. That means that my Madelyn Faye is 8 months old! I cannot believe it! Where did the time go!?

As we have witnessed, I am not the best at keeping up with this family blog. I do however, have TONS of pictures to keep those memories fresh. 

Over the last few months, there have been many changes. I no longer work at Brandon Regional Hospital. I currently work at USF Morsani Center (in the surgery department). I've been there since September. Ross still works with his dad. Enough about us, lets talk about Maddie. 

Maddie attends infant care at Carrollwood Day School. She's been attending infant care there since I went back to work in August. And she LOVES it. 

And everyone seems to love her as well. She does great with the staff and seems to enjoy observing the other kids. The kids seem to like her too! Everyday (if everyone is awake) they say "bye bye!" It's really cute! And I think Maddie's favorite part of the day is being able to have lunch with Grandma!




Maddie has hit many mile stones! This baby smiles and laughs often. It warms my heart that she is such a happy baby! 



At 8 months, she is also playing so much more! Right now, things with rattles seem to be her favorite, as well as things that make good chew toys. She started teething early. By 6 months she had her bottom front teeth. Now she has the 2 bottom, 1 on top as poked through, and it looks like 3 more will be making an appearance soon!


To accompany those teeth, she's also started eating. We started her on rice cereal when she was 4 months old. Her first "solid" food was avocado and she LOVED it. Then we started giving her jarred baby food. She currently eats 2 jars a day in addition to her bottles. She really enjoys food! Lucky for us, she doesn't appear to be super picky (at least not yet).

--Maddie's first time eating--

We celebrated her 1st Hanukkah as well! It was so much fun! She didn't care about the presents she received but she sure did like the paper it was all wrapped in!

 

This cute happy baby also sits up on her own! Maddie does extremely well at sitting up on her own, however, she is working on pulling herself to the up right position. She tries! 

Ross and I haven't been able to decide if we like or hate that Maddie isn't interested in crawling. We do tummy time with her and she'll be okay on her stomach for a short time. She attempts to crawl, then decides she doesn't want to be on her belly and gets upset. Even though she doesn't like to be on her stomach, she takes great pleasure in standing. She will walk small steps if she can hold onto someone's hands and can stand if she is holding onto something. She is still working on pulling herself up to a standing position. Baby steps. 

Madelyn Faye Ruffkess

8 Months Old

Approximately 17 pounds & 24 inches long

Wears 6-12 month clothes

Eats 2 Jars of Baby Food

Tries to Walk

Very Happy & Very Loved