Eight Months

-- Robert is wearing some 9 month clothes still and can wear some 12 month stuff. He's in a size 4 shoe.

-- He still has his little curl on the side of his head and his hair is slowly starting to get a little longer. He has random strands that are a couple of inches longer than the rest in several spots.

-- Robert just got two more teeth this past week. They aren't the front teeth though. They're the ones on either side of the front top teeth. That puts his tooth count at 4.

-- He is pulling up on everything and has just started hanging on with one hand. He started pulling up in his crib a few days after he started crawling. Oh, and he started crawling the day after he turned 7 months. He prefers to crawl on one knee and one foot and he's fast now.

-- He clapped for the first time on July 2nd over at Glenn and Becky's house.

-- His favorite song is "Drive my car" by The Laurie Berkner Band. I discovered this one night driving home from VBS when he was crying. It came on and he immediately stopped. I figured it was just coincidence, but when it was over the crying ensued. Put it back on and he stopped. I've listened to this song a few times this past month when I've gotten desperate.

-- He is eating solids much better now. I've given him small chunks of banana, squash, beans and kolache bread and he also eats cheerios and puffs. The rest is mostly pureed still. Chris gave him a mushroom and he loved it. Blech! He's also had watermelon and the drinkable baby yogurt and loves them both. He takes a bottle with yogurt, breastmilk or formula really well now. He doesn't quite have his pincher grasp down yet so I have to help him get things in his mouth. I think he'll love eating so much more when he can get the food in himself.

-- First word: dada. I nurse the child at my breast, change nearly every diaper and wake with him every single night for 8 months and this is the thanks I get. I'm kidding; it was pretty sweet when Daddy came over to him while getting ready for work one day this week. He was smiling up at him and I told him to say dada and he did. Now he says it all day. It's about the only sound he makes. I don't foresee "mama" happening anytime soon.

-- We're working on our sleep. I've decided that right now my goal is to not bring him to bed during the night and we've had three successful nights in a row! Woohoo! I'm exhausted, but I think he's improving. I was up 2 times the first 2 nights and 3 times last night, but the amount of time I'm up with him is getting shorter. The first night I was up for 2 hours trying to get him back down that second time. Last night it was 20 minutes the first time, less than 10 the second and 45 minutes the third time. I'm paying more attention now that I'm not nursing him in bed and he is doing a full feeding each time so I do think he's still hungry. I may try a bottle of formula during the night to see if he'll go longer. I've turned off the baby monitor so I can't hear him until it's a full cry and I've also decided not to let him cry it out. (The reason for wanting him out of the bed is simply so I can get up before him and get ready. Clara starts preschool a couple of days a week next month so I need a little time in the mornings before the kids wake.)

-- He's still in his infant car seat mainly because he falls asleep frequently and I can just pull him out and bring him inside. Like right now for example; he's sleeping in the entryway. I'm not looking forward to when he has to move up to the bigger car seat.

-- I'm not sure what to think about his napping. I almost think he doesn't need a morning nap most days (at least not a long one). He will get fussy but he never sleeps more than 15-30 minutes and wakes happy and seems to be rested. It's impossible to get him down in his crib for that nap. It's either the car or my arms. He then goes down pretty easily in his crib for an afternoon nap. His afternoon naps are usually only 1-1.5 hours at the most. He has napped a little longer these last few days since we're on "boot the baby out of bed bootcamp."

-- Robert made it through bible class without crying last week! I was worried it was never going to happen but he finally did it. He prefers the nursery worker with long blonde hair like his mama's. This past week I was wearing a ponytail and they all scrambled to find a ponytail holder for her when he started fussing. Too funny. Hey, ya do what ya gotta do sometimes.

-- Highlights of the month include his first parade, saw (and loved) his first fireworks, went to two VBS's, his third roadtrip and got to meet his cousin Cooper.

Big Boy

Here's Robert last night in his first pair of big boy pajamas. And let's not forget Clara.

Fun

I've had quite a few topics stirring around in my head these last few weeks and I'm having a hard time forcing myself to sit and sort them all out. So here we go. I'm sitting here at my computer while my youngest cries. And cries. And cries.

I've mentioned that I'm not a fan of crying it out. I tried it with Clara when she was a baby and everyone was telling me that I shouldn't be nursing her to sleep. I was a little surprised to hear that that wasn't an acceptable means of putting my nursing baby to sleep, but of course I didn't want to spoil her so I gave CIO a whirl. After four nights of crying I gave up on it. She cried for just as long, if not longer on that fourth night as she did the first. It's not that it really bothered me to hear her cry. It just felt completely wrong. It went against all of my instincts as a mother and wasn't working too terribly well anyway.

Apparently most babies will cry for a few minutes and then fall asleep peacefully. It's like they need that time to wind down or something. Well, Clara screamed until she threw up. The screaming got worse and worse and more frantic as the night progressed. Going in to her to reassure her only made it worse. So I decided that I'd just "spoil" her and deal with it later. She did just fine and has been a great sleeper so I guess I didn't mess her up too badly by nursing her to sleep.

Fast forward a few years and I've got another baby who only nurses to sleep. This one's not sleeping as well as Clara was at this point though and I've started to get a little frustrated. I let him CIO today and yesterday at naptime. I don't mind nursing him to sleep, but if I try twice to get him down and he still won't go down, I'm letting him cry. Yesterday he cried for 2 HOURS before falling asleep. He slept for 20 minutes. Today he cried for an hour and again slept for 20 minutes. I went in and nursed him when he woke and again he wouldn't go down, so he's been crying for almost another hour.

Yesterday: his bumper says it all

Every time I've let him CIO he's ended up falling asleep in a terribly uncomfortable position or with his face flat in the mattress which I'm not comfortable with. When I try to turn his head where he can breathe, he wakes up and we're back at square one. When he's fallen asleep sitting with his head between his knees he wakes after only a few minutes. Not only that but he wakes crabby and unrested. That doesn't surprise me too much. I would guess he falls asleep with a serious headache after so much crying. I know I always wake feeling terrible if I've been crying. So crying it out really isn't working for me (or him).

Today: sweet dreams baby boy

I much prefer waking up to a smiling, laughing baby next to me in bed because I was too tired to fuss with getting him back in his crib at 3:00 in the morning and so I just brought him to bed with me instead. Or nursing a baby to sleep during naptime so that we can both get a much needed nap and again waking to a smiling, happy, well-rested baby beside me. Call me crazy.

I've been trying to sort out my feelings about his sleep issues and my frustrations. I've decided that my frustration lies in the unrealistic expectations I have for him. In today's culture, we're bombarded by the media. I need only type a few words into my computer to have a vast fountain of knowledge at my disposal to fix each and every problem I might be experiencing with my little one. I love it sometimes, but other times it serves only to frustrate me more that my child isn't conforming to what all the experts say he should be doing. And when something doesn't work for me I start questioning what I'm doing wrong instead of questioning whether or not I should be worried about the particular problem in the first place. So I know how many hours of sleep (broken into naps and nighttime) my child should be getting at any particular age. I know that he should be on a well established routine to be a well-balanced, happy baby.

Supposedly I'm doing it all wrong by not putting him to sleep awake. I'm not allowing him to learn to soothe himself to sleep and therefore he'll be dependent on me to get to sleep for years to come. I'm supposed to put him down drowsy but not completely asleep. Um, that's nice and all but neither Clara nor Robert have a drowsy setting. They're either wide awake or asleep. And if they're wide awake and you put them in a lonely crib, then screaming ensues.

My question is, how many of these babies that soothe themselves to sleep do so with a pacifier? I know plenty of kids who take pacifiers at nap and bedtime until they're 2 or 3 and I don't think that's seen as a problem. Or how many suck their thumbs? Or have a security blanket or animal? Neither of mine have taken to ANY of these comfort items. Believe me, I've tried. I'm currently trying to get Robert attached to a stuffed animal by putting it between us when he nurses but it's not like you can force something like that. I was and am the only comfort item they've had. And you know, I really don't mind it. I don't have to worry about taking pacis away in the future. I don't have any concerns about getting my children to stop sucking their thumbs or any fear of losing a beloved security item that can't be replaced.

