Caleb’s 8 Month Update

Eight whole months! All of a sudden it’s hitting me that my baby boy is almost a year old and it’s kind of mind boggling.  I love writing these updates and reflecting on all of the ways he has grown and changed these last few weeks, so without further ado…here is Caleb’s 8 month update!

The Numbers

We just had a doctor’s appointment last week and Caleb is clocking in at just above 16 pounds and 27 inches long.  He’s continued to be in the 5th percentile for weight, the 10-15th for height, and the 98% for head size (Real talk, I LOL at that one every single time!).  So even though he’s small, he’s gaining well and the doctor says everything looks good!

Also, I think it’s safe to say that this guy officially takes after his mama.  Check out this side by side of Caleb a few weeks back and me at about 8 months old.  The resemblance is CRAZY!

Some Milestones

He’s still rolling back and forth from tummy to back pretty confidently and loves to view the world from his little pushup position.  He’s pulled his legs up under his belly a few times but still no crawling or scooting.  Caleb’s new jam is sitting.  He is sitting up unassisted all the time, even though I usually put some pillows around him since he tends to topple over noggin-first if he sees something he wants and tried to reach for it (Like hangers – they are his new favorite thing.  Babies are so weird.)

How He’s Eating

Solids are a regular thing these days and Caleb is eating three meals a day. Just about any fruit is a favorite but he especially loves pears, prunes, and mangos.  He likes sweet potatoes, squash, and carrots too but isn’t so much a fan of anything green unless it’s mixed with quite a bit of breastmilk. We’ve tried some puffs too, but as you might see in the picture below, they mostly end up in his high chair (and are then promptly discovered and eaten by Olive).

Mealtime is a fun endeavor for the most part and I love to let Caleb play with the bowl and spoon and get a little messy.  Olive loves it too and is very quick to “help” clean him up afterwards, a process that he giggles and squeals the whole way through.

We are still breastfeeding too and I am so, so grateful to have made it this far in our breastfeeding journey.  I shared lots of things I’ve learned from breastfeeding in this post, but suffice it to say it has challenged me and grown me in a lot of ways! These days Caleb is quite the little gymnast during nursing and does his best to kick, throw his head back, grab anything in sight, and practically do back flips, but after asking some other moms it seems like that’s just par for the course as they get more mobile.

Here’s a picture of us nursing…aka Caleb trying to roll over and grab my feet (insert eye roll emoji here).

What He’s Liking

The first thing that comes to mind is TALKING.  Good grief, this kiddo never stops making noise! It seems like he is constantly babbling, squawking, and as of recently, delighting in the fact that his little voice can make screaming sounds (even if it is for 20 minutes straight).  As a language teacher I love this and it cracks us up to have little conversations with him as he giggles and speaks his own little language.  It’s not so funny when he wakes up doing this at 4 AM, but it’s better than crying, right?

After months of being our shy, quiet, observant kiddo around strangers, Caleb has started to love when people smile and interact with him! If someone smiles at and talks to him, he’s much quicker to give them a big ol’ smile and squeal at the top of his lungs and it is so fun. I feel like other people are finally getting to see his sweet, playful personality and I love that!

What He’s Disliking

Oh man, can you say separation anxiety? This kiddo has officially realized that he can be close to or far from mom and he does NOT like being far from me.  He pretty much wants to be in my arms all the time, which is frustrating at times (see parent update below).  If I try to walk away to use the bathroom or do something else, this face pops up pretty quickly!

How He’s Sleeping

Sleep still continues to be a bit of a struggle and I’m trying to remember that it won’t be like this forever.  He usually sleeps pretty well for the first chunk of the night but after 4-4:30 AM all bets are off.  It’s been weeks and weeks of waking up between 5-5:30 AM despite every effort to feed him and put him back down, let him nurse and sleep in my arms, cry it out, and any other thing I could think of.  It seems like for now we have an early riser and I’m hoping he will just grow out of it sometime soon!

Naps are still pretty inconsistent too, even though I was really hoping they would have evened out a little bit by now. He will sometimes take a really good morning nap and sometimes wake up 35 minutes into his morning nap.  Afternoon naps are still pretty iffy and usually no more than 35-45 minutes.  At this point, we’re kind of in survival mode and I’m trying to trust that it will all even out eventually.  I’m taking it day by day and trying to enjoy the baby I have without trying to turn him into the good napper he’s not. Maybe one day he’ll be a champion napper but today is not that day and I’m learning to be okay with it!

A Parent Update

Just like last month, this month Caleb has continued to challenge me to let go of control and learn to love the little one I have instead of trying to change him.

The continued battles to get him to sleep later and longer have been tough, but the fussiness and clinginess have challenged me the most this month.   Call it teething, separation anxiety, Leap 6 of the Wonder Weeks, the 8 month sleep regression, illness – who knows – but it has been hard to feel like Caleb isn’t happy unless he’s as close to me as possible.  And even when he’s in my arms, he’s not content to just sit.  He still wants to wiggle and grab things and be entertained, so if we’re not out and about doing something to distract him the days can feel long.  We take lots of walks, run lots of little errands, go to Starbucks to get out of the house on days we don’t have errands or meet-ups with friends, and find all sorts of reasons to get this kid out and about.

Even in the midst of the long days, I’m trying to learn to love Caleb exactly as he is.  I’m doing my best to help him get all the rest he needs and give him lots of love and attention, but I’m also learning to sometimes let him fuss for a minute and know he’s okay.  There’s no mom police coming to punish me for letting him take a nap in the swing (okay, LOTS of naps in the swing) because I just want a break and know he’ll nap better there.  He will not be emotionally scarred if he sits on a blanket surrounded by toys and fusses for five minutes because mom needs to do her makeup and put on normal person clothes (although I am all about my flannels and yoga pants most of the time!).

I don’t want to focus so much on doing things “right” that this sweet little one’s babyhood passes right before my eyes.  He’s coming up on his first birthday, and while I’ll be excited for him to be more independent, I know there are little things I will miss about this stage too.

I’m trying to soak in the way my boy fits so easily onto the curve of my hip, the way he holds my hand while he nurses and smiles when he sees our faces in a mirror.  I’m taking mental pictures of the way his face lights up and how he squeals with delight when Jordan gets home from work or the way he buries his head in my shoulder after a nap.

Because even when the days are long, the words of one of my favorite books will always be true:

My sweet Caleb, I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living my baby you’ll be.  

Love you more than the moon and the stars, my boy.