Dear Bo, You're 8 months old...

8 months old!

Here's what you're up to:

• You are on your last package of Size 2-3 diapers (for 14-22 pound babies).  I'm buying Size 3 next (up to 28 pound babies).  They have swallowed you in the past, but we'll see!
• You wear some 3-6 months clothes and some 6-9 months clothes (about half and half).  Truth be told, you really haven't grown out of your 3-6 months clothes.  You just have a lot of cute 6-9 months summer clothes that I want to make sure you get to wear a couple of times so I've put a lot of your 3-6 months clothes away.
• You don't have any teeth yet, though I've been saying you're teething since you were 4 months old.  You drool a ton and stick everything in your mouth.
• You drank four 5 ounce bottles a day all month and eat a fruit for breakfast, fruit and green veggie for lunch, and a fruit and orange veggie for supper.  You've been yelling at us after you're finished with your food so I moved you up to 6 ounces this week, and you drain it.
• You take 2 good naps a day (1.5-2.5 hours each) and go to bed around 8pm.  5 out of 7 nights you sleep through the night until around 7:30am.  The other two nights you wake at 3 or 4am, and we go make sure you're okay, pat you, and leave you to fall back asleep on your own.  On these nights, you'll sleep until 8am or 8:30am, and your crib is a mess from all the playing you do with your blankie and stuffed animals.  You started consistently skipping your third nap this past week.  So generally your schedule is:  7:30am wake/bottle/fruit, 9:30 nap, 12pm bottle/fruit/green veggie, 2:30 nap, 6:00 bottle/fruit/orange veggie, 8 bottle/bed.
• It seems like you spit up a lot less this month.  Hurray!  Though all bets are off if we feed you carrots or green beans.  Those just don't sit well with you (we tried them for the first time last month and again this month with the same results) so we have set them aside for now and might give it another go next month.  We recently tried oatmeal cereal, and it had the same effect as the carrots and green beans.
• Just as soon as I wrote your 7 month old summary about how easy it had gotten to put you to sleep, you decided to switch things up on me!  You started crying when I tried to rock you.  I decided 6 months of wrestling you to get you to sleep was enough, and I started implementing a strict bedtime routine and helping you learn to fall asleep on your own.  
• For nighttime your routine is that we give you a bath between 7:45-8pm, then I feed you a bottle in your room with music playing (Journey by Rockabye Baby!!).  Daddy reads you "Goodnight Moon" while I rock and feed you.  We say prayers while you finish your bottle then Daddy cuts the lights and music.  I burp you and sing Jesus Loves Me and Jesus Loves the Little Children.  If you fall asleep while I sing, I enjoy rocking you for a few sweet minutes.  But if you don't (and you rarely do), I put you in bed with your blankie, pat you a couple of times and leave.  Sometimes you go right to sleep.  Other times you'll cry.  I always go back to check on you after 5 minutes, and 90% of the time you are asleep.  The other 10%, you are playing with your blankie or paci.  When I go back after another 5 minutes, you're out.

• For naps, we sing the same 2 songs while we rock you.  If you fall asleep during those 2 songs, great.  If not (and you usually don't), we do the same thing and put you in bed with your blankie, pat you a couple of times and leave.  It takes you longer to settle for naps, though the second nap is definitely the most difficult for you. It gets better every week though.
• I really can't believe how easily you have learned to fall asleep on your own.  I can't decide if it's because you are older and finally comfortable, or if you would have done this earlier if we had been more persistent back then.  I tend to doubt it with all of your issues early on, but either way, I'm just so thankful for the progress now.  I must say that I do really miss rocking you, and I'm glad I did so much of it when you let me.
• We've been letting you practice with a sippy cup for the last month, and you know to put it in your mouth, but you don't really take drinks.  The few times you've gotten water in your mouth, you seem surprised and either choke or spit it right back out.
• You roll from front to back and back to front, but you prefer to just sit up.  We've tried to put you on your tummy more to see if you'll start making a move to crawl, but you just smile at us and show no interest at all. 
• You've learned to play peek a boo and will pull the burp cloth off your head and grin when we say, "Where's Bo?" 
• You still love Billy the Bass. 

• You still love your paci, too.  You especially enjoy chewing on the wrong end of the paci.

•   You sit up wonderfully in the floor and play now.  You rotate between your toys on the floor, your bounce a bout, and your jumper.  You love to swing outside, too.  You sit up in the bath, in a highchair at restaurants, and in shopping carts in stores.  It's nice not to have to lug your carrier everywhere anymore.
• You sit on my bed, watch Handy Manny, and play with your toys in the mornings while I get ready to work.  I love listening to you squeal while I'm getting ready.

•  We packed up your Bumbo seat, your swing, and your bouncer.  It made me sad and happy all at the same time that you're getting to be such a big boy!
• You are ticklish!  You just giggle and giggle when we squeeze your thighs or tickle you under your chin.  
• You like to babble.  We say "ma-ma-ma-ma", "da-da-da-da", "ga-ga-ga-ga" and try to get you to mimic those sounds, but you just grin at us and prefer to babble your own sounds.
• Every time you sneeze, you laugh at yourself.  It's so funny.
• You're holding your own bottle (though we have to help you tip it up when it gets to the end).
• You love to watch Scout and have started to grab at her hair.

•   We've spent a lot of time at evening summer concerts in the park this summer, and you're always so good.  You love to sit on the blanket and play.  I think you really enjoy being outside.  We've had so much fun doing stuff like this with you.  It's like we've settled into a nice routine that's a blend of what we did before you and what we do now that you're here, and it's so nice to be "back out there" incorporating you into our life.  Some days I wondered if we'd ever feel "normal" again.  I'm relieved to say we do.

We love you so much, baby boy!


Just look how you've grown: