month eight
You're still sleeping well at night and are pretty easy to put to bed on most nights. Sometimes you are angry and not quite ready for bed. You generally still take 2 naps each day. You only napped once a few days this week and I don't think it was good for you. You were ready for bed super early and were a little grumpy/overtired. Overall, though, you are still amazingly happy. You smile a lot and giggle a little more now. You occasionally get mad if I put you down or if you're sitting and would rather be standing.
You're eating well. Obviously. You normally have 5 bottles a day and you're eating solids for breakfast and dinner. I'm still making your food. New this month? Cantaloupe, broccoli, cauliflower, cottage cheese, brussel sprouts, barley cereal, and blueberries. You've liked everything ok so far except for cottage cheese. I don't blame you. You eat more solids at each sitting and we're trying to give you a little more texture. You gum those bananas like nobody's business.
I don't get to hear "mamamama" anymore. Ever. You have taken to saying "dadadada" and sometimes "nanana." Granddad is trying to get a "gran" in front of that "dadada" but no luck so far. You babble a lot. Sometimes it is a pretty noise, sometimes not so pretty, and sometimes high-pitched. I've been trying to get you to wave, clap, and kiss this month. No progress on waving. You do enjoy clapping but you don't do it on your own. And I think you've kissed a few times. You are pretty good at squeezing when I tell you to "hug Mama." I'm going to force physical affection while I still can.
You're getting a little better at standing but always while you're holding onto something. Still no cruising. You are *this close* to crawling, though. I thought you may do it before I wrote this but I guess we'll have to save it for next month. You get yourself on your tummy from a sitting position and vice versa. You can maneuver yourself backwards pretty easily and forwards using a series of slightly awkward movements. You also get yourself into crawling position and rock back and forth, sometimes lunging. Once you get those knees working I don't think there will be any stopping you. Earlier this week I realized how close you were to crawling and it freaked me out a little. I was proud of you but at the same time was a little sad at how fast you're growing up. I'm just trying to enjoy it all.
One thing you've done for months that I don't think I've ever mentioned is twirling your wrists and ankles. You just spin your hands and feet in circles, sometimes when you're sitting on the floor and often when you're in the stroller. I like it in the stroller the best because you stick your little legs and arms straight out and spin, spin, spin. We'll have to get video of it since I know one day you'll stop. I'll miss it.
Speaking of strollers, we got a secondhand jogging stroller this month. I've jogged with you a whopping one time. Mama is freakishly busy and seriously needs to figure out better time management. Anyway, you seemed to like it and then you fell asleep. We took it out again this morning just for a walk. It's a much smoother ride but we tend to have a harder time not running over Maggie.
You had your first eye doctor appointment earlier this month. We wanted to make sure everything was ok since Daddy had some issues as a little boy. You seem to be fine. You handled everything really well. Even eye dilation--and Mama hates that.
We're finally done with Daddy going out-of-town for work. Praise tiny baby Jesus. He was in New York a week, home a week, rinse, repeat for August and half of September. Maggie, you, and I managed on our own fairly well. The first week was the hardest but we kind of fell into a pattern. On Daddy's last trip, I joined him for a few days. That meant we left you (both of us at the same time) for the first time. You stayed with your grandparents from that Thursday till Sunday. Everyone managed ok. It wasn't as hard to leave you as I thought it would be but it was still nice to be back home.
This month was the 10th anniversary of 9-11. One day you'll know what that means. One day we'll take you (and possibly a little brother or sister) to the memorial and tell you all about it. It's a weird day every year now but I think this year was more emotional for a lot of people than it had been previously. For me, it was the first year it came around since becoming a mother. I think I was particularly emotional because of that. Then when Daddy and I were at the memorial only days later, I cried when I saw women's names listed followed by "and her unborn child." So sad. 
What kind of knowledge would I like to impart this month? I've thought about a lot of things but didn't make notes at all during the month this time. Maybe my first tidbit is to keep lists. Seriously, things have been so busy. I'm not sure how I'm managing everything and the answer is probably that I'm not. Chicken, life is busy. You will have many obligations and opportunities. There will be chores that you just have to do and fun things that you'll be grateful for. Sometimes you'll have to say no. But sometimes you will over commit yourself. Sometimes you will feel overwhelmed and overworked and overloaded and under appreciated. Try to figure out a way to manage it all. Delegate. Figure out your priorities. Take deep breaths. Do something fun. Change what you can and ignore what you can't. And ask me for advice. By the time you get there maybe I'll have figured it out for the both of us.
I don't often think about us and where we'll be way down the road but I sure hope we're nice to one another. I hope you still give me hugs and that I still get so happy just seeing you, whether it's after being away for 4 days or just while we were sleeping. I hope no matter how crazy things get we'll always make time for one another.
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