Timothy will be 8 months on October 10th. The past couple of weeks he has stumbled upon some new favorite past-times: pulling up and standing being one of them. It's really cute when he does it with a toy or on the ottomon or in his playpen or crib but when he lunges for the toilet/tub/trash can/fireplace,etc. it's not so fun (i.e. lots of babyproofing and chasing going on these days...followed by lots of messes--more on that later.)
He loves to look to the side for approval/reassurance, which just cracks us up.
Another new favorite? His sippy cup!! We started with a training cup at 5 and a half months or so and while he held on tight, he mostly just chewed on the tip. Now (combination of switching to a better cup and just being a couple months older) he tilts his head back and actually drinks his water from it really well.
Reaching in the toy bin!
Chasing Lily (our cat) to the French Door. He LOVES following her around. I think he's fascinated that she moves on all fours like he does, is about her size, and is "alive" like him, yet isn't a human. (Does that make sense?)
And here's the little buster en route to one of his favorite areas to play: the bathroom. I think he loves it because he knows that's where bathtime is. Also, it's connected to our master bedroom and he LOVES our closet/playing with all our shoes. As most of you mom's know, when they hit this crawling stage where they can---and will--fulfill their curiosity, you can forget the fancy toys...give 'em tupperwares, car keys, cell phones, tv remotes, empty water bottles, a magazine...they will be occupied for quite a while! Everything goes to the mouth though, so that's the challenge when it comes to household stuff.
Look at that happy face!! It's a shame that his dad and I have to "trick him/bribe him/ pacify him with a toy or his sippy cup in order to break free for a couple of minutes in order to take care of dinner, showers, laundry, etc. As some of you know, this baby does NOT nap much (some days not at all or maybe 30 minutes max)--nor does he go to bed in the early evening hours like most babies his age--no matter how much sleep training we have tried, no matter how many books or articles I've read, no matter how many friends or doctors within our pedatrician group I've consulted with for advice and tips. So, we don't have the luxury of accomplishing things during what would normally be his nap time. This has probably been our biggest challenge, but I've noticed that "accepting it" has made everything a whole lot better. Each child is different. Each child has his or her quirks. My child just so happens to be "up" a lot---but he's happy and very rarely fussy, so that certainly helps; and as with most situations, there are "blessings in disguise." For example, I myself have always been a "night owl" so I guess it's a blessing for Timothy's sake that I have the stamina to keep up with him vs. if I was an early to bed person myself. Since he's awake "extra hours" he has that many more hours in the day to learn stuff and practice his skills! He also is pretty good at playing independently! (Since I do have to use some of his awake-instead-of-napping- time to "get stuff done.") We have a wonderful , supportive family in town, so as far as Tim and I are concerned we ARE able to have date nights or fun times out with friends pretty frequently, in order to get a break and have some adult time. When it comes to working 2-3 days a week, I don't feel guilty because when I get home from work, I get to spend 5-6 hours with him before he goes to bed vs. just saying hello and goodnight if he went down earlier. If we're out doing an activity as a family, we dont' have to rush home for a nap since he probably won't take one anyway! (And believe me, we've tried the rush home/provide consistency thing--only to see a snoring, totally zonked out, well-fed baby come back to life after about 5 or 10 minutes, fully re-charged and ready to go again. The joke for many months has been..."He's baaaccckk!" Followed by one of us saying "He's back already???" Now the joke is that he just never "leaves" in the first place. In fairness to him, my mom says I was like this as a baby as well. :) Pay backs DO exist folks.
Where's
In addition to learning how to keep up with our fast little crawler and super-awake baby, we've also had fun getting together with friends and putting out Fall decorations.
Crawling toward Tim when he gets home from work is one of the cutest things ever. He will literally crawl the whole length of the house to reach his daddy, then flash him a big smile and make his little happy sounds. He does it when I get home from places too. It's the best greeting ever--especially when I squat down to his level and then he pulls up on my knees and into my arms.
Sweet boy. He LOVES to put his hands together like this, these days. And notice the big gummy smile. Still NO teeth at all! (which I'm not complaining about since I'm still nursing him!)
Tim's mom got us lots of Fall outfits, so don't be surprised if you see this boy wearing pumpkins for the next two months.
Tim and I had been putting scarecrows out by our front door the past few years. Saw a little boy one at Michael's the other day, so of course I had to get it in honor of our addition to the family!
Yay for dinner parties! (and go-with-the-flow little ones who we pull up to the table in highchairs or bumbos!)
Ok, back to T for just a minute. In recent talks with other moms, it seems that we all need to be reminded and encouraged that life is not always smooth sailing, picture perfect, Facebook-post worthy. A lot--and I mean a LOT of days or at least hours of the day are spent picking up, preventing, and picking up again....MESSES!!!! In the beginning it was spit up and burp cloths and outfit changes , diaper changes and genie refills, pumped bottles&freezer bags, medicines, and tons of laundry. Now it's baby food jars and spoons, messy bibs with food droppings, food all over the baby's face (i.e. bath time right after dinner time), sticky fingers and boogie wipes, toys strewn all over (picked up) then strewn all over again, a diaper bag that constantly needs to be cleaned out and reorganized, the bath time area that needs tending to after the baby is dried off and re-dressed, and of course the random stuff that a crawler finds on his adventures across the floor. Now, that list does NOT include the continued routine of diaper changes, pumped bottles&freezer bags, or the never ending cycle of laundry. Nor does it include the miscellaneous things that end up in the car, or that create a mess by the front door to and from the car. Nor does it include the every-changing pile of "too little" clothes that need to be tucked away or the "too big" clothes that need to be hung in the closet, or the item that didn't work out and needs to be returned to the store, or the stack of pictures trying to make their way into frames and albums. Nor does it include the regular day-to-day stuff: groceries that need to be put away, after-dinner dishes, replacement of toilet paper and paper towels, sorting through important mail vs. junk mail, etc. The messes are truly endless, but I think it's the meal time messes that test my patience the most. For the most part, Timothy is a really good eater, but the times where he doesn't like a certain flavor or just isn't hungry at that moment means either packing it all back up and saving it for later (thereby creating a new semi- mess in my fridge), pitching it and trying something else (therby starting over with prepping it), and all the while going through the strip-down, wipe-down, and re-dress process. And yes, they make catch-all bibs to prevent this more involved way of doing things, but Timothy vigorously pulls them off which just creates more of a mess so we go the naked route whenever possible (i.e. if we're at home vs. out and about.)
But are all of the messes (and our efforts to prevent and contain them when possible, clean up when necessary ) totally worth it? ABSOLUTELY!!!!!!!!!
Changing subjects, it's our 4th wedding anniversary tomorrow, October 4th. We often use Tim's mom's old-timey phrase "birds of a feather flock together" to describe various friends of ours who are so totally well-matched for each other, it's amazing that out of this whole big world, they found each other. And we say that about ourselves too---cause we "just fit" together...in so many countless ways, big and small, long-term and day in day out, even as we find "our new normal" as a family of 3. God, of course, had a plan for us. We just still find it so crazy that He introduced us on a blind date.
Happy anniversary to us!
No comments:
Post a Comment