SOOOOO…I just realized that I never did an 8-month update for A! While I don’t really write these for anybody but him and the rest of our family, I feel so bad that I forgot it! To be fair that was all in the middle of Thanksgiving, but still. A, I’m so sorry bud! Truth be told there wasn’t a LOT of change until after you already turned 8 months, so we’ll try and play catch up with your 9-month update 🙂
Before I had A, I always wondered how on earth I could love another child as much as I already love his brother. So many of my mom friends and mentors said that it would just happen – that my heart would just expand and the love would just be there – but it’s hard to really imagine ahead of time. As usual they were right, and from the moment A was born my heart just grew a million times and I fell more in love with Nate and both of our boys.
As with any great love, the longer I’ve known A the more I’ve fallen in love with him. A couple of blogging friends have said this, but I’ll go ahead and add it here too: there’s a special kind of love that moms have for their boys. It’s certainly not bigger or stronger than the love moms of girls have, but it’s kind of like a really strong non-romantic crush. The girls that end up with these guys are going to be so very lucky!
OK. Let’s do a quick 8-month recap. A got his first (and second!) ear infection, which was terrible. I said in the 7-month recap that I wouldn’t be surprised if he had 8 teeth by 8 months, and I was right! That officially made 8 teeth in 4 months, so all of his ear infection symptoms I thought were because he was teething so much. Needless to say I felt like the worst mom in the world that I didn’t realize what was really going on. During his 8th month he also started eating level 2 foods and has really enjoyed them. I have yet to really make any homemade baby food him, but when it comes down to it my choice is to spend time playing with him or making food…so I choose to play! That was basically it for the 8th month; now let’s get to 9 months!
Since we’ve gotten the ear infection thing figured out (for now) everything seems to be progressing more and more. A has 8 teeth, a mouthful, and isn’t shy about grinning with them! Especially when he’s doing something he knows he isn’t supposed to be doing (pulling on the Christmas tree, eating the dog beds, pulling on the fireplace vent). He’ll respond to me saying his name with a glance over his shoulder and a big, mischevous, toothy grin and I can’t help but shake my head. I’ve said from the beginning that I think he’s going to be a stinker (in a fun way) and so far he’s proven his mama right!
He has started army crawling, but with a limp, and it’s so fun to watch him move around the house on his own! It’s certainly a workout for him though – pulling your entire body around with one arm? I’ll take walking over that any day 🙂 He’s started getting his knees underneath him a little bit, and his upper body strength is really starting to allow him to push up on his arms more and more. I think he’ll be solidly crawling in the next month, and likely walking by the time he’s a year!
He’s still eating level 2 baby food, but we’re slowly starting to introduce chunkier soft food. He hasn’t taken to it the way W did, but he’s slowly coming around. Besides the fact that we want to make sure he can eat real food some day, we’re also hoping that his pincer grasp comes around soon because of it too. Right now he’s still just grabbing things with his fist, which makes him frustrated when he’s trying to get food into his mouth. I’ve been trying really hard to not compare his development to W’s because they really are such different boys with already apparent different strengths. It’s such a thrill to see him growing though!
I’m knocking on wood as I write this, but sleep is going so much better with the healing of his ear infections. He’s sleeping through the night most nights, and when he does wake up I can give him a small bottle and rock him for a few minutes before putting him down again. At this moment in time he’s in the process of dropping a nap, though, which is not my favorite thing in the world. Once he gets used to a new schedule it’ll all be great, but the in-between is always hard!
I hesitated for a while to put this out there, but like I said this update is really more for us than anyone else. With the ear infections A has had he hasn’t been nursing anymore, and because I don’t have time to pump all day my supply has basically dried up. It’s kind of heartbreaking, because while nursing certainly isn’t easy to do it’s a really beautiful thing. I cry quite a bit that it’s all worked out the way it has; I really hoped to nurse A up to a year. My supply started dropping a while back, though, and nothing was bringing it back up. When A couldn’t nurse because it hurt his ears we started bottle feeding him, and that’s what he’s been doing the past couple of weeks. I miss the closeness that nursing brings, but being able to feed him at all is such a gift.
With all the stress and sickness lately, postpartum life for me has reverted back to what it was like right after A was born – eating everything in sight and not exercising as much as I’d like. The past week has been better, but I’m looking forward to settling into healthier rhythms over the next month or so. Smoothies, lower-carb meals, and a LOT of water are on the menu!
I still can’t believe what a blessing it is to have these two boys in my life. Every day I thank God, morning and night, for letting me be their mom. We have hard times and frustrations, to be sure, but at the end of the day I can’t help but be more in love with the little men they’re turning into. And certainly, DEFINITELY, more in love with the incredible man that I get to share them with!
A, you are so much fun. You are such an incredible little boy. You are so strong and funny, smart and sweet, and a little bit of a renegade…and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love you sweet boy, and I can’t wait to spend the next month (and the rest of my life) being your mommy!
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