Sweet baby, you are eight months old today. And every day you find new ways to show us just how awesome you are.
You had your first cold this month, and we quickly acquired a humidifier for your room. It helped during the cold, and it has helped since then as well. It was very hard to see you sick and unhappy - we knew something was wrong right away because you just weren’t your sunny usual self. The hardest part was that you clearly WANTED to be sunny and happy - you were trying hard, in fact, but the cold kept beating you down. We were very happy when you overcame it.
Your hair is getting pretty long. The faux-hawk is kind of getting weighed down, and it’s getting harder and harder to comb off the cradle cap on the front of your head because all that hair gets in the way. I’m torn between wanting to give you a hair cut and wanting to keep your soft little locks all baby soft for a bit longer. Either way, when you do eventually get a hair cut, you can bet that the little alfalfa sprout I love so much is going to get snipped off and saved.
For the most part, you sleep very well. We have maybe one night in seven when you struggle to go down, and a similar ratio of nights where you wake up a lot. Daddy just put together your new crib, which is lower to the ground than your old one. We want you to be able to enjoy that mobile for a bit longer - and you love it so much. Also, this isn’t a drop-side crib, so we don’t worry about the hardware breaking. This crib is a bit darker for you than they old one - the headboard and footboard are solid instead of spindled - so it may take a bit of getting used to.
Let’s talk about what makes you laugh and smile. You love to dance. I mean, you LOVE to dance. Whether it’s one of us bouncing you around to music or you dancing in your Jolly Jumper, nothing makes you happier than expressing yourself through movement. You love it when we sing together, when we clap to songs, and when we play games that involve repeating a beat.
Making you laugh is so much fun - I can go the easy route and tickle your ribs, but it’s more fun to find new and different things that make you smile. Funny faces, funny sounds, when I get out of the shower and am wearing nothing but a towel on my head... these all crack you up. Your Granny and Grandma live to see you smile and hear your howls of laughter. Your Daddy knows all the spots to tickle to get you to squeal.
You are sitting up by yourself really well now. We rarely have a topple, and when we do, you recover pretty quickly. You like to chill in your laundry basket, which I can tote around the house from room to room as I get things done. You can sit in your playpen without falling over too quickly. If I need to, I can feed you as you sit on the floor. You haven’t mastered going from sitting to all fours yet, but that will come.
And you’re good on all fours. We often come into your room to find you in your crib with your knees under you, rocking forward and backward. You are great at turning around on your belly, and you can go backwards pretty well, but you still haven’t quite figured out crawling yet. It won’t be long - you are so close and very eager. (And then the fun will start...!)
We have a carpet in your bedroom now, and it’s a great place for you to stretch out and practice crawling. But I have to vacuum it every couple of days or it makes you stuffy. (Or, I put a blanket down on it.) The alphabet pads in the living room aren’t as good for you to practice on anymore - you have learned how to lift the letters and eat them. We’re going to look at getting you a play carpet - something with roads and streets on it that you can use for years. Something a little less edible.
You are getting so good at observational learning. Banging blocks together, shaking your rattle, playing with your wire-and-bead toy - you see what we do and try and copy us. You learn so quickly. I’m trying to teach you about your different parts - I’m looking forward to when I can say, "Moe, where’s your nose?" and you’ll point to it. We’re also working on animals - I’m hoping you’ll be able to point to them soon, too.
I think we saw your very first sign on Daddy’s birthday. You signed "more" while in your high chair. I have no idea if you knew what it meant, but you can bet you got more food as soon as you did it. It was so gratifying - I didn’t know if we were being consistent enough with the signing. This gave me the confidence to keep going with them. We just focus on a couple right now - "more" and "all done". If and when you master those, we’ll move on to some others.
We still work hard to get outside every day - often to the park. You had your first time in the baby swing a few weeks ago, and you also experienced a teeter totter! So now we try and hit the swings every day. You’ve also tried the slide, but weren’t terribly impressed.
Daddy loves to cook for you - he’s made you chicken casserole, fish casserole, and beef stew. We tried a pork and apple dish, but I think the parsnips didn’t agree with you. He’s going to try that one again without them. You eat homemade sweet potatoes, carrots and prune-apricot blend. I’ve pretty much stopped giving you cereal. The only store-bought food we give you these days are fruit blends. But Melissa just gave us a huge bag of baby food, so we’re incorporating those into your homemade food blends. We haven’t really found a food you don’t like, although we have found a couple that don’t agree with you. (You love strawberries, but I think they give you a rash.) You’re going for allergy testing in November, so we’ll see what comes of that. You enjoy the occasional Baby Mum Mum and you are getting really good at holding your sippy cup by yourself - it has to be pretty full, though, or else you just suck air!
You are really starting to enjoy your toys now - they aren’t just things on which to teethe. You have two noisy trains that you enjoy, you love banging your rattle on anything you can reach, you can spend ages playing with the wire-and-bead toy, you enjoy your old school Fisher Price TV music box that Daddy bought for you, and your new stacking blocks bring you much pleasure. You are now able to totally turn yourself about in your exersaucer (still no sign of figure saucing, though - we can only hope). It seems like every day, you find something new that you can do. It must be exhausting for your brain to be learning so quickly!
You bring us such joy every day. I look forward to hanging out with you each day and sharing new adventures with you. You bring smiles to the faces of everyone you meet. You are amazing. We love you so much.
