More 8 Month Fun

Last night I only had the energy to post pictures. Now here is some more info on our growing boy!

He loves to stand! The child will be in a room full of toys, and he will spend 20 minutes standing and patting the coffee table while talking to you. Jon can now walk around the coffee table, transfer from the coffee table to the couch, and walk from one end of the dining room table to the other by holding on to the chairs. He is very proud of himself, often doing this with a big smile on his face. We play with blocks, rings, rattles, teething toys, stuffed animals, coasters, bits of dust on the floor. Uggh...Jon ate his first dust bunny on Sunday. It was disgusting, and I feel the need to compulsively swiffer now. Jon is much more of a mover and shaker than a cuddler. When we read books, he is usually standing or playing with something in his hands. His favorites seem to be "Quiet Loud" and "Noisy Kisses" because we make loud noises while reading them. This brings literal squeals of delight.

We are working on clapping, waving, and blowing kisses. He doesn't do them himself, but I think (maybe) he knows what they mean. At least he gets very excited when we start clapping. I'm also trying some signs, but I don't think the child has a clue what they mean. He much prefers to whine and grunt for his milk. I know it is a bit early, but the internet is full of these "oh yes, my 5 month old knows the signs for milk, more, and thank you" stories...blah, blah, blah. I don't have any books or DVDs, I just look up the signs online and start using them. There is probably a better way of introducing sign language, but I'm not willing to spend money on it.

Jon likes to pull hair. It is kind of his way of saying hello...although I am trying to nip this habit in the bud. He obviously pulls his father's hair, and we say "ouch" and frown while we pull his hand away to try to let him know it is a bad thing. Despite that, whenever he crawls up to a kid at story time or church, he goes straight for the hair. Usually the other kid doesn't mind, and we pull him off immediately with the accompanying ouch/frowny face. This morning, though, he pulled the hair of a girl who could talk. For the next half hour, she kept saying, "That baby pulled my hair!" Any ideas on how to teach an 8-month-old some social skills?

He's still eating solids twice a day along with two extra milk snacks. I keep thinking of adding a third meal of solids, but the kid is growing just fine, and our pediatrician said that he didn't need to start three meals until 9 months. So, I guess I'll wait. He likes all kinds of cereal, bananas, avocados, pears, apples, sweet potatoes, squash, carrots, and peas. I bought some peaches and blueberries to prepare for him next. My baby food cookbook is in a box that has yet to be opened, so I'm not quite sure what I should be cooking next for him! I've started giving him small chunks of banana, and he does not really appreciate having to work to eat his food, but he is getting much better at chewing. I think at his 9-month check up, we should get the green light for cheese, yogurt, and more finger foods. I also haven't given him meat yet. I honestly can't stomach pureed meat, so I wanted to wait until I could give him shredded meat.

And last, but not least, he has a mouth full of teeth! The bottom center two came up in June, the top center two started a couple of weeks ago, and the two upper teeth outside of the center started this week. We're finally going to get professional pictures taken this week (last time we tried he was sick), and he will have a nice, toothy smile!

So that's what Jon is doing! Growing like a weed, as they say, and keeping us on our toes : )

8 Months

Jon is 8 months old and growing every day! He is a lot of fun and really is a sweetheart. Here are some pictures from what he's been up to. They are iPhone pics, so I apologize for the fuzziness.


Here is how I usually find Jon in the morning and after naps, happily standing up (and sometimes chewing on his crib.)
We went to a park after library story time with a couple of families from the church we have been attending. At the park, Jon played with a stick for the first time. It didn't taste very good.

The boy is finally crawling! Here he is going after some toys.

Chapter books, here we come! Well, kind of : ) Becky's book is finally out! Buy it HERE, and not just because I am in it ; )

Jon is not always super happy boy, unfortunately. Jonathan and I have had to start using "No," as you can see below. (But he was so cute, I had to take a picture.)

Here is what he was told he could not have...

