Eight Months As Of 04.27.14
Update: Though I keep begging for time to slow down it doesn't seem as if that's ever going to happen. This has been a month of major growth and change. He's sitting up, army crawling, feeding himself at time & has two teeth popped through. I can't believe the things he's learned in the past month! He even had his very first diaper rash which broke momma's heart. One of his favorite things now is getting to sit like a big boy in the bathtub! He loves to splash and kick about and it is so much fun to watch! There also has been a few times I've let him sit in the cart while shopping big boy style. He loves to chew on the cart {thank GOD for sanitizing wipes!} and grab stuff and toss it in the cart. One day we came home with two packages of Goldfish crackers that I didn't intend to purchase. Garrett wasn't upset though. He loved slobbering on them!
He started crawling on Monday, May 5th. Steve and I where both home that day working on the house as they where coming to stage & photograph our home that evening. We'd called my parents to come keep an eye on Garrett while we hammered out some of the last minute projects. They where in the living room playing when my mom called out "Storm! Come here! He's crawling!" He'd been so close to crawling for about a month that I didn't really believe her at first. He was famous for getting so close and then face planting into the floor that I figured that's what he'd done again. Steve and I both ran into the living room quick and sure enough he was crawling right across the living room. It was so adorable because he'd get going and almost forget exactly how to crawl so he was so wobbly! Since then, he's been unstoppable! He crawls everywhere! He turns the cable on & off. He ejects discs out of Steve's Ps3 {and then chews on them...opps}. He stands up next to the side tables, chairs, nightstands. He is on the move! It's 100% amusing and 110% exhausting!
Steve headed back to work full time at the beginning of this month so we interviewed an in-home babysitter. She was an older woman, with 20+ years experience. She stressed the learning aspect of her services {ABC's, numbers, colors} and seemed like she really knew & loved what she was doing. There was just something inside me though that felt unsettled about leaving my child with a complete stranger, more particularly her. I think that if Garrett was older I'd be more open to the idea because he'd be able to verbalize. At this point though it broke my heart to even consider it. Luckily, my parents where up for the challenge! They've been watching Garrett now on the days I work which I am incredibly grateful for!
Stats & Recent Appointment: Garrett doesn't see his pedi until he's nine months so measurements from home will have to do this month. Let me tell you though, I'm not promising these are accurate because our boy does not sit still. Length 30 inches. Weight to come once he sits still for more than 2.8 seconds.
Features: Daddy keeps trying to talk me into taking Garrett for his first hair cut but it's just not something I'm ready to do. I'm loving his long, soft {curly at times} locks. His eyes are still brown.
Teeth: The central incisor on the left side popped through on March 27th. We noticed when that one popped through that the central incisor on the right didn't seem far behind. That ended up popping through on April 9th. I really think that his top two are working on coming through now but I'm not 100% sure. He continues to chew on absolutely everything he can get his hands on though.
Sleep: Ahh the dreaded sleep topic. We continue to struggle with this. Garrett has been pretty consistent at going to sleep around 9pm but there was a few days this week when he started his "I'm ready for bed" moan around 7pm. That lead to a few earlier bedtimes and he actually did pretty well with those. Most nights he'd up around 1am-2am for a short while and goes back down to sleep until about 4am-5am. He's usually pretty much up for the day at that point. There are some nights when he'll be up at 11pm, 1am and 4am still though. Crossing my fingers that those night become less & less. Naps are usually pretty consistent during the day, depending on what time he got up. He'll usually nap around 9am, 1pm & 4pm-for about one hour each.
Eating: We're continuing to do a mix of baby led weaning and purees. Garrett is doing fabulous with feeding himself & he's been an amusing edition to our dinner table! A couple nights ago I'd cut up potatoes & broccoli for him and while he kept making faces with every bite he shoveled it all right in! He continues to love sweet potatoes and anything remotely sweet. He really is a good eater though and will eat just about anything we give him. He doesn't like peas or green beans yet though so we've gotten tricky and mixed them in with his other foods-score one for momma & daddy!
Diapering: Size four. Sticking exclusively with Target brand to save some $$$
Clothing: I have a select {very small handful} few things that are 9 months that still fit him, otherwise he's wearing all 12 months. I actually washed his 18 month clothes the other day and he's started wearing those as well. I'm hoping it warms up here in Wisco because I have some adorable 12 & 18 month shorts & outfits that I'd love for him to wear!
Social: I've made it my goal to come up with some things to get him out of the house & around some other children! I loved taking him to story time on Tuesdays but I've been working every single Tuesday so that hasn't worked out. I'm looking into swimming lessons for him as I really feel like he'd love that. All in all though he loves people! He loves to watch them and will often times let someone hold him as long as momma is nearby!
Nicknames: Monkey, monkey butt, squirt, chunk, little love, Mr. Magoo
Likes: Eating,
bath time, his jumper, watching the world, music {especially Eric
Church & Jessie James Decker}, being in his stroller as long as
mommy is running as quick as possible, being tickled, anything
electronic {cell phone, remotes, Ipads}, playing peekabo.
Dislikes: Being
too warm, sitting still {mainly in his car seat or stroller}, having his
hair dried, getting his face wiped off, having to wait for food,
getting dressed.
Momma: Though I've been shy to talk about my experiences with postpartum "baby blues"/depression lately it seems like those thoughts and feelings are creeping back up. I've been working through them slowly but with everything on my plate right now it's been a lot to handle.
New This Month:
- Crawling & getting into everything!
- Second tooth
- Joining us at the dinner table! Garrett really seems to enjoy being a part of everything we do and it's fun to make a point to actually have "family dinners"
- Baths in the big tub! He's sitting so well in the big tub and loves all the room to splash and "swim" about! I'd been looking for a ring to put in the tub and couldn't find one that I liked so we decided against & it's worked out just fine.
- Big boy car seat! Garrett just wasn't happy in his little car seat and we where having more and more difficulty getting him in and out of it so we purchased his first big boy car seat this week! He loves it already! He's able to move more and see what's going on which in his book is a total win!
- Waving! He's started waving when people say "hi" and "bye"
Looking Forward To:
- Warmer weather and being able to spend some more time outside. I'm looking forward to some afternoons at the park and soaking up some sunshine! Plus, we've got a red wagon that is begging for some walks!
- A family wedding we have next weekend! I'm so excited to get my boys all dressed up! Keep your eyes open for some family photos!
- Swimming in my parents pool this summer! Garrett loves the water so I'm thinking he'll be our little swimming bug once the pool is ready!
My dear sweet Garrett boy,
Has it really been eight whole months since we welcomed you into this world? I close my eyes and can picture holding you for the first time like it was just yesterday. Covered in post birth goriness you opened your eyes to this big ole' world for the first time. I instantly fell in love with you Garrett. This month has been an incredible month for you. One full of growth and changes galore! I can not believe the things you've accomplished in just one short month! While I'm loving watching you grow and learn there's a large part of me that aches that you are no longer my helpless little baby who was content to cuddle on my chest all day. You are now in love with exploring, testing your limits and watching every little thing that goes on around you. It's amazing though, to watch the world from your eyes. Everything is so innocent, so new. It really makes mommy stop and pay attention to the world. You are by far my greatest gift and I'll be forever thankful for you. Know that mommy loves you an incredible amount my little love.
Hugs & kisses,
Momma
This month {as you'll see below} he also decided there was no chance that I'd be getting a photo with him sitting next to his owl. We tried and tried but that poor owl got tossed off the couch so many times that day!
And, for comparison:
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