A Letter to Carter at 8 Months

We have had 8 whole months together and I still love you more every day.  Holding you in my arms and feeling you pressed against my chest is the perfect solution to any problem.  You are still my sweet, easy going baby.  I got to stay home with you all month and just went back to work yesterday.  We had so much fun together this summer.  It’s hard to see it end, but I know you love daycare and all the toys there so much.

Last month I was able to sleep better and worry less that you would stop breathing in your sleep.  This month I’ve been even more relaxed.  There have been quite a few mornings where I got up and realized I never turned the baby monitor on and didn’t look at it during the night.  I still go into your room and listen for you breathing before I go to bed.  Just to make sure.  We lowered your mattress in your crib which is a bummer for me because now I can’t lean in to kiss you before I go to bed.  I have to pull myself up and lean way in.  It hurts!

You are such a talkative little boy.  It cracks me up to hear you babble to your toys, yourself, Harper, me, anyone who will listen.  You still say dada and baba quite a bit.  You also say something that sounds like mama when you are upset and crying.

A couple of weeks ago you got your first teeth.  Your bottom 2 teeth came in at the same time.  I felt so bad for you because you were fussy.  All day long you seemed fine until it was time to go down for a nap.  Some days the only way I could get you to take a nap was strapping you into the baby carrier.  You struggled at bedtime too.  You are still having a hard time with your afternoon naps.  It looks like you have a few teeth that will be ready to pop through soon.  We can see the 2 bottom teeth on either side of your middle teeth and the top 2 teeth.  Your top, middle part of your gum is really red and swollen.  Sometimes it looks like you are sucking your thumb and then I realize you are actually chewing on it.

Look at those teeth!

You sit up like a champ now.  One week you were still toppling over after a while.  Then the next week all the sudden you were sitting up for really long periods of time without falling.  You actually never fall anymore.  After a while you will slide forward to your stomach or I pick you up.  It’s amazing how quickly you went from pretty stable to full-on sitting on your own.  You still aren’t crawling, but you are very mobile.  Your preferred method of movement (other than being carried) is to roll.  You will even stick your legs straight out in the direction you want to go in order to roll that way.  You are a wild man!

I’ve seen you pass a toy from one hand to the other.  You’re also getting really close to having the pincher grasp down.  You’ll pick something up between your index finger and thumb, but then you drop it.  You are also close to feeding yourself.  You’ll grab food in your fist, put it up to your mouth, and suck the juice out.  You just haven’t figured out how to open your hand and drop the food in your mouth.

Standing will be one of your next big things.  I’ve been practicing with you by putting you up on your legs by a chair.  You will lean on the chair with your chest, hold on with your arms, and stand up.  You look like such a big boy and it’s adorable, but also makes me tear up a little bit.  I can’t imagine a fully mobile baby.  You are just growing up so fast!

Snuggles are still a daily occurrence and I love it!  You go to sleep so much easier if I sit and snuggle you for a while after your last feeding and before putting you in your crib.  When you first wake up you like to be held while you suck your thumb.  It seems to help you wake up.  As I’m getting ready in the morning I carry you around with me and you reach your arm around and hold onto me.  If I lean forward you will grab on really tightly with your hand.  It’s so precious.  I love that you are such a snuggly little boy.  I know this will probably be a thing of the past once you start walking, so I’m really treasuring these moments while they last.

Bathtime is still so much fun.  You splash and play and laugh.  This month you discovered your special bits and they are a favorite toy at bathtime and during diaper changes.  You also love to play with washcloths.  I’ve started using two washcloths at bathtime.  One to clean you with and one for you to play with, otherwise you grab for my washcloth the whole time.  You love to suck water off your washcloth.  

Speaking of drinking water, you are starting to get drinking out of cups down.  You have a few different kinds of sippy cups.  One has a spout made out of soft material and you prefer to chew on it.  You have another kind with a hard spout with bigger holes.  You can drink out of that one better, but tend to choke a little bit.  When your grandma and grandpa were visiting they gave you some sips out of a cup and you did really well.  You seem to really like water.

There was a lady I work with who was pregnant at the same time I was pregnant with you.  Her baby was due the day before you.  She ended up being born 11 days after you (on Christmas).  You got to meet her briefly at a baby shower back in May.  This month you got to see her for a longer period of time.  You were smitten!  You grabbed her cheeks, poked her in the eye, and pulled her bow off her head.  She seemed a bit overstimulated with all the touching, but I’m sure you will be fast friends next time you see each other!