On Friday, Jon and I went to the Comal County Parade with two sweet families from our church. Jon had a lot of fun interacting with the other kids (and being held by the other moms), although he did not like the loud parts of the parade. Here he is just chilling - it was a 2 hour parade!

Hmm...what is this? Can I reach it?

Must get all of my toys out of my cubbies...now!

Come play with me, Mama!
Only in our household is this shape referred to as a concave decagon.

Jon is pulling up and cruising all over the place! Today he pulled himself up on the kitchen wall.

Hug Your Babies

In the past few days, two different pop culture icons have made me squeeze my baby tightly - Disney and...Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Specifically, the movie "Up," and the television episode "The Body." I personally do not understand why Buffy only won one Emmy, and for best make up design at that. Joss Whedon is brilliant, and the episode about the death of Buffy's mother really makes you think about death and life. It is well acted, well directed, and completely sucks you in to the world of the characters. Jonathan and I watched the episode after dinner Sunday night, and when it ended, I felt the need to go wake up Jon and hug him. I restrained myself, though, because waking a baby up in the middle of the night is one of those crazy things you just don't do : ) Then today I watched 'Up' for the first time because I wanted something in the background while I was doing work and Jon was napping. Hah! I ended up just sitting on the couch, watching the movie. Like "The Body," the movie made me think about what I'm doing with my life, what I am really impacting.

The pastor in the church we have been attending in San Marcos is currently focusing on God's covenants. In this world of uncertainty, God's promises are rocks we can cling to. He will be our God, and we will be His people. When I die, my soul will go to be with Him. In "The Body," Dawn (Buffy's little sister) is obsessed with seeing Joyce's body. She wants to see her mother. But Buffy reminds Dawn that Joyce is not there; it is just a dead body void of their mother. Despite my faith, thinking about death and how it affects our loved ones still pretty much took my breath away. Needless to say, I prayed an extra prayer for my baby and thanked God for blessing me so much with this amazing life. I want to give him a meaningful life, one in which he will leave this world better than it was before he entered it. I want him to have a beautiful relationship with God and with everyone that he encounters. I want the same for myself, and I really wondered today what am I doing that will leave an impact. Is my life just washing dishes, doing laundry, and baking cookies? Those are the activities I have done today. How am I living out my faith daily? How am I impacting my family, my community, my sphere of influence?

Who knew that watching TV and a movie would bring about such deep thoughts?

new skills

Well, I think Jon may have had a small bout of roseola...maybe. After his fever went away, he got little tiny pink spots on his arms and legs. The rash is faded a bit today, and he hasn't actually had a high temp since Thursday, so I think we're out of the woods. I have learned something about my kid, though - he is very pouty and whiny when he doesn't feel good. I guess I can say the same thing about me!

I had a not so fantastic run this morning. I'm trying to train for the St. Jude Memphis Half Marathon again, and I am significantly behind in training. I think I might try to run again tomorrow morning before church to make up for the lousy run this morning. I know that it doesn't really work that way, but oh well....

Here are pictures of Jon's newest skills: standing up and using a sippy cup:

Sick baby : (

So we've made it 7 months, and now Jon is sick : ( He's had a high temp since last night. I called our old pediatrician in Memphis, and the nurse on call pretty much told me that he did not have a fever...even though it was 99.8. She said that it's not a fever until 100.6. Well, at 100.2 I went ahead and gave him baby acetaminophen. He thankfully slept through the night pretty well, and felt much cooler each time I checked on him (which was about once an hour until midnight...I was a bit worried). He's hovered between 99 and 100 today, and has spent most of the day sleeping. Of course, Jon chose his first day to get sick when I had 6-month (ahem...7-month) pictures scheduled for him. Being crazy mom, I took him anyway, but he cried the whole time and was not his adorable and smiley self. He then took a four hour afternoon nap, I woke him up for his afternoon snack, and now he's back asleep. : ( He's so pathetic and I just want him to feel better. I'll gladly take any sick baby remedies anyone has out there.