Eight months!

Anna is now eight months! How the time has flown. She is moving around like crazy and climbing some of her toys, but still not crawling. She can stand well and this week has started to wiggle and wave her arms to music. When her music table plays certain songs she looks to us to see if we are singing with it.
She likes to "talk" to us all the time and definitely understands some of her signs and a lot of what we ask. Eat, more, all done, Ally, Milo, kitty (I think that may be her favorite). When I ask her where the kitty is she whips around to find them. When they come into the kitchen and she is eating she cranes her neck to see them and calls them with a loud, "Ah!" She mimics here and there and has started to make sounds she hears on her music table (I heard quacking today).
She enjoys patting the animals and watching them play. She will often try to move around to touch whoever is closer. I figure when she does crawl it will be towards one of them, or the phone.
Anna has been having fun visiting with all the kids we have seen lately. She likes to talk to the babies about her age and watch the older kids to see what they are doing. She really observes them and pays attention to everything going on around her.
We have had some small but neat milestones. She is getting very good at putting food in her mouth and often insists upon it. She enjoys playing peekaboo, pulling up a towel by herself to play (we call it "Where's Anna"). And this week she has figured out how to put a ball into a hole on one of her toys and even retrieve the ball if it gets stuck. Great to see her use her problem solving skills this young!
John and I are having great fun with her. She brings new surprises each day and continues to be a happy baby.