Eight

My little boy is getting so big.  He was eight months old on Tuesday, so I guess I'm two days late on posting this entry, but my blogging is sporadic at best.  Since he didn't need to see the doctor or get shots this month, I don't know exactly how much he weighs right now... wait, we bought a bathroom scale.  Let me go weigh him.


Okay, he weighs 18 lbs.  That puts him in the 25th percentile.  I'm so glad he's just a small guy.  He's not crawling or scooting around yet, which is great by me since we'll have to get a gate once he starts motoring, and he'll be making messes left, right and center.  He definitely wants to crawl - when he's on his tummy he's trying hard to figure out how to get somewhere and getting frustrated.  But I'm happy to have him stationary!

He's also mastering the pincer grip - picking up cheerios, cooked veggies, bits of cheese, etc., between his fingers and thumb.  I absolutely love watching him pick the food up between his index finger and thumb and try to get it in his mouth - I could just about burst with pride when he gets it in.  He gets better every day.  It's unbelievable to think of how he has grown from a helpless newborn into this wonderful little boy who can already feed himself (a little).

Something I am extremely grateful for is that I don't have to break him of a bottle.  How blessed I am that I was able to exclusively breastfeed him since he was born. We did leave him with sitters a couple times with some expressed milk in a bottle, and he drank it, but it never became habit to have the bottle.  I am SO fortunate that I have not had to work and that breastfeeding has been so wonderful.

And for the last couple months, since he started eating solids, I've been giving him water out of these cups.  The shape seems to work great for him, and they are cheap, so if I leave them behind somewhere it wouldn't be a big deal.  I do wish they had a lid though.

I'm just beginning to look around for the kind with the straw, which he should be able to get the hang of quickly now that he's eight months.  But I've only seen the fancy insulated kind, and I do not want to spend that kind of money on one cup.  Another reason I'm glad I chose the cheap ones is that I just recently found out that some kids who drink from the cups with the valve develop a tongue thrust when they use their tongues to stop the flow, and then have difficulty speaking.  Hooray for the cheap cups!

We also have a new rule.  Grant needs to eat at least one full jar of fruit before bed so that he doesn't get up to eat at 5 or 6am.  He ate lots of fruit last night before bed and then didn't get up until 9 today.  Thank goodness!

And he is getting his first two teeth!  The front two on the bottom, just as expected.  He was not feeling great when they were cutting through the gums, and had a very stuffed up nose for a few days, but he seems to be feeling much better the last couple days and especially this morning.  His little teeth are so cute!  I can't wait to get some pictures of him when they come all the way up!

It is SO wonderful being at home with Grant all the time.  I love him so very much.  He brings so much happiness to Trevor and me.  Now that he's here we just can't believe we ever lived without him.  Definitely, people should have children because they want them, but having always wanted them, I can't imagine never having him.  There are no words to express how much I love him.  We are SO glad he came to be in our family and that Heavenly Father sent him to us.

Thank heaven for little boys!