Sawyer Month Update: Eight Months

Date: April 8, 2013

Weight:  I have no idea but I can tell he is gaining some weight (which is good).

Height: About the same as last month!

Clothing: Our boy wears 6-9 month clothes. He is starting to get taller so he even has some 6 month clothes that are too short in the pants. He is wearing size 3 diapers. He is wearing size 3 shoes (his feet grow way faster than Charlotte's.)  I really wish I could get him to wear hats. He looks so cute in them!

Health: Our big boy has been a healthy little champ this month as well! The Soy formula is helping a bit. We haven't noticed a huge difference in the gas issue but I think we were hoping for an instant cure and clearly that hasn't happened. We have noticed a few patches of eczema forming on his skin. When eczema showed up on Charlotte, it was bad. It was all over his face, arms, and trunk. She. Was. Miserable. He has just had a few patches here and there on his legs and arms. Other than that, our big boy is very healthy. And he has been doing amazing without the Prevacid. No change there with him.

Activity: This boy is doing great things!! He has already learned to use his push toy/walker. He is almost running with it now. He is just so active. He is clearly crawling everywhere....even up the stairs. I am thinking, "You are SEVEN months old, how do you know how to crawl up the stairs????" I turned around and he was gone! Our crappy idea of a gate has been this zebra recliner of Charlotte's that Grandma Ann bought her. This will do for now. Eventually we are going to have to buy baby gates for the top and bottom of the stairs. Our stairway here is extra wide. It is wider than all standard baby gates by 2 inches. I LOVE how wide it is but it is SUPER annoying that we can't use the gates that we already have. Like I said, this boy is crawling like a mad man. He is cruising along furniture, pulling up in his crib, and getting where he wants to go. He can crawl up into the toy bus that we have...something Charlotte couldn't do on her own until around 11 months. (I think.) He is a maniac!! He also started waving "Bye Bye" and he has started clapping his hands :) So cute.

Eating: Well our little chunky monkey loves his food. He is pretty much refusing most baby food. He has decided that he is over eating mushy food. He wants the real stuff. We have been giving him soft stuff. Naturally he loves the cookies and cakes but he also loves peas and baked potatoes (something Grandma Ann started him on.) He eats very very well. He still does love the squeeze pouches with the baby food in them. He LOVES his juice. He chugs it (and then spits part of it back up eventually). He is doing very well with the sippy cup. The nice thing about him eating the regular food is that we don't have to add rice to it :) I am still making my own baby food for him but he is only eating a few bites of it and wanting whatever food we have. He eats 4-6 bottles per day with 5 oz of formula in them. We are adding a bit less rice to the bottles. He doesn't seem to be upset or in pain from it and he doesn't seem to spit up any more than what he already was/is.

Sleeping: Well, he is a good eater, is a pretty great baby...plays well, easily entertained, quiet as long as momma is around, BUT this boy is NOT a good sleeper. No, I am not the type of mom to let her baby cry it out. It's just not what I want to do as a parent. We tried it with Charlotte MULTIPLE times. Didn't work. I can't stand the thought of them screaming in their dark room...scared, alone, and just wanting someone to love them. But this boy does not sleep well. He wakes up between 6 and 7 every morning. He usually takes 2 naps, 3 if they weren't amazing naps, and then he goes to bed between 7 and 8. Most of his naps are pretty good....more than an hour. However, there are times it takes me 30 minutes to get him to sleep. He goes to sleep for the night and wakes up anywhere from 2 to 8 times in the night. I don't quite know why. I just know that Charlotte did the same thing and she outgrew it. Someday he will sleep through the night....and at that point, I will feel like a NEW woman! A bonus for Alex is that Sawyer doesn't prefer him (or want him in any way) in the middle of the night. So I get up all night with him. However, when morning comes, he can go on downstairs with Daddy so Momma can get a few more minutes of sleep!

Favorites: Sawyer's favorite thing in life is "Momma". He is attached. Big time. If I am out of sight, he freaks out. Screaming hysterically. Even when he is with Alex. Yes, he will outgrow this. It's just a phase. Every kid goes through. It's just funny when people tell me, "Wow, is that normal?" OR "You really need to get him into daycare or something. This isn't healthy." I just politely smile and say, "It's called separation anxiety. Every baby goes through. Some more severe than others." Deep down, inside, I just want to throw a nursing book or a middle finger at the people :) It's normal. He loves to be held. Still. All of the time. He crawls around the house all day saying, "Momma. Momma". He says "Hi" and waves while doing it. He has been saying "Dadda" occasionally as well. He loves his Daddy...as long as Momma is within his sight. He loves loves loves the outside. He is so much like Charlotte when it comes to that. However, he gets pretty mad if he has to be in stroller for too long. He gets every impatient with it. He still loves bath time and is still crazy about his sister. She is his best friend.

Sawyer is growing up so fast. It makes me so sad and so happy that he is already so active and all over the place. Everyday seems to go just a little bit faster...

Time. Slow down a bit!