Our Escapades: 8 Month Update

Internet issues makes this post super late, but I still want to update. I'll try not to merge with the last month.
On June 8, Sawyer turned 8 months old. I feel like in this month she would start something new and just when we'd get used to it, she'd be done. For instance, she would have these quick bursts of yelling and she'd do it over and over, "Yah! Ah! Ah!". She'd tense up her whole body every time she'd shout. We'd do it back and it was just this little game. It seemed like that lasted only about two days. Then we'd do it and she'd look at us like we were weirdos.
Her crawling is a lot more steady these days. I feel bad that there isn't a lot of room for her to crawl around our house. Our bedroom is the only place with carpet and the rest of the house is stone floors. She's not completely steady and those floors are too hard if she were to fall. SO the only place she can crawl is in our bedroom, or back and forth on the couch. I feel like if she had more space, she might be walking already. She pulls herself up to standing all the time, and sometimes she'll let go of whatever she's holding and just stand there, all by herself.
She has so much energy. She will just sit there and flail her arms over and over so she looks like she's drumming, or she'll sit in her high chair and just kick her legs for like 10 minutes. She doesn't like to sit still (we learned that well on the flight to and from Utah). Someone will want to hold her and she's so fidgety trying to get out of their arms, they think she wants me, but really she just wants to be put down so she can explore. She does the same thing if Matt or I hold her.
Sleeping has been a challenge. This girl will not nap for longer than 30 minutes. No matter what I do. I'll wake her up earlier, I'll wait a bit longer before I put her down, or I won't wait as long... no matter what she wakes up thirty minutes later. I can practically time it. The good thing is, she doesn't seem tired or ornery when she's awake, she wakes up happy and stays happy until it's time to eat or sleep again.
Night time was more frustrating, I had to feed her to sleep, and if she didn't fall asleep while eating her bottle she would just scream until she tired herself out enough to zonk out. More often than not if she DID fall asleep while eating she would wake up again an hour later and then scream until she fell asleep again AND she would wake up at least once in the middle of the night.
I was at my wits end. Again, I had tried everything other than "sleep training" and I was just dreading that, but it was time.
The first night trying the "cry it out" method I was a wreck. Matt was working late that night so I was home alone. Thankfully my sister-in-law Autumn knew I'd be trying it that night and was texting me the whole time. The method is, you do a routine, sing to them, bathe them, what have you, and then you lovingly lay them down, kiss them goodnight and leave the room. They'll cry, you wait two minutes then go back in, don't pick them up, but rub their back, tell them you love them, be in there no longer than a minute, and then leave again, then you wait five minutes. Go back in... then wait ten minutes. Then 15, you never wait longer than 15 minutes to go back in, you want them to know you're there, you'll always come back.
The first night I would do each time twice, 2 minutes, then 2 minutes, 5 then 5, then 10...
I was sobbing. The first time I did 10 minutes, she fell asleep at minute 9, and then she slept through the night. I hated that she cried until she fell asleep, that I wasn't actually there when she fell asleep, but she slept through the night.
The next night she fell asleep within 10 minutes, the night after that, Matt put her down and she went right to sleep.
Now, every night, we go upstairs, put her in jammies, (she screams throughout that process) then I take her, turn on her sleep sheep, turn off the lights and she immediately lays her head on my shoulder and I'll sing some songs to her. That is the only time she'll lay her head on my shoulder and just snuggle, but as soon as the lights turn off she does it, every time. I'll lay her in her crib, sometimes she'll be awake and just babble to herself, but she'll go to sleep without crying every time. Makes me wonder why I didn't do that earlier. I love our night time routine.
Still doesn't nap though and that method didn't really work out for that.

That was probably the biggest milestone this month. I feel like she is changing a lot, even in just what she likes and what she doesn't. She no longer likes having her diaper changed, when that used to be something that would STOP her from crying. Now she likes being in her car seat and will fall asleep almost immediately, when she used to scream the whole time. She loves baby food and is showing strong interested in eating real people food. She will stare at Matt and me the entire time we are eating, I'll possibly introduce her to the real stuff next month.

She is such a chunk and she is just so much fun. Every time Matt gets home from work she gets so excited. She'll stiffen her legs and flail her arms and just reach out for him until he comes over and gets her.
She won't have another appointment until 9 months, so I'm not totally sure of her stats, but I'd guess she is around 18.5 pounds (given how she has gained weight in the past)
She still just has the two bottom teeth, but I think her little fangs are going to make an appearance soon.
She is just a happy baby, (when she's not teething), she makes us laugh all the time. I love listening to her babble and can't wait for those to be real words.
I cannot believe she is 8 months old already. Time is flying by.