8 Months

Caleb,

This month you finally got your first two teeth! Your bottom left poked through first and then your bottom right came in about 2 weeks later. You ran a low fever for about 4 days and battled a cold while your first one came through, but handled your second one like a champ. You were still such a happy baby through it all. You've bitten me more times than I'd like while nursing, but I'm trying really hard to push through it and teach you it's not ok to bite mommy. I'm not looking forward to your top teeth coming in! You're such a good eater with solids and love every new food you get to try. You're perfecting the pincer grasp and we've let you feed yourself  puffs, yogurt bites, pieces of cheese, chicken, avocado and noodles. You seem to prefer picking things up with your left hand, although you do use your right hand/fingers sometimes.  You're starting to get the hang of using a sippy cup too! 

This month you finally rolled from back to belly and are scooting backwards. When we lay you down in your crib for naps and bedtime, you're quick to roll to your left side or onto your belly to sleep. You move all around in your crib and get frustrated when you can't roll onto your back after rolling from your tummy. Sleep is still pretty much the same. You are consistently inconsistent with your sleep at night. Some nights you only wake up twice and other nights you're up 4-5 times. It's exhausting, son, and I constantly have to remind myself that this is just a phase and this too shall pass. I'm trying to convince myself that you're waking up so much because you're just going through so many developmental milestones right now and possibly working on your next set of teeth. Your favorite place to nap is on me/the boob, but we've gotten lucky a few times this month with naps in your crib.

You started swim lessons at the Redlands YMCA every Tuesday and Thursday.  You're in the Shrimp/Kipper class with 2 other babies and your teacher's name is Megan.  We do a lot of floating and trying to get you to kick in the water, but for the most part you just like to chill in the water like a little sea otter and have mom or dad do all the work. 

You're making new sounds all the time and have started saying "dadadada." You love petting/grabbing our cats, Lilly and Romeo, and I think they like the attention they get from you. We're trying to teach you to be gentle and not pull on their fur/ears/tail. You've developed a fear of beards and facial hair this month and cry almost every time you see a man with facial hair. It's the saddest thing ever. You're starting to reach for us when we go to pick you up and you love when we FaceTime your dad when he's working. 

I'm loving this stage that you're in.  You're so much fun and you're becoming more independent every day.  There's no doubt you love me and your dad. You light up when you see us and it's the best feeling in the world seeing you smile back at us. I can't believe you've been in this world almost as long as you were in my belly. Time is going by way too fast my love and I'm trying to enjoy every minute! I love you my little turkey! 

Momma