Your 8 Month Old NEEDS These Baby Items!

Now that I have a NINE MONTH OLD...[where has the time gone], I figured it would be a good time to share some of our favorite "must haves" that get us through each day!

1 - Praise Baby Worship Songs
We were given this DVD by my best friend at my baby shower and I kid you not...as a work-at-home Mom, I have needed lots of different things in my Keep Hadley Entertained arsenal.  Now, I know most people are not fans of sitting their baby in front of the TV, but two things: one, I had to do what I had to do and have never felt any guilt about that.  Secondly, this video really is educational - it was developed by a baby psychologist and I really believe it expands their little brains.  Hadley doesn't give two cents about anything that's on TV, ever, but when she hears the opening song on this DVD her little rubberneck is snappin' around to watch it!  Plus I like that they sing little worship songs.

2 - Carters Tank Onesies
Generally speaking, Hadley has lived in nothing but Carter's onesies since Day 1.  I am such a fan of putting her in a little white onesie and leggings, so even though I'm showing you a picture of the tank onesies, I really loved the long sleeved ones as well.  I recently purchased a package of these tank onesies and seriously...I just die seeing her little chubby baby arms in a tank top.  They're also really practical to put underneath long sleeved onesies and shirts on cooler days.  Side note, but I never realized that Carter's products that are sold at WalMart, Target and the Carter's store are different qualities.  The onesies I've bought for Hadley at WalMart are nowhere near as soft as the onesies from the Carter's store!

3 - Ology All in One Soothing Baby Wash & Shampoo
Who knew that Walgreens started carrying an all natural line?  I went in there one day to look for some baby something-or-other for Hadley and saw this soap for $3.99.  Besides the price, the best part is that it has no harmful chemicals or parabens in it.  The scent is Lavender & Chamomile and at first, I wasn't crazy about it, but now I looooove how her little head smells after a bath.  It's the sweetest smell.  Did I mention it's $3.99?

4 - Bob Revolution SE Jogging Stroller
 When Hadley was born we purchased the Britax B-Agile stroller, and while I really loved it for being at the mall or on nice even sidewalks (which we rarely saw either of those things), it just didn't hold up very well on our unpaved roads and uneven city sidewalks.  When she turned 6 months old we decided to break down and buy the Bob Revolution stroller, and though it was mega-expensive (in our opinion), it has been worth every.single.penny.  I would only suggest purchasing this stroller if you plan to run with your child, or live in a place where you don't have access to smooth, nice walking trails and sidewalks.  Some of my favorite things about it are the way it absolutely glides over bumps, how easily it steers with one hand and how it easy it is to push while running.  I am not a huge fan of the storage compartment under the stroller; I feel like it's way too small and hard to get in and out of.  I also wish it came with a more affordable handlebar console for your beverages.

5 - Baby Stacking Cups
These are nothing special, but Hadley loves them!  Really any toy that fits into another or stacks on top of something is super entertaining in her book.  She loves to bang them together.

6 - Nuby No-Spill Cup with Flexi-Straw
When it comes to giving Hadley water, we started out with this Nuby sippy cup but she really never took to the technique it requires to get it out (reminds me of those water packs where you have to bite the straw to get some out?)  It might have also been that she's not yet holding her bottles so she didn't want to tip a cup back to drink from it.  Who knows.  I wanted to get her used to drinking water and not just out of my water glass, so I figured we would give the straw cups a try and lo and behold, she likes them.  It's still a little difficult for her to get water out but she's doing better with it than she was without the straw, so I figure it's just a matter of time.  And anything that doesn't leak works for me.

7 - Fisher Price Walker to Wagon
The toy in the picture above is actually not the one we have, the link will take you to our toy.  They're pretty similar.  Anyway, to be honest, right now toys are just not on her radar.  She's recently mastered pulling up onto furniture and moving anywhere and everywhere, so that's about all she wants to do.  This toy is one of her new favorites, though, because she stand up with it and take steps (every day she gets a little braver walking with it!)  And when she doesn't feel like standing up, she can sit or kneel and play with the toys/gadgets on the front of it.  By the way, I bought her little toy at a garage sale for $2 and it cleaned up like it was brand new.  So I saved us $24 which makes me pretty proud of myself.

8 - Evenflo Modern High Chair
When we were looking for high chairs, we were also starting to look at a better stroller, and the next stage car seat.  So basically, looking at spending LOTS of money.  Because I knew I wanted a good stroller and a good car seat, I decided to go a little more "budget" on the high chair and I'll be honest, I love this chair.  It's not what I would've pictured myself buying, style-wise, but I love it now.  Since we have an open layout, I knew I didn't want a high chair that had cartoons or the typical "baby furniture" colors on it (you know, sage green, maroon, taupe, etc).  Some of the features I really like are that it has a removable tray on the top of the big tray that you can put their food right on and when they're done eating, pop it off, carry it to the trash and clean it up.  The black padding on the high chair is like the foam material they use to make those pool noodles, and they are removable, so the chair cleans up incredibly well.  There is a little bar on the back of the high chair to hang bibs, there's wheels on the bottle front to move it, and there's a little plastic "pommel" that keeps them from tipping out if they're not belted in.  (Not like I ever leave her unattended if she's unbuckled but it would make it really hard for her to fall out with this feature).

9- Plum Organics Super Puffs Greens
FYI, don't buy these from Amazon...they are much cheaper at Target!  We're starting to move out of puffs territory and more to actual foods, but I do still like to use these occasionally.  They're a great size for tiny fingers that are still figuring out their pincer grasp, and they taste pretty good.  We also have given Hadley the Gerber puffs because I'm not sure how meaningful the "organic" label is on a dry good, but I do really like giving these to her cause I've yet to see the Gerber puffs in a "green" variety.

So there you have it!  If anyone has any questions feel free to comment!

ETA: These are not necessarily items solely for an 8-10 month old; just items that we've used in the last couple months!