8 Month Letter - Luke

Lukey Baby, you are 8 months old! It has been a crazy couple of months. The biggest event in our lives has been moving. It has been a chaotic move. Lots of back and forth, lots of different babysitters, lots of missed naps, lots of late nights. But, as always, you weathered it like a champ. You are happy, sweet, and laid back and those things were abundantly obvious during this crazy time in our family life.

My Beautiful Boy

We are now (mostly) settled in our new home. You have your own room now! I haven't finished decorating it, but the essentials are in working order. You started sleeping in your crib when we moved here and are doing very well. You put your self to sleep 90% of the time and you typically wake to eat once in the night. Not ideal at 8 months, but all things considered its pretty great. You are still taking 3 naps a day - 2 long(ish) naps and a catnap in the evening before dinner. You very seldom wake early from your naps, and when you do it is because you are over tired from being off of your routine (usually Sundays!) My only real complaint about your current sleeping habits is that you tend to wake up 45 minutes after I put you to bed at night. Almost every night. I have no idea why, but it always falls right around the time I finish cleaning the kitchen and am ready to sit down for the night. Conquering that will be high priority this month, kiddo.

You are eating great. You still nurse 4-5 times a day and you typically eat 3 meals. If I remember. Sometimes I don't. Sorry. You love food. But you are pretty selective. You will try everything, but you seem to be mostly a "meat and potatoes" man. You like chicken, eggs, hummus, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, zucchini, applesauce, and oatmeal with bananas. You will eat some other fruits and veggies, but don't care much for them. Some things you won't touch if I put them on your tray, but you will gladly eat anything that is pureed and spoon fed to you. Pretty funny. Oh, and you got 3 teeth this month! So I think you will be ready for steak soon.

Getting in on the fun

You are sitting very well and one of your favorite activities is to sit and empty a container of toys, then have me fill it back up, and repeat. Its cute. You were restless at church last night, so I sat you in front of my diaper bag and you were happy as could be taking things out of it and checking it all out. I LOVE to watch you learn and explore new things. You are very deliberate in the way you turn things around and look at all sides,hit it, rub your hands over it, and finally put it in your mouth. Its fascinating to watch your mind work.

You're not crawling yet, but you get around very well by rolling where you want to go. One day I laid you down in the playroom while I was fixing breakfast and you made it into the kitchen to find me. So cute. I have started baby proofing again once I realized you are so mobile. I have to keep a close eye on your sister though, because she frequently tries to give you things that aren't safe for you. Like today she shared her granola bar with whole almonds as well as pouring a bag of tiny hair elastics out in front of you because she thought you would like the colors. Sweet, but not altogether safe.

Who, Me?

You adore Promise. She's not always nice to you (though she is improving), but you almost always have a smile for her. You watch her constantly to see what she's doing, even to the point of not nursing because she's so much more entertaining! You guys are adorable in the car having secret little sibling conversations. I often hear you babbling followed by laughter or a response from Promise and back and forth. Its so cute! After 8 months I am excited to be seeing the beginnings of a relationship between the two of you.

I absolutely adore you, little boy. Your smile lights up the room and always cheers me up. You are about as close to perfect as I can imagine and I am so blessed by your cheerful nature. You love people, no one is a stranger. Though you obviously prefer Mommy and Daddy, you will happily go to anyone who wants to hold you. You have big smiles for everyone who talks to you at church or in stores. You even charm your babysitters into watching you for free! You are definitely getting more independent, which is good but bittersweet for me. You are less snuglly and much busier moving and learning. It is an exciting time as you are changing and growing so quickly, and your personality is really starting to show through.

Ooblek fun

I love you Luke! Every day I thank God for letting me be your Mommy. I am truly blessed! Happy 8 months, Man Cub.

Love,
Mommy