To me, one of the best feelings in the world is when Robert is upset and I put him to the breast. He immediately goes limp, he sighs a huge sigh of relief and his eyes roll back in his head. I really need to stop letting other people try to convince me that there is anything wrong with that. In those moments everything is right in his little world and it won't be forever. I wouldn't trade those moments for anything. Soon he won't want to stop long enough to give me a hug and a kiss. And it won't be too much longer when he'll be embarrassed to even be seen with me. I think I'll soak up every moment with this baby and just put everyone else's opinions on the subject out of my mind.

Ok, I'm done :) That felt good.

We Met Cooper. Finally.

My little man might not be the best sleeper in the world, but by golly he's a phenomenal traveler! I could not have been more pleased with he and Clara on our road trip out west to see family. It was just me and the kids. And we drove this time. I will admit I had butterflies as I went to get in the car to leave.

I underestimated the level of activity that we had going on over the fourth of July weekend and hadn't even finished packing the morning we were to leave. We were leaving on Monday the 5th and we didn't even get home from watching fireworks until about 10:30 the night before. Chris flew out the evening of the 5th for Calgary for 4 days too. I'm embarrassed about the state I left my house in for the friend who was coming by to take care of the dogs while Chris was out of town. I just keep telling myself he's a single guy and doesn't care what my house looked like.

Anyway, we left the house right at 10:00. Robert was asleep at 10:20 and slept until, get this, 1:45!! I could not believe it. We made it all the way to the other side of Ft. Worth before he woke. And Clara and I didn't even have to pee that whole time. Let me tell you I was giddy with excitement.

So we stopped for lunch in Weatherford and then I stopped not long after at a rest stop to nurse Robert since I didn't really want to do it in the McDonalds parking lot. Robert fussed for about 30 minutes or so and then fell asleep again and didn't wake until we got out at Uncle Howard and Aunt Jacki's house in Abilene which is where we stayed the night.

We got to meet Jennifer and Michelle's sweet boys Benton and Ben. The Clara's had a grand time playing together and later Zach and Michelle joined us for steaks on the grill. Here are Ben and Robert enjoying their Sophies together.

We got up the next morning and again took our time getting ready before heading to Odessa to meet up with my mom and Linsey. Linsey had a dr. appointment there that morning. Robert fell asleep minutes after leaving Abilene and slept until we met up with them at the mall. We did a little shopping and had lunch and most importantly, we got to meet Cooper for the first time. I didn't get any pictures since he was sleeping in his carseat the entire time. He's so tiny. That morning he was almost 6 weeks and weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz., 2 ounces less than Robert at birth. Crazy.

We drove to Wink to pick up my mom's car and again Robert slept until we got there. He woke as we were leaving to drive back to Pecos though. Yeah, that wasn't a fun drive. He had had a long two days in the car so I couldn't be too upset with him.

On Thursday my mom joined us as we headed to Carlsbad to see Margaret. Robert slept the whole way. (I know that's probably getting old to hear, but I just have to brag on him!) We had a nice lunch and chat with Nanny and then went on to Lovington to stay the night at Cody and Tanya's. (Robert slept.)

Clara loves her cousin Wyatt. So much so that she insists she's going to marry him. Oh, she still loves that dog too. Bryce, Wyatt and Clara slept on the floor in the living room that night and Clara was so excited that Holly snuggled up next to her. Right after I went to bed I heard her scream and come down the hallway crying. Turns out Holly doesn't like to be held in bed against her will and she had nipped Clara on the hand. That didn't seem to phase Clara though; she held her the whole next day.

The next afternoon we all went to Kermit (Robert slept) to have pictures made of all the grandkids. Um, I won't go into detail about that though. I'm still recovering. We had some pizza over at Tim and Linsey's afterwards and Robert got some hugs and kisses from his aunts.

Brody and Grayson love each other too.

