May 2nd – 8 months old!!

Dear Landen,

You are eight months old!!  That means you’ve been out in the world for the same amount of time you were growing in Mommy’s belly.  It’s amazing to think of how much you have grown and developed in this time.  We’ve seen some big changes this month for sure!

You’re now opening your mouth nice and wide for a spoon.  You had your first “dinner” baby food – turkey and veggies.  You gobbled it up!  You drink a 5 oz. bottle every 3 hours plus have oatmeal and fruit for breakfast and whole grain cereal and a veggie for dinner.  Sometimes you’ll leave an oz. in a bottle or two but you’re doing better.

In the beginning of this last month we noticed some teething signs: swollen red gums, lots of drooling.  We’ve been giving you ibuprofen when you seem to be in pain.  It’s pretty much the only thing that seems to help.  On April 12^th your Daddy was on a business trip and you gave Mommy a horrible time!!  You cried and cried and cried.  I finally got you to sleep and when we got up in the next morning your first bottom tooth had broken through!  The one next to it came through 2 weeks later and now they’re pretty easy to see when you smile.

You had your first really bad diaper rash caused by a plethora of pooping!  (I think it had something to do with you teething but the medical field seems a bit divided on that topic.)  Your poor bottom got really sore and red.  It got to the point where you would scream and cry every time we changed your diaper.  All of our usual tricks weren’t helping so Mommy did some research online and bought something called Triple Paste.  This stuff works miracles!!  By even the next day there was improvement.  It’s expensive but Mommy has stocked up on it because she doesn’t want you to be in pain like that again.  Once we see any signs of redness we put some of that on and we’re good to go!

You like to blow raspberries for fun … often spitting!  You’ve become super talkative, especially in the mornings when you’re getting dressed for the day.  You like to make the “wah” sound.  Sometimes you “screech” when you’re sitting up but Mommy thinks you do that when your muscles are tired and you’re ready to lay back down again.  You sit up really well but you don’t know how to get in or out of it.  You have started “barrel rolling” all around the living room floor.  You’re definitely mobile now!  Sometimes you put your head down and scoot forward with your feet.  We’ve seen you get up on your hands and knees and rock back and forth, but you haven’t crawled yet.

All of this moving and rolling around has lead to your first big accident.  You were up on Mommy and Daddy’s bed and you rolled right off the side before Mommy could get to you!  It scared her to death and you cried a lot.  After calling the doctor we watched you for signs of an issue but you seem to be fine.  Thank goodness!!  From now on you’re not allowed up on a bed unless you’re being held.

A very good sale at Babies-R-Us led us to by you  new “big boy” convertible carseat.  You haven’t been happy in the car for awhile now so we were hoping that sitting up straighter in a convertible would make you happier that leaning back in the infant seat.  Man were we right!!  There was an instant change and now you hardly ever complain in the car.  Mommy did lots of research and we ended up get a great deal on a carseat that you should be able to use for a long long time.  We sure are glad you love it!

With all the changes that have happened this past month we’re a little anxious to see what happens next month.  You’re growing up way too fast!

You got to have 2 photo sessions this month.  Since you’re sitting up so well we even got to do one in the backyard!  You look so grown up.  It makes us happy and sad all at the same time.