8 Months Old

My “little baby” is now 8 months old?!

This past month has been a bit grueling … for all of us. (At least when we are talking about our health. I currently have 3 separate infections, but that is for another post at another time.)

Poor Ari started off the holiday season at the beginning of December with a GI bug that lasted for nearly two weeks.  Then he caught the cold that was making the rounds in our house and that left him with a lingering cough that was hard to shake.  Because of all this, he went on a temporary nursing strike which was a bit stressful for all involved.  And on top of all of that, his upper gums are swollen.  Hopefully those teeth make their appearance soon.

Despite all his illnesses, though, Ari’s vibrant little personality has still managed to emerge this past month. It has been incredibly fun to watch him show and “voice” his opinions and wants.

For example, even though he is finally eating solids better [he has no interest in self feeding and he still will only eat the puréed stage 2 fruits, but hey, this is progress!], he doesn’t want anything to do with veggies.  Somehow he knows when we are offering them to him and he purses his lips as tight as he can.  If we do manage to get anything in his mouth, he then raspberries it out.

He also is always bound and determined to get his tiny hands on any type of paper so he can chew and suck on it.  Needless to say, he loved all the Christmas wrapping paper.

For the most part, Ari is still a happy and social little guy.  He loves to be talked to and he loves to interact with people.

He gives the best snuggles. I love it when he attempts to scratch my back by raking his fingers along it while he is giving me loves.

He also has the most awesome belly laugh.  It is music to my ears!

When he is sitting and playing, he likes to bounce in place while he chews on toys.

He isn’t mobile quite yet, which I am kind of grateful for.  He does manage to scoot around a bit on his bottom.  In fact, just today I found him about 5 feet away from where I left him.  I almost dread the day when he learns to crawl, though I know that will be here sooner than I realize.  At least he still doesn’t like tummy time so maybe that means I have a bit more time.   I definitely will need to figure out a way to protect him from falling down the stairs in our new split level home … this is the first time we have lived in a place where stairs have been an issue.

Up until this past week, Ari’s two daily naps have been pretty predictable which has been a life saver for me.  However, now he thinks he is ready to drop his morning nap! I am fighting him on this one and I hope he resumes them sometime soon.

He also used to be a pretty decent night time sleeper.  He still goes to bed at 6:30 at night and gets up about 7:30 in the morning, but lately he has been waking up three or four times to eat?!  Egads?!  And sometimes, he is only going 2 hours between feedings!?  It is killing me.  It doesn’t help that he wants nothing to do with a binkie now and he will only sleep in his crib – not in your arms, not in the car, not anywhere else.  So when he is tired, sometimes you just have to let him fuss it out in his bed, which can be hard to do in the middle of the night since he shares a room with 3 year old Eli who is a light sleeper at times.  I am not sure if I will attempt to sleep train soon since he has been sick and teething lately, but we will see how long we can last on this crazy and undesirable schedule.  You would think by the time you are raising your fourth little one you would know how to figure these things out better .

All well, this, too, shall pass.

It is hard to believe that in 4 short months my baby will be a year old.  I am eternally grateful, despite all the sleep deprivation, that Ari is a part of our family.  I can’t imagine life without my Sweetness.

Advertisement