And here he is finally. I have that magic touch with babies you know. They just love me. He's such a good baby. I don't know how Linsey got so lucky twice. The child doesn't cry. She would lay him in the pack and play and he'd just look around not making a peep. My babies cried if they even thought you were thinking about possibly putting them down. Seriously. Not fair. No one else could even hold Robert those first couple of months. (He preferred people who were lactating over those who were not.) Ok, I'm done feeling sorry for myself.

My mom and I went back to Pecos that evening and we all just took it easy on Saturday and then Clara and Bia made snickerdoodles that night. After church on Sunday, Tim and Linsey came over to visit for a few hours.

I got this super cute pic of Clara and Cooper and also one of Bia and Pawpaw with 3 of the 7. It was a little crazy in their laps, so we didn't make Cooper join in. Clara kept stepping on his apnea monitor and tripping over the cords all day so it was in his best interest to keep him plugged in on his daddy's lap.

I need to stop saying mean things about that baby. I mean, c'mon. Look at that face. How could I possibly have anything negative to say about that sweet angel?

We started driving home the next day and took a detour through Egypt (aka VBS). Aunt Jacki was helping with VBS at their church so she invited Clara to join in the fun on Monday night. It was such a fun VBS, complete with camels and a petting zoo. There was also a marketplace all decked out with different stalls that the kids circulated through and all of the adults were in costume.

Robert and I had the pleasure of hanging out at the church with Jacki's mom who was watching Ben during VBS. The kids were divided into families that they went around with and Clara got to be in Clara's group. Here's Honey at the end of the night with the Clara's. Thanks again for everything Aunt Jacki! Clara's still talking about Aunt Jacki's BBS.

We left on Tuesday morning at 10:00. Robert slept til about 12:30 and we made it all the way south of Dallas before stopping for lunch at Denny's. A quick nursing session in the car and we were on our way. Robert fell right to sleep again and woke about 45 minutes before we got home and only started crying about 10 minutes before we pulled into the driveway.

This trip could not have been more smooth. I was a little worried I'd be scarred for months and not even consider doing the drive again by myself. It's clear he's finally figured out that he loves sleeping in his car seat; now he just needs to figure out he loves to sleep in his crib. For longer than a couple of hours at a time. Or half an hour, whatever the case may be. He's such a little angel.

4th of July Parade

Hurricane Alex has left us drenched these last couple of days, but the rain let up this morning so we were able to go to the parade. Thankfully it was overcast for the better part of the morning, but there was no breeze and the humidity was beyond ridiculous.

We were out late last night, so 6:30 came really early this morning. Robert and Clara were both crabby when they woke. We picked up donuts and got there early to get a good parking spot. Most of the parade route you have to park and then walk to your spot, but we got there early enough to park in a lot that was on the route. It worked out perfectly. We put the back seats down and left the hatch up. Robert was asleep when we got there so we let him snooze with the doors open. He was in a much better mood after his little nap. He made it through a good portion of the parade and when he got fussy, I just sat in the back and nursed him and then kept him in the shade of the hatch once the sun came out.

When we got there, street performers were just showing up. There were clowns, jugglers, a guy juggling with fire, a balloon animal maker, a mime and lots of others. The mime was messing with Clara and she didn't get it at all. She was being quite the toot. A clown brought over a balloon hat for her and she about lost it. She wasn't scared of the clown, she just didn't want the hat. I was so embarrassed. She whined about everything.

She perked up and started acting more like herself once Leah and Kate showed up and she did great throughout the parade. We had told her that she needed to stand when the American flag passed and she did. Then she decided she needed to stand every time she saw a flag. (She was standing and telling Leah to stand a whole lot seeing as how we were at a 4th of July parade.) She said the loud drums were her favorite part of the parade and she's already looking forward to next year.

This was an air conditioning company's float. They were passing out free a/c and ice pops. I think this was my favorite.

Chris caught sight of this boy across the street who was eaten by his chair. Mom hadn't noticed yet at this point and it looks as if sister didn't care.

We were covering the little one's ears when the police cars ended the parade with sirens blaring.

It was a lot of fun and ended at the perfect time. The sun started blazing through the clouds right as it ended. I was glad that all of our stuff was only a few feet away from the car so we were loaded up and on our way in no time.