8 Months Old!

In the last month you have been meeting some big milestones! You are crawling everywhere! You have 2 teeth on the bottom.

You weigh 20 pounds 6 ounces and are 28 inches long.

You are such a happy baby! You love love love music and love to dance. I really wish you could talk to us because I think you've got a lot to say! You are finally staying up a little later (around 7:30).

This week, we stopped your late night (10pm) bottle and you are still sleeping through the night. You have transitioned to 3 meals per day and up to 30 ounces of formula. You love all kinds of foods and textures. I am still making your food by cooking and pureeing fruits, vegetables, and chicken. You like some finger foods that are "smooshed".

Your favorite toys are anything you can cram in your mouth, hand puppets, water, and mirrors. You love bath-time, naked-time, watching people and animals around you, being outside, exploring your environment, hanging upside down, tickles, water in your sippy cup, and cuddling in the morning.

You don't like loud noises like a drill or blender, being overtired, formula in your sippy cup. There's really not a lot that you don't like! You're so happy and fun!

We have done really well with going to church and nursery the last few weeks. I know that you need the experience of playing with other kids and people. And I need to be able to let go of control a little to allow you to grow. You always play really hard and are exhausted by the time we get home.

You get to spend some of your days with just you and Daddy. You have no idea how much my heart melts when I come home to see you at lunch and you and Daddy are playing together. You have the best Daddy. He loves you more than you could ever imagine... more than he could have ever imagined. I'm sure he tells you all the time, but you are the best thing that has ever happened to us. We are so blessed to be your parents.

We love you sweet boy!

2nd tooth and crawling!

Friday, March 16th, was a big day for you! You and daddy met me at the mall for lunch. You smiled so so big at me and I could see your first tooth just shining. Then you smiled again and I noticed your second tooth had broken through overnight! I can't believe you have 2 teeth now! Sometimes you just sit with your finger on your first tooth -like- "what is this??". You are such a happy teething baby!!! You don't seem to be fussy or in pain while teething. Sometimes you don't eat as much as you usually do.

After I finally got home from work on Friday, I played with you on the playmat. I knew from the night before that you were very close to crawling and would likely start this weekend! You've been getting up on hands and knees and rocking for awhile now. Recently, you started lifting one leg and holding it there forever. You looked so proud of yourself the first few times you did that. Finally with not a lot of encouragement, you crawled to me... ok so I did have a lion hand puppet (your favorite) that you were crawling to but you crawled in my direction! Life with you is about to be even more fun than before! I am so excited about this milestone, but at the same time, I miss my baby!!

7 Months

You are the most amazing, happy, funny baby in the whole wide world! You are 7 months old now and weigh nearly 20 pounds (19 lbs 13 oz) and are 27.5 inches long. You smile and laugh all the time. You really only cry when you fight sleep or think you're alone. You play really well by yourself as long as you can see someone nearby. Sometimes you play in your bed for up to 45 minutes completely alone (I would never know this if it weren't for the video monitor). There are no toys in your bed either. You just like to "talk" and "sing" to yourself. Sometimes you even laugh at yourself. Most of the time, you are asleep within 10 minutes of putting you down, if not instantly.

You are a great sleeper and a great eater! You love trying new textures. You have started feeding yourself puffs and veggie sticks (looks like a cheeto). You are getting better and better at feeding yourself every day. You have also started drinking more from a sippy cup... which breaks my heart to see how much you have grown up!

You are so so mobile! You can roll anywhere you want to go and sometimes you do a very very slow commando crawl. You can scoot backwards very easily. You stand so strongly with just a little help for balance.

You love to study new people. You are very different around new people than you are with family. I worry sometimes that you will have difficulty with separation because you don't go to daycare and really haven't stayed with anyone but family (only Me & Daddy, Dede & Pawpaw). I am making more of an effort to go to church on Sunday mornings and let you stay in the nursery. You really had a great time this morning. I know that God placed exactly the right people in there at the right time for me to feel comfortable. Mrs. Patty reminds me so much of Dede that I didn't even think twice.

When the doctor recommended putting Sweet Oil in your ears to help you loosen up your earwax, I was very skeptical. I thought there was no way you would let me do that and then lay there for 10 minutes on each side to let it work! I do it once per week, late at night when I give you your 10:00 bottle. You are asleep so you barely realize it. Tonight, you opened your eyes and just studied my face with the sweetest crooked grin I've ever seen. You stared at me for at lest 10 minutes as I stroked your hair and face. It was the most peaceful expression I've ever seen. Not excited, not upset, not even neutral... just peace. Oh how my heart melted into a puddle!

Baby, my job as your mommy is the hardest and most amazing thing I've ever done. I am beyond blessed every single day that I get to wake up and see your sweet face. I love you more than I can express and more than I even imagined I could. It is so humbling to think that God's love for us is even greater than my love for you.

You love the camera! You weren't smiling till I took the first picture. Then it was all laughs and giggles!

You look out the window at the birds. You were being fussy with me holding you so I let you lay back on your playmat with your bottle. I couldn't believe that you just laid there and finished it off!