Dear Moe (8 months)

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.

Dear Moe (Seven Months)

Well, my love, you’re seven months old today. It doesn’t seem possible that you’ve been part of our lives for more than half a year. And what a time it’s been. You find new ways every day to bring us joy.

Just after your turned six months old, we attended a very special picnic together as a family. The Ottawa Fertility Centre hosted a picnic to celebrate the families it has helped create. Despite the rain, it was a really wonderful experience to be surrounded by all these children that were hoped for and dreamed of for so long. And it was lovely to introduce you to the doctors and staff who were so supportive of us during our journey while we looked for you. They hold the picnic every two years; we intend to go again. And again.

And we travelled together as a family for the first time! You and Daddy and Granny and I all drove to Toronto together for Aunt Natalie and Uncle Darin’s wedding. We stayed with your Tia and Tio for the first night - you slept in a playpen for the first time, and you slept through the night! I didn’t. Then we spent two nights at a downtown hotel, and you did so well. The whole trip with you was such a joy. You behaved beautifully during the wedding ceremony and at the dinner at the restaurant afterwards. And you had some beautiful smiles for your new Uncle Darin - I think he was pretty enchanted with you.

In the last month, you have made huge strides in your solid food adventure. We have gone from rice cereal once a day to a wide variety of solid foods three times a day. So far, you’re a very easy going eater - you have liked pretty much everything we put in front of you. You’re just not big on the thicker textures yet. You drink water from a sippy cup with each meal. You’re even making noises about wanting to hold the spoon yourself. Occasionally, we get frustrated with each other - you like to chew on the high chair tray, I don’t let you. You’ve also been known to knock the spoon out of my hand in your exuberance. The solid food has also created other challenges - you now eat a serving of prunes once a day, and I never thought I’d say this, but I miss your infant poops.

And you are almost at the point where you can sit independently on your own. We still need to do a great deal of spotting, because you’re pretty wobbly, but we’ve seen you sit for extended periods of time without assistance. It’s been wonderful.

We have a few regular weekly adventures together, assuming your napping schedule permits. On Monday afternoons we attend the Baby and Me Drop In Playgroup at the Ontario Early Years Centre. There are a lot of cool toys for you to play with there, and a lot of older kids who are already crawling. On Tuesday morning, we go to a playgroup at Shannon’s house and you play with Elianne and Emily, and often the two Alexes are there, too. It’s a lovely time for Mommy - these are the mommies and babies we met through the Well Baby Clinic. It’s been really special to watch you all grow and develop. And for the past couple of weeks, we’ve been going to the Library on Fridays. We cruise the board book section together and bring home new stories to read. You had an especially positive reaction to Cat the Cat, Who is That? by Moe Willems. Maybe you just like the author’s name. I think you like the illustrations. We might have to buy that one for you.

We’ve had to move you up to 9 months sized clothing now, and I put you in blue jeans for the first time a week or so ago. You look like such a big boy! My baby is gone, and I have a delightful little boy instead. Granny has decided that the turtle is your totem animal - you have lots of turtle toys, your turtle onesie is one of your cutest, and let’s face it, when you’re trying to crawl, you kind of look like a turtle. A small, adorable turtle. So Granny bought you a great mealtime bib with turtles on it.

Granny and your Grandma love you so much - they are here as often as they can be and you smile when they come through the door. Your Grandma has a special song that she sings to you. If either of them have had a hard day, you are what makes the day so much better for them. Your Daddy and I feel the same way.

It’s interesting to see how you deal with unfamiliar situations. If the room is crowded or loud or the situation is new, you withdraw a bit, but you remain very intent on observing what is going on around you. As you get more comfortable, you become more verbal, and you relax.

The last few nights, we’ve struggled with your sinus congestion. You seem to have seasonal allergies. Your nose isn’t stuffed up in a way that I can aspirate - it’s your sinuses that are stuffed. So we’ve taken to spending some time in the bathroom with the hot shower running. It loosens things up. But you are still struggling to get to sleep.

We just love spending time with you. Your smile makes us smile, your laugh is the best sound ever. You are so patient and kind and sweet. You are adorable, lovable and at times hilarious. The best part of my day is right after you wake up from a nap - you’re smiley and cuddly.

We love you so much, little Moe. We tell you that a lot, but I don’t think you’ll ever really know how much we adore you. You make our life complete. Keep being so wonderful. We’ll keep doing our best to be everything you need us to be.

Dear Moe (Just Because)

I forgot to tell you, sweetie! When we went for your 6-month appointment, you were weighed and measured. You're 18 lbs, 4 oz. You are in the 75th percentile for height and weight and the 50th for head circumference.

You're such a handsome little devil. :)

Love, Mommy

Dear Moe (Just Because)

You, sir, are made of awesome. Yesterday you outdid yourself. We had people over to stain our deck and you were the picture of patience and goodness. You napped for 2 hours during your lunchtime nap. You were sweet and wonderful and easy going.

We brought you to Uncle Ted's to swim in the pool, and the goodness continued. A small protest about the shock of the water temperature, but you were happy to paddle about with me in the nicest pool in Ottawa.

A friend needed a little cheering up, and you came through. Staring with adorable eyes, giving smiles and giggles.

You ate dinner like a rock star, handled your bath with aplomb. And went to bed at 6:45pm.

Not too shabby for a baby who is teething and constipated.

We love you so much. You are made of awesomesauce, little dude. xoxo

Dear Moe (Just Because)

Can I tell you how amazing you are? You had a rough day today - teething coupled with being woken from your morning nap to go to the doctor where you had to sit patiently through my appointment and then deal with being poked and prodded for your own appointment. Two shots, one in each leg.

