Eight Months Old!

Dear Jack and Ben,

Yet another month going by quick as a wink. I know the years of your life are going to flash by my eyes, and so I am trying to live in the moment as much as I can! I love eight months old - you are fun, sweet, eager to please, and smile SO MUCH!

This month was Mommy's first trip away from you... for 24 hours! She visited Boston (for Jennifer Reus' baby shower) from Friday night, October 28th to Saturday night, October 29th and left you at home with Daddy. Daddy did a great job taking care of my boys!

It got too cold to go on walks this month (poor Ben's cheeks get chapped VERY easily), so no more daily outings. But you still love being pushed around in your stroller when we make it to the mall.

You have pretty regular meals now, with scrambled eggs with cheddar cheese (which, after a week, Ben still won't eat more than four bites of) and plain, whole milk yogurt with bananas for breakfast and 1/4 peanut butter sandwich and "beefaroni" (a pureed beef, carrots and potato casserole) for dinner. Mommy has been introducing you to some "chunkier" foods so that you can practice chewing (or rather "gumming," since neither of you has teeth yet!).

Your sleep schedule is synchronized well, waking up around 7 am, your first nap from 9-10:30 am, second nap from 1-2:30 pm, and going to bed at 6 pm. No more third nap! You still breastfeed five times, at 4 am, 7 am, (have eggs and yogurt after the 7am feeding), 10:30 am, 2:30 pm, (have PB sandwich and beefaroni after the 2:30 pm feeding) and 5:30 pm.

Jack, you are 19 lbs. Oh my! Mommy is back to her pre-pregnancy weight (which was actually not my goal, +8-10 lbs. would have been fine!) and I can see why, with such a big boy to carry around. I can barely lift you in your infant carseat, so we are getting "big boy" convertible seats (that stay permanently in the car) for Christmas.

You are in 12 month pajamas and onesies, but still wear 9 month pants and shirts. The arms and legs of the 12 month pants and shirts are just too long for you, even though you outgrew the 9 month pjs in length... I'm not sure how that works! Maybe you just have a long torso.

You usually nap for 1-1.5 hours, although every once in a while you will nap for two. I like those days, especially when they coincide with two hour naps for Ben. :) You almost always wake up happy from your naps now; I hear giggles and gurgles coming over the monitor, which makes my heart happy.

Speaking of noises - on Sunday, October 30 Daddy came home from church (we were home with colds) and you said "Dada" when he walked in the door. You had been making D sounds for a few days at that point, but that was your first reference to Daddy as such. No "Mama" yet!

You now can sign "all done" (in addition to "please"), but when you do it is up to you. Usually you will do it when you are done breastfeeding and want to get down to play!

Your favorite toy is probably Mickey Mouse. He has the best ears, fingers and nose for chewing on! You especially love to play with him while swinging in your baby swing... which you are just about to be able to dive out of, so not too much more of that! You also love your "Sophie the giraffe" teething toy, the vibrating strawberry and grape teethers and books! You love to watch as Mommy points out Papa, Mimi, Aunt Katelyn and Uncle Drew in your family picture book.

You are so close to crawling right now. You started out last month sleeping on your tummy and when you would wake up from naps you would start pushing up your arms and stretching to see over the crib bumper when Mommy would come in the room. Then you started pushing up on your hands and knees. Then you began crawling backwards (you are quite proficient at that, actually). Now you are able to move your knees a little forward, but haven't quite figured out picking up your hands. For her sake, Mommy is not looking forward to the day you figure that out, although I am sure you will be very proud of yourself!

You also became a proficient sitter this month. One day it just "clicked" and you were able to sit for minutes at a time. Now you can sit for at least 20 or 30 minutes without any help at all.

Your new favorite game is "pull the toys out of the toybox." You take your time with each one, examining it, chewing on it, shaking it, and then drop it to go for the next one. You also love to play peek-a-boo - we can always get a giggle out of you by doing that and Mommy and Daddy will make fools of themselves in public for those giggles.

Ben, you now weigh 16 lbs. You are still growing well, although not as well as Jack is... You just don't appreciate food the way that he does. You are also getting your "big boy" convertible car seat for Christmas because you are almost as tall as Jack and will be out of your infant seat for height in the next few months, even if you aren't as chunky. People who haven't seen you in a few months, though, do call you Jack because you aren't too far behind him in cheek size. :)

You are still in 6-9 month clothing now, but getting close to moving up to 12 months in some things. You are just plain long!

You usually take a shorter nap (45 min-1 hr) in the morning and then a longer nap (1.5-2 hours) in the afternoon. You usually wake up happy, chirping and talking to yourself in your pack-n-play in mommy's room until she comes to get you.

You aren't as interested in consonant sounds as Jack is, but you do love to scream and chirp a lot. I am thinking you are going to be a loud child, like your Mommy. :)

You also can sign "all done" and "please," but you are stubborn and will do it far less than I ask you to. Speaking of stubborn, you are great at keeping your mouth shut when a food you don't like is coming your way!

Your favorite toy is Mickey Mouse. His fingers and ears are where I find you chewing the most! You love swinging in the swing with him, but have started trying to grab the bars and anything else around, so we are giving the swing back to Mrs. Hammer soon. You love to play with our stack of colorful rings (we call them donuts) and to chew on your "Sophie the giraffe" teething toy. You especially love to squeak her!

You have started pushing up on your hands and knees now, although you are less interested in moving right now. You are definitely a tummy sleeper now and sometimes I come in in the morning to find you asleep on your shins and forearms with your arms and legs tucked underneath you and your butt sticking straight up in the air. It is pretty adorable!

You too became a proficient sitter this month; you are quite capable of sitting for a long time now, although you still get excited at times and fling yourself backward straightening your body. Mommy makes sure she keeps a pillow behind you if there is anything to bump your head on!

You love to play "pull the toys out of the box," but Mommy calls you "Hoarding: Buried Alive Baby Edition" because your version is to pull a toy out, stick it in your mouth for about 3 seconds and then drop it and go for another! By the time Jack has three toys on his lap, you have most of the rest of the toybox emptied out! You are still a big fan of Mommy coming at you slowly and then faster and faster until I jump at you. You also love to be tickled and for Mommy to smell your stinky tootsies and say "Uuuhhhh, stinky! You need a bath!"

You boys are so amazing and precious to us. We love being your parents!

Love,
Mommy