It’s official — you’ve been here on Earth longer than you were in my belly. Kind of surreal! This month was a particularly fast one — and lots of new firsts for you.

On the crummier side, you had your first ear infection, at the same time you were cutting three teeth, fighting an awful diaper rash, and worst – croup. Rough week this month for you, but you handled it like a champ!

You are starting to pull up on some lower surfaces around you. We’ve dropped your crib mattress. And speaking of crib, you’ve dropped your third nap of the day, a power nap you usually take shortly before dinner. You are getting more and more predictable in terms of routine — a morning nap around 9:30 or 10, and another around 2, both lasting about 90 minutes.

You gave us a great anniversary present when you slept straight through the night (11 hours) without so much as a wake-up to retrieve your fallen pacifier. Epic! You are still going down around 7 or so, and sleeping until about 6, typically waking at SOME point during the night in search of that darn pacifier.

You are becoming a fan of sweet potatoes, applesauce, anything with blueberry, and if offered the choice, you always go for a sippy cup of water over a bottle of formula. I’m sure the cold of the water feels good on all those teeth you’re cutting (five is the most recent count – two bottom, three top!).

We’re working on waving — you do the motion, but then get so excited to be waving your arm that it breaks into clapping instead! Working on it. 🙂 One of our favorite activities is to sit outside and watch the neighborhood cars go by – and wave at them. You’re already into anything with a motor – nothing else matters if there’s a moving car to check out.

You get the concept of putting things INTO other things, and cause and effect of throwing/knocking down things. Favorite games are for us to stack up your blocks so you can knock them over, and then chucking them into your little push-cart or between the rails of the loft to the first floor. I love that you love to read books — you will follow along with anything we read to you, and your favorites at the moment are any of the touch/feel books with various textures. The That’s Not My… series is a major favorite!

You and I had our first nights away from each other while you and Dad had a “bro weekend” and Mom went to Philly for three nights. I love to you to pieces – but it was a welcome little break from mommyhood for a short while. 🙂 Dad did give the report (later) that you did a lot of crawling around babbling “mama” — it must be so confusing to be a baby! When I got home you kept touching my face and smiling – so silly! The ten-month update should be interesting, as the time apart seems to have kicked off some new separation anxiety habits – hopefully you do well when Dad leaves for a weekend later this month!

You have become pretty independent when it comes to bedtime. We rarely rock you to sleep anymore, for naps OR bedtime. You like to get drowsy with a bottle in the rocker, get your pacifier and snuggle your blanket over your head and be left alone, 90% of the time, falling asleep on your own.

Looking forward to more firsts with you soon – including your first Halloween! Your dad and I are already looking forward to the holidays with you, as you’re becoming a big fan of lights! Happy nine months, sweet baby man!

Eight months…

This month, by far, has been the most hit-me-in-the-face-you-are-no-longer-a-tiny-baby month, yet! You are such a little PERSON with opinions and preferences and the ability to really communicate now. You’ve emerged from a bundle of blanket to a “talking”, army-crawling, clapping, tongue-stick-outing, GRINNING little guy!

Everyone comments on how they’ve never ever seen you cry — even those who take care of you multiple days a week for hours on end! You are such a laid-back baby and only get grumpy when it’s time to eat or sleep, or in a recent development, if someone else at daycare is crying (empathy…I like it) 😉 . While we try to keep your schedule loose and your world wide so you can roll with things, I am continuously amazed at just how well you can adapt to new faces, places, and routines without much more than a hiccup. Our Labor Day trip to Charleston meant naptimes and bedtimes happened in bright airport terminals, you were left with a sitter you had never before met and in an unfamiliar hotel room, you were handed around to new people wanting to meet you, and spent more time in your car seat than you would have preferred, but I could not have been more proud of you (or grateful!) for how beautifully you adapted.  You. are. the. best.

Your babble is becoming more intentional. While you do just ramble to hear yourself, there are other times when I walk around a corner and you’ll peer in the direction I went, and give me an “eh!” until I peek back around to tell you I’m still there. It must be your version of “hey! where’d you go? are you doing something fun without me?” 🙂 You only seem to use “mama” when you want to whine about a toy out of reach, or you’re ready to be picked up, and you say it while squinting your face pathetically until you get what you want. A recent favorite game is for us to hide around a corner until you army scoot around to find us. You get SO excited to see that you’ve found what you’re looking for ha! You’re enamored with all the floor vents and any and all cords (sigh…let the babyproofing begin).

