Thursday, August 1, 2013

8 Months


Dear Benjamin,

Each stage of your young life has been such a joy for me to experience with you but this last month has been my favorite so far. I feel like you're a little person now. Of course, you're still a baby but now you have such a big personality. You're growing and learning new things every day. You are beautiful! I know that's not an adjective most people use for their sons but you are. You've got the perfect bits of chub and cuteness. You're solid and so I don't feel like I'm going to "break you" when we roll around and play. Your smile is absolutely contagious and it's cliché to say but you light up my life.
PHYSICAL GROWTH + DEVELOPMENT
Last month I wrote about how active you were becoming and you have yet to slow down even a bit. If you want to get somewhere quickly you army crawl but you've gotten much better at crawling "normally", too. You much prefer to stand, though, and pull up on anything and everything. You're starting to cruise furniture and you LOVE to dance! You have attempted to stand without holding onto anything a few times. The most entertaining time had you propped up with your bum against the wall for support! After you tried to stand up in the middle of the bathtub a couple of times we retired your baby tub and now you take a shower with one of us before bed.

Some days you claw at us all day so that we pick you up into our arms and carry you around. You like to be a part of whatever we have going on. You thrive at independent play though. Sometimes I sit back and watch you and I love how you entertain yourself. These days it's all about figuring things out. You love to open and close the door on your changing table and open and shut the drawer to the end table holding the stereo.
We've had to get really creative to try to hide things from you, too. You have eight teeth now and you like to use them to bite on and destroy things. Books don't stand a chance around you and I had to put up your wooden blocks after you took a huge chunk out of one with your teeth. For a few days you took to grinding your teeth which Mommy really didn't like but read is normal. Daddy likes to give you empty water bottles to crush and destroy and you happily oblige him.

You are now 22 pounds, 3 ounces and 28.5 inches long. You are still wearing size 12-18 months and size 4 diapers. We took you to have your feet measured for shoes a couple of weeks ago and they recommended a 4.5 wide. You still fit in your size 4 Levi's and moccasins so we're going to wait until you need size 5 to get new shoes.
TALKING
Halfway through July you said your first intentional word, "Dada". I said, "silly Daddy" to which you replied "dada", completely making both of our days! A couple days later you started saying, "Mama" to mean me (and not just while crying) and "hi" (oftentimes accompanied by a wave). You quickly shortened "dada" to "dad" and you spend a lot of your time wandering the apartment saying, "hi dad". 

This month you've also started throwing short temper tantrums or crying when you don't get your way. If anyone tells you, "no" [sternly] you throw that bottom lip out and burst into tears.
EATING
You love to eat! You're still nursing first and that's remained my top priority. That being said, you don't let Daddy and me eat unless we have something for you, too. We're still doing Baby Led Weaning but this month you also ate baby food because it was given to us. You also eat a lot of pouches because they're very convenient to throw in the diaper bag and eat on the go. You really like sweet potato puffs to snack on. You liked yogurt drops, too, but were getting bumps on your chest like before and so I'm not giving those to you again. I've started eating dairy again but I'm not feeding you dairy directly.
SLEEPING
Because of all the growth, teething, and traveling your sleep has been all over the place. After our trip to Florida you took over a week adjusting to being home and back in your crib. You just wanted to sleep with me. Then you turned on the acrobatics and we had to kick you out! With the exception of a few party-at-midnight-days, your schedule hasn't changed much, if at all, since last month.
I am so excited to see what new adventures await us this month!
I love you, forever, 
Mama

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