Charlie is sitting up well now and is learning to push with his feet if he is lying on his belly. Daniel noticed tonight that Charlie can pull himself forward with his arms and slide on his belly. I noticed today that he is trying to push with his feet but just can't seem to dig in enough to push his weight. I'm sure it won't take much longer though and he'll be on the move. I've tried to start putting him on the floor alot more so that he'll have the opportunity to learn to crawl. We sit alot on the couch and play in his basket of toys or he is in my lap. He's starting to get more strength in his legs and can stand a little too.
Charlie is babbling more and more everyday. I heard a little bit of a "ba ba ba" sound today but that's about it for the consonant sounds. It's mostly still just "ah" sounds. There are some "wa wa wa" sounds too though. I get so used to listening to him talk that I forget to pay attention to the sounds he's actually making. And, of course, I'm going "ma ma ma" and "da da da" alot now. I've started doing some sign language with him. I'm trying to incorporate all the signs I know into my conversations with him during the day. These are things like milk, eat, more, change (diaper or clothes), play, book, mama, dada. The basics. I'll work some more in as soon as I find the time to learn more.
Charlie is eating well. He nurses about 4 times a day at 3 1/2 to 4 hour intervals. He eats a mid morning snack of fruit. Lunch and dinner consists of rice cereal and a vegetable. He has begun to eat a little off my plate and loves to drink out of my cup. This has posed a new challenge for dinner time. We've tried to start eating at the table more so that he can sit in his high chair while we eat. He just gets so excited if Daniel or I lift our glass to take a swallow. He follows it with his eyes to your mouth and then back to the table. He smiles and starts to kick when you lift your cup and then the smile disappears when you set it down. It really can break your heart. I'm still trying to get him to drink out of a sippy cup but with no luck. If I hold the cup he'll drink some, but he mainly just wants to chew on it.
Charlie hasn't had any teeth cut through yet but it shouldn't be much longer. You can see the front two on the bottom just below the gumline. He's been showing some signs that his gums are hurting him more than just his usual gnawing and drooling.
Charlie is still in his "all I want is mama" phase. I guess this is to be expected since he is with me 24/7. However, I'm starting to have "non-separation frustration". He just won't let me put him down much and I definitely can't step out of his sight for one second, even when Daniel is around. Daniel is getting really good at distracting him so I can disappear and get a little break. But, one of the ladies at church made a comment tonight as I was talking about this very thing. She told me to enjoy it now because they don't stay this little for long and soon he'll be running around not wanting you to hold him. That gave me a new outlook on it. I love the fact that Charlie knows me and loves me and only wants me but it can get exhausting sometimes. These feelings, however, disappear when he snuggles into my neck or gives me what I call a "Charlie kiss". He is definitely a snuggle bunny. Just fyi, here's what a "Charlie kiss" looks like...
Well, that's an update on the life of this 8 month old. Sorry it's a long one but the thoughts just kept flowing and I want to remember as much of this as I can. Here are a couple of pictures I took today to remember him being 8 months old...
Charlie's hair is also beginning to fill in. It's starting to curl and is really cute. I tried to get a close-up...
I also have taken to just sitting and watching Charlie play. It's really cool to me to sit and think about how much he has grown and developed while watching all the things he can do while he plays. Maybe you'll enjoy it too...
No comments:
Post a Comment