I can’t believe I didn’t lead with this, but you are sleeping. through. the. night. After about a month of being on all formula, we slowly cut out the bottles we were giving you when you’d wake to get you back to sleep in favor of just the pacifier. I think this helped you to eat more during the day, so you were “stocked up” for a long night’s sleep. You go down at 7ish very easily, and with the exception of an occasional early-morning waking where you just need help rolling into a more comfortable position, or to find a pacifier you chucked out of the crib, you otherwise sleep right through until 6, sometimes later, in the morning. It’s incredible how this is changing our world and energy levels. I wouldn’t skip the newborn phase for anything, but man, this older baby period has some definite perks!

You want all screens, all the time. Iphones, iPads, laptops — sitting on the planes recently was particularly mind-blowing to you as you stared around at the sea of screens and couldn’t understand why everyone wasn’t sharing them with you. The first signs of frustration at not getting what you want have all been centered around this need for the screen. You’ve also put it together than the remote turns on the TV. Even turned away from the screen, if you see us lift the remote, you turn to face it to see what’s coming on. We’ve busted out a couple Baby Einstein DVDs for when we need 20 minutes to get some things done uninterrupted, and you are completely entranced. We call it Baby Crack! You have recently discovered a love of yogurt, and are all about your puffs. You can take or leave the fruit and veggie purees, but we keep sending them your way!

You started at a daycare center this past month and so far, we are very pleased with it. There are always pros and cons with any adjustment, but while we miss the daily text pics from our sitter, we like that you are getting exposure to other babies your age and a wide range of activities structured around your specific age and abilities. You haven’t learned to nap as well there yet (more noise and activity than your previous spot), but you appear to come home happy!

Just when I think you can’t get more fun or lovable…you do. Hopefully someday all this mushiness doesn’t embarass you — but if it does, oh well! 😉 Love you so, SO much, sweet little man.

Seven months…

If I could only pick one milestone or development to share this month…it’s that you are becoming quite the OPINIONATED little man! The fact you can give us cues as to what you like or don’t is really helpful – we feel like we actually have some communication going on! We know clearly when you want to eat or don’t (whimpering and pathetic sad eyes to eat, annoyed grunting when you’d rather not – ha!), when you are bored with something and ready to move on (sighs and more grunting), and when you can’t reach a toy you want (or more often than not, something that’s NOT a toy that you think you need to have…like the remote, the iPad, or Mom’s camera) — this noise I’d describe like a mad wet cat haha — you open and close your hands as you reach and make this sound until you get your desired object in your hands (and mouth).

You eat a couple of teaspoons of puree in any one sitting, and while you make a disgusted face at first with ANYthing other than milk, you seem to eventually get pretty excited about bananas and squash. You show some interest in what we are eating, but get especially excited when we drink something out of a clear glass – you swipe for it if it’s within your reach and I’ve learned to be on-guard when sipping! The few times we’ve given you sips out of the glass (water) you get ridiculously excited! You are starting to hold your own bottle – yay!

While you are able to tell us what you don’t like, there is NO mistaking when something makes you downright elated!

Pure joy expressions at funny noises, jumping in your Jolly Jumper, and you laugh ALL THE TIME – a lot of the time we’re not even sure what at! All we have to do is make a crazy face and you get a fit of giggles.

Other times, it’s viewing the world upside down as you arch back on your head while laying on a pillow. You are super silly, love to be tickled to death, grabbing faces, giving kisses, and having your toes munched on.

You are becoming much more inquisitive and watchful. You love to engage with other babies around your age, and watch in wonder when kids are a bit older than you.

You are getting the hang of a (loose) nap schedule, going down around 9am and again around 1pm, with a cat nap most evenings around 5 or 5:30, before heading to bed around 7. You are getting up once or twice a night, but I’ll take that over the 3+ routine you had going for a while! You are popping two lower bottom teeth — I can’t wait to see what your new grin looks like this time next month!

I sound like a broken record, but you are changing and growing every day – when Dad was gone for a long weekend he couldn’t believe the change in you when he got home! I’m excited for all you’re learning…but okay if time wants to slow down just a little.

(Unless you’d like to hurry up and learn to sleep through the night. Just sayin.)

Love, love, love,

Mom