Eight 2.0

Sprout,
This month you turned eight months old. Eight. Already. Where did the time go?

The past several weeks were eventful. Most notably, you celebrated your first Christmas. Unsurprisingly, you were spoiled beyond belief by our entire family. You received more gifts than you’ll ever be aware of and were showered with attention by all. You also demonstrated an increased interest moving. You sit up by yourself most of the time and want to crawl SO bad. You get up as if you’re ready to move, but just don’t seem to have the power to do so. You’re a pretty chunky little guy though, so I imagine being mobile will be a lot of work. I’m not going to lie – your Daddy and I are in no hurry for you to get moving. You are freakishly strong for your size and highly curious. Thus, we know the second you learn to move, you’ll be into EVERYTHING! In the meantime, you tend to just scoot yourself to the toys you desire and are relatively happy. You also like to scoot to furniture and then MOVE it! Eek!

This month marked your transition out of our room, too – finally. Your brother acquired a ‘big boy’ bed, which left you with his crib. Originally, the plan was for me to move my office downstairs, but I just do not want to be down there. Thus, you and I are currently roommates. My desk is on one side of the room and your crib is on the other. Our back wall is covered with glittery stars and there are white lights surrounding the window. While it would be ideal for our house to be a bit bigger or set up in a different manner, this will work for now. You seem content and I enjoy sharing a space with you. For all intents and purposes, you’re only in your room when you sleep. Otherwise, you are in our main living space or in your brother’s room playing with him.

You’re really starting to enjoy music. Your favorite songs at this time are: ‘When All the Raindrops are Lemon Drops’ and “Old MacDonald’s Farm”. While reading is still not your favorite activity, you do seem to like Brown Bear, Brown Bear, which has always been one of our family’s favorites. In all honesty, your preference seems to be taking things apart and putting them together. You take every toy we give you and immediately turn it over to see how it works. You have a blue car that you are particularly fond of that has a screwdriver and wrench that you use to ‘fix it’. When not fixing things, or tearing up paper (one of your other absolute favorite activities!), you like to spend time in your jumparoo. You’ll jump for up to an hour. I fear that you’re getting too big for it though. I don’t know what we’ll do when you are. You also enjoy long walks in the stroller or wagon, too.

Another favorite activity of yours is eating – you fit into our family well! You seem to have a preference for carrots and squash, but do not care for veggies like peas. You’ll eat some solids if placed into your mouth (bananas, olives, mashed potatoes, squash, bread, etc.), but it does not occur to you to put them there yourself. You tend to get crabby whenever mealtime is over, as it seems to be your belief that we should eat always. You get so mad, in fact, that you will become stiff as a board so that we cannot move you, place you in your jumper, or sit you on the ground. I can only imagine what your toddler years will be like!

For as ‘spirited’ as you are, you are also so lovely. You seem to have a great affection for me and light up when you see your Daddy, too. You worship your brother and always want to engage with him – if he’ll let you. While you can be a bit stubborn at school (usually secondary to exhaustion), they tell us that you are both silly and engaging while you’re there. You have a smile that lights up any room and are the ultimate snuggler. You, in my eyes, are near perfection. I am so glad that you joined our family, my little one. You make us all better.

Love,
Mama