You are down to only waking up once per night.  Usually it’s around 3 or 4 am.  You’ve even slept until 5 am before!  We are so close to sleeping through the night!  The good thing is that you eat and go right back to sleep.  I thought about trying to wean you from your nighttime feeding, but you eat quite a bit.  I’m going to let you drop the feeding when you are ready.  It will be nice because I’ll be able to pump more in the morning.

I can’t believe how much your nap schedule has changed since I’ve been home!  You are down to 2 naps most days.  When you have a good day you are awake for 2 hours, nap for an hour, are awake for 3-4 hours, and take another hour nap.  Sometimes you only nap for 30 minutes for your afternoon nap and then take another 30 minute nap later in the afternoon.  You’ve had a few days where you totally skip your afternoon nap and that doesn’t go very well.  We still start your bedtime routine between 7 and 7:30 and you are asleep by 8 or 8:30.  

Meals have changed this month.  You are now eating rice cereal or oatmeal cereal in the morning for breakfast after you nurse.  At lunchtime you have 4 ounces of a fruit or vegetable puree which is followed by a bottle at daycare or nursing at home.  At daycare you get a snack with the other kids around 3:00 of rice cereal and puffs.  For dinner we usually start with small chunks of a soft food like avocado or banana with yogurt.  Sometimes you eat a few ounces of puree after your chunks.  The new things you’ve had this month are oatmeal cereal, nectarines, and plums.  I’ve made some mango and apricot puree, but you haven’t tried it yet.  So you’ve had sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, peas, green beans, apples, bananas, avocados, rice cereal, pears, peaches, prunes, zucchini, plums, nectarines, and oatmeal cereal.  

When we go running you are now straight in the stroller without the car seat adapter.  You seem to really enjoy it.  You wave your arms around, kick your legs, squeal, giggle, and sometimes babble.  I’ve stopped taking toys for you because you’d rather play with your straps and other stuff attached to the stroller.  You end up just laying your toy down and it bounces off you and onto the section above the wheel where it remains the rest of the run.

Your next well baby appointment is next month, so your dad and I weighed and measured you.  It’s hard to tell how accurate we are, but I’d say we are pretty close.  You are now 30 ½ inches long!  I can’t believe how much you’ve grown since last month!  You are 18 pounds, 12 ounces.  It’s amazing what a big boy you are!

Wait, how big am I?!!?

I can’t believe some of the clothes you can fit into!  You have some 12 month jammies that fit really well, the foot area is just a little bit big.  You are wearing 9 month along with 6-9 month clothes.  I’ve pulled out a few 12 month items.  Our favorite outfit this month was your plaid overalls with your blue polo.  I’m starting to notice a trend with the overalls.  You are just so adorable in them.  It’s hard to beat you in overalls!  You are still wearing size 3 diapers.  I found a few size 2 diapers in my diaper bag and you were able to wear them, but I don’t think they’d last overnight!  

You are such an amazing baby and a blessing to your daddy and me.  It’s hard to remember what our lives were like before you were in them.  You make everything better, more exciting, and a great deal more fun.  I could spend all day kissing your sweet, chubby cheeks and thighs!  Thank goodness your thighs haven’t thinned out yet.  Thank you so much for being you.  You are more fun than I ever imagined, sweeter than I dreamed, and more adorable than I could ever have pictured.  I love you more than your daddy loves cheese.  I know 9 months is going to bring more firsts, fun, and adventure.  I love you, little man!

Now on to daddy:

My little buddy! I have loved watching you learn more about yourself and your world every day. Always so happy. You reach for us a lot and it warms our hearts. You are sitting up as well as a baby can and you are starting to be able to stand against chairs or other things that you can hang onto.

I cannot get over how tall you are. I cannot wait to see what percentile you are in at your next doctor's appointment. Bath time is still one of your favorite times as you like to splash around and talk and laugh.

I took a picture of you and your Grandpa Cox where he was holding you and letting you drink water out of a cup. He is smiling and you are helping hold it with both hands with such a serious concentrated look on your face. You did really well drinking out of it, such a big boy!

*This post is late because I was waiting on Carter's rash to clear up before taking the pictures*