[transcribed] Eight months old

[chanaleh]

On March 20 we got "real" portraits taken at JC Penney -- now I wish we'd started doing it months earlier! It was so fun and the pictures came out beautiful. March 23 was Aria's first Purim -- we sort of dressed her up as "grunge rocker" for megillah reading at CBI on Wednesday night, but not really for the Chabad Purim seudah at the Federation on Thursday night. Still, she loved getting to crawl around some big open space and see the other little kids. She is standing up all over the place now, and will sometimes let go long enough to stand by herself for a few seconds -- but when she turns away, she falls over. Daddy thinks she's ready to take a step any day now. Her 3rd & 4th teeth have been peeking out since the beginning of March, but still haven't fully descended; not the front top teeth but the "fangs" (lateral incisors?) to the sides. Grandma Elsie says Daddy had "fangs" too and that's where she gets it. She's getting 1 meal of solid foods at lunchtime most days (sometimes a second in the evening) -- rice cereal plus a vegetable -- so far she likes green beans best, then butternut squash. Avocado gets a funny face!! Aria likes to hold and chew on Mama's big water glass (while I hold her and hold it for her); she will take real sips (but then sometimes dribbles all the water back out onto herself). Her favorite chew toy is still Sophie the Giraffe; she actually lights up when she sees it.