And you were the best trooper ever. You were so patient and amused yourself and were so darn GOOD that the doctor could barely believe it. You have the sweetest smile and are just so wonderful to have around.

You're not a bad sleeper, either, despite the problems we're having right now. You nap well. You can fall asleep on your own. And once you are asleep at night, you typically only wake once (sometimes twice) and you go right back to sleep without a problem.

It's just GETTING you to sleep for the long haul that is giving us some trouble. But we'll work it out together. Honestly, if this is the biggest issue with you, we're so lucky. You're awesome.

Dear Moe (Six Months)

Hello, my darling. It’s very hard to believe, but you are six months old now. It makes me sad to think that my leave with you is half over, but you are turning into such a wonderful little boy that I’m looking forward to the next six months so much.

You are really observant! You watch us eat and drink with great interest. You watch our facial expressions. You watch the cat. Do you ever watch the cat... it’s only a matter of time before you make a grab for that tail! You have these beautiful brown eyes that follow what we’re doing. So we’re trying to set a good example.

You have the sweetest smile and the best laugh. In fact, you have several laughs. You have a little chortle, an out loud cackle and a delighted squawk. You love to blow spit bubbles and you make new sounds every day. At one point your Daddy and I were listening to you chatter away to yourself over the monitor and you made a noise that sounded like, “Whoa.” We wondered what you’d discovered!

You’ve discovered your toes, that’s for sure. We’ve been trying to get you to learn to sit up by yourself, but you tend to flop forward in an effort to explore your toes. You can lift your feet up and grab them with your hands. And I don’t think it will be long before you finally get that foot into your mouth.

Because everything goes in your mouth these days. You started drooling at three months and haven’t stopped since, but the drool has reached a whole new level lately. You are definitely teething, and I really hope those chompers get here soon because it’s hard to watch you when your gums hurt. We even took you to the doctor at one point to make sure you didn’t have an ear infection. We’ve been laying on the Tylenol lately, but I think it disagrees with your tummy, so we’re trying to only use it when we have to. In the meantime, you’ve been spending lots of quality time with Wrench and Flower (your teething toys that stay in the fridge when you aren’t using them). Your gums have gotten much harder the last few days - hopefully the end is in sight.

You also haven’t been sleeping as well. The days of five and six hour stretches are gone, and instead we do four hours at a time if we’re lucky. Also, you don’t tend to nap as well during the day, either. But you got over one big block to your sleeping - the fact that you now prefer to sleep on your side and tummy. It was initially a problem because you’d roll over onto your tummy and wake up in distress. But we ramped up the tummy time in a big way and now you are quite comfortable on your belly. So when you wake up, it isn’t a big deal! We’re really proud of you for making that leap. There were a few very rough nights while you figured that out.

Your fine motor skills are improving, too. You can push the buttons on your exersaucer, you are much better at picking things up and bringing them to your mouth, and you have made grabs for Daddy’s beard and Mommy’s glasses and hair. You also enjoy hanging onto Granny’s watch, which shows you have good taste. Granny’s friend Flo got your a wonderful play mat with lots of things to grab and tug, and you enjoy it very much. You can often be found with an object in each hand, chatting away happily.

It’s been a busy month for you, my little social butterfly. You met your Auntie Marsha and Uncle Gavin, you attended Granny’s retirement party and spent more time with Tia Reiko, Tio Rodrigo and your cousin Isabel, you met your Great Grandmother Phyllis, and you got to hang out with Reg and Joan. We even had a lovely little visit from Grandma, Grandma Anne and your Aunt Heather. Daddy had a week’s vacation this month, and we made the most of it. We spent Grandma’s birthday at the Agriculture Museum where you saw the cows, sheep, pigs and horses. We celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary with you with a picnic at Rideau Hall. But it doesn’t have to be a special occasion for us to have fun together - at one point the three of us stood out on the front stoop and watched the rain fall, and that was as special a time as any other.

You still love your bath, and have figured out how to kick and make the water splash. We’ve visited the neighbourhood wading pool a couple of times, too. You’ve made some great strides toward crawling, as well. At first you could only go backwards (and that was very frustrating for you, since you’d work so hard only to watch your toys get further and further away!), but you’re learning to inch forwards on your belly like an inchworm now.

We got you your big boy car seat, which means that you have had to get used to being taken out of it and strapped back into it much more often. It also means we use the big stroller all the time now, which you enjoy because you can look forward at things. You enjoy sitting on my hip in your sling, and still like to sit in the Baby Bjorn as long as you can face forward.

You’ve started solid food and done really well. We’ve fed you rice cereal, oat cereal, mixed grains with fruit, and you’ve tried and liked sweet potatoes and green beans. Peaches were a bit of a bust, though. I think you found them too tart. But you’re getting the hang of spoon feeding, and I look forward to that time with you in the early evening when we see what new food you’re going to try that day!

You are a really handsome boy with beautiful eyes and an awesome smile. One of our favourite times is when you’ve just woken up - you’re smiley, cuddly and relaxed, and you love to be held on our shoulder and drape yourself in our arms. I also love watching you when you’ve fallen asleep in my lap... you have these sudden little smiles in your sleep that make me smile, too.

You bring us indescribable joy every day, Moe. I can’t begin to explain how much we love you and how happy we are to share our life with you. Thank you for six fantastic months. I can’t wait to see what next month brings.

Moe Meets a Very Special Lady

Moe worked his magic on a very special lady earlier this week. I was so happy he had the opportunity to meet her.

As you can tell, he was especially charming!