8.5 Month Baby Update

My darling baby turned eight months a few weeks ago. What a blessed girl. She is everything that I imagined she would be.
This past week brought a first to our little family of three. We went on a Tuesday-Sunday vacation to sunny San Diego. (Work trip for me with a two-day extension at the end.) We had high hopes for the trip as the flight was a breeze. There were only a couple minutes during the descent when Sophie's ears started giving her trouble. We kept popping Cheerios in her mouth and it calmed her right down.
Our dreams were dashed when we arrived at the hotel. When our pack-n-play finally arrived, it was around three hours after her bedtime. We attempted for thirty to forty minutes to put her down in her bed and finally decided to cut our losses and let her fall asleep right in the middle of the bed.
Sophie has only slept in bed with me twice. It was the first two nights that we were home from the hospital and I did not know how to put her down anywhere else. (Night 2 home from the hospital saw the baby sleeping on my legs. I was petrified to move at all.) On the plus side, baby girl slept the entire night. She sleeps through the night with a greater frequency these days (as long as she is not teething).
The next day was rough for Husband and Sophie. She apparently refused to sleep while I was at my conference and the husband was at the end of his rope.
By the time my conference was over, she was better. Friday afternoon we took the ferry to Coronado and meandered around the island. We took the baby to the beach for the first time and ate bread and cheese overlooking the ocean as the sun set. (How European of us.)
Saturday found us at the San Diego Zoo. Even though it was a Saturday, there were few crowds as we walked around, impressed with flora and fauna alike. The baby napped well in her stroller and I pumped on a bench, hidden from the general public.
Baby girl did not nap well on Sunday prior to our flight home. I was very worried at the airport that she would be a crying mess (and thus, so would I). I let her explore an empty wing of the airport to get time to herself. By the time they paged our flight, she had calmed down. We had another successful flight.

I adore the time I get to spend with my darling girl. Time spent with her is what gets me through rough days at work. She is a silly baby and loves to flirt with strangers. Sophie made so many new friends while we were on our trip by catching their attention and then smiling.

Update on the cancer front: We have heard that the cancer may be back for a while. Around a year ago, a new endocrinologist told my husband that his cancer was probably not treated properly and we discovered that the cancer has a decent chance of coming back. He goes in for blood work every couple of months and appointments quarterly. We keep hoping that his blood levels stay low and we keep this cancer at bay.