dear owen,
today you are 8 months old. i've heard someone say that the days are long, but the years are short. i would add to that the nights are long, also. but where has the time gone? my little baby is almost a year old. every day you are changing - learning a new skill, overcoming a new challenge, even growing a new tooth! it's always an adventure with you around. at 8 months, you are:
- sitting unassisted.
- pulling up on everything.
- able to go from sitting to standing, and standing to sitting, without falling.
- saying "ba-ba" and "da-da" and knowing what they mean.
- still in a size 3 diaper.
- wearing mostly 12-month clothes, but some of the larger 6-9 months still fit.
- eating a majority of solid foods, including veggies, fruits, cereals, and now meats.
- taking around 20 ounces of formula a day, down from approximately 45 ounces at six months.
- in love with the binky.
- sleeping up to eight hours without needing to eat, but nowhere near sleeping through the night.
- really great at entertaining yourself, and for long periods of time.
- spending a couple of hours each day at the sitter's, and loving it. you are playing with kids twice your age, and even three or four times older than you, and doing great.
- mastering the sippy cup.
- teething like a fiend - bottom center left tooth is halfway in, and the bottom center right is breaking through.
- super into your baby bach video, and you watch it in a trance.
- really fond of opening and emptying the entertainment center.
- becoming really agile, and your hand-eye coordination is improving. i've seen you bend down to pick up the smallest pieces of paper off the rug.
- learning to feed yourself. you spend more time frustrated than eating, but you are working on small pieces of bread and ricecakes.
- reaching for one parent or the other on a consistent basis, and now you lunge for me when a stranger is holding you.
i can't believe what great changes have taken place in you in just eight short months. we have much baby-proofing to do in this stage of your life. i am trying to remember you in each phase that passes, and trying to hold mental pictures of you every day, so i don't miss a single thing. i am looking forward to your next stage in life, walking, talking, sleeping (oh please, sleeping) through the night. but i don't want to miss any of today. i love looking at the world through your eyes, seeing everything for the first time.
i wrote in your journal last night that every girl, since she is young, dreams of having a baby of her own. you are the flesh and blood fulfillment of my dream, and you have never disappointed. you are more than i dared to ask for in a child. as always, i love you more than anything. you are the best part of me. happy 8 months, baby.
love,
mommy
