Eight Month Update

Weight:  He's the baby who ate your baby.

Length:  Unknown

Every month when I sit down to write this blog I think, how can Sweet Pea possibly develop more in a single month than he has the past month, and every month I am amazed. I don’t think I’ve ever been more aware of God’s genius than watching him grow.  Just like in the womb, he is growing in the exact time and order that he should be – it is perfection.

 

Our big development for the month – TEETH! That’s right, plural! Two teeth on the bottom center popped up the week of May 19^th. It was very exciting and celebrated by all who care for him. And everyone wanted to see them but the dude was not sharing. He’s apparently pretty private about such things but since he smiles with his mouth WIDE open, the trick’s on him.

The cheeks!



Food:  Sweet Pea’s drinking about 5 bottles a day, anywhere from 4 to 7 ounces and eating foods twice a day. I almost killed him by giving him some mushed up real banana. He got it stuck on the roof of his mouth and did NOT like the taste of it. The baby food banana isn’t that great either and is one of his least favorites. We are supposed to be transitioning him to a sippy cup but I’ve neglected bringing some over to Rachael’s house for him to practice with. The few times I’ve given him one, he hasn’t quite gotten the hang of sucking on it, though he definitely knows how to hold it. He also knows how to get us to hold his bottle for him. When he’s almost at the end of a bottle, he’ll want to sit up. When he sits up, he has ‘trouble’ holding up the bottle to get the last of the milk out. That’s when we come in to help him and he promptly takes his hands off the bottle, puts them on the floor by his feet and sits like a puppy dog nursing. I’m on to him though.  

 

Sleep:  Sweet Pea is an incredible sleeper. He goes down between 7:30 and 8:00 pm and usually sleeps until 6:30 to 7:00 am. Our bedtime routine is a diaper change, pj’s, a story and a song or I put on the music from his mobile. Then I put him in his crib with a stash of pacifiers, which he grabs immediately – he filters through them until he finds the one he wants in his mouth and off to sleep. If he happens to cry, we know there is something wrong with him – usually teething pain because he normally doesn’t make a peep until he wakes up. He had a habit of waking up pretty happy and smiley; he wouldn’t even cry but we’d go in his room and find him playing with those lovely pacies! Lately, he has been waking up more like his mom and his dad is hoping it is just a phase. (I feel vindicated however – he might be a mini-Jess but he’s developing all of my bad habits. Ha!)

Mobility:  The dude desperately wants to walk! He loves standing and bouncing in his door bouncer and seems disdainful about crawling. He has also learned that mom is the one that will act as a door bouncer too. He’ll roll over towards me or grab for me and I’ll think ‘How sweet – he wants his mommy’. Then he’ll use me to hoist himself up, grab me around the neck and start bouncing his little behind. Message received. Again, like his mom, he walks (i.e., takes steps that are balanced heavily on the person holding him) on his toes. And, although it is completely socially acceptable for a grown woman to walk on her toes, a man might not have the same dispensation so I hope he grows out of this…around age 40. When will this sexism end?!

Personality:  He’s a pretty happy guy in general. He loves smiling giant, drooly smiles. His latest trick is giving kisses to those that stick their cheeks in his face. These kisses will leave you needing a towel to dry off. His day parents have also been teaching him how to reach out for people. Being the night parents, we discovered this on a Saturday morning at breakfast when he kept reaching and tugging on Jess’ arm to be picked up. When Jess realized that the Sweet Pea wanted HIM, a prouder daddy was never seen. He's also started to recognize strangers and takes a few minutes to warm up to a new person or one he hasn’t seen in a while. I know this broke his Emerson grandparents’ hearts when they came up to visit but he was soon smiling and giving kisses to all.

Sweet Pea, we continue to be so honored and blessed to watch you grow and learn. All we can do is hang on and watch because you are changing so much. We went on our first family trip together to Watson, OK. You loved just sitting outside with us and looking at all the nature around you. You especially liked the camp fire and had laughing fits when you saw us trying to fish. And you acclimated so well to the new environment – you are a definitely a go-with-the-flow kind of guy.

You always want to know what is going on around you and be part of the action or at least watch the action. Aunt Rachael said that you will talk and talk trying to get the kids to pay attention to you. You definitely do that at home! You can’t seem to fathom why we don’t want to hold you in a standing position constantly and stiffen those chubby legs if we try to sit you down. You have got so many toys to play with that it is hard to choose a favorite although the Elmo puppet book that Aunt Mel sent you is pretty high on that list right now. You are becoming more vocal and can say Da and Di but when we ask you to say those two syllables together, you smile sweetly and stop talking. You are definitely one to do things on your own time and in your own way. Love you, little bug.