How is it even possible that my sweet boy was born 8 months ago (as of last Monday, I'm a week late posting...lazy blogger problems)? How is it that I've been Mommy for 8 months? Exactly 8 months ago, at this point in time (1am 4/15/2013) I was screaming in my hospital room, unable to get up due to a c-section, only able to know what I was being told about my sweet baby by my husband. I hadn't seen him in 12 hours, wouldn't see him until they released me from my bed the next day and we didn't know what time that would be. I laid there all night, pleading with God to help my baby. I prayed, I cried, I begged. I didn't know that we would be doing all of that for the next 3 very touchy days. I didn't know at that point that we would be scheduling the next 20 days around every 4 hour visits to the NICU. I honestly don't remember much about my five day hospital stay. We honestly think they found every reason to keep us there as long as possible because they knew we would want to be as close to Pierce for as long as they could let us.
I don't know why 8 months is hitting me so hard. I don't know what it is about being 4 months shy of 1 year old that is making me cry as I sit here. Happy tears, tears of disbelief that the sweet breathing I hear over the monitor is my own, yet not from my body. When they say having a child is letting your heart walk around in someone else's body, they're not kidding. That boy has my heart and soul, J and I are beyond blessed to have been granted guardianship over that angel.
Ok, enough sap, to the good stuff! lol
Pierce sleeps pretty well through the night, his sleeping patterns haven't really changed much since around 5/6 months. "Night night nurses" to sleep any time from 930-11, mostly depends on what time J gets to take lunch and how Pierce's day has been. I'm going to guess that 4 out of 7 nights a week he wakes up once at night, crying, needing to be cuddled and rocked back to sleep. I haven't figured out what causes it. He has a night light now, and it hasn't helped. Oh well, I'm not making him Cry It Out until he's old enough to know where he is, that he's not alone in the house, where he can find Mommy (and Daddy). Once he's old enough to know those things, then he will have to start CIO. Until then, I can't make him lay in the dark alone and cry. Plus, it takes 10 minutes to rock him and he's out. Which means I get to enjoy the quiet cuddles with him before he decides that cuddling with Mommy isn't good any more.
Pierce wakes up any time between 5-7am, hungry and comes to bed with me to nurse. We don't wake up and get out of bed until 10 or 11. I am one lucky Mama! But, seeing as how I rarely go to bed before 2, I don't really get to "sleep in" but I do get a good amount of sleep.
I remember when I first quit working to stay home with him, I worried about him getting on a schedule. Well, worry no more, he put himself on one! He doesn't have a time schedule, but a very steady routine. We get up, he plays in his jumper for 30 minutes or so, long enough for me to enjoy my coffee and pop tarts. We play and read books until he's tired, some times tired and hungry, around 12-1. He takes a 30-45 minute nap. Up to eat a bottle, plays another 2-3 hours, takes about an hour nap, gets a fruit and bottle lunch, plays again until he may take a half hour nap, as long as he's awake by 830. He gets a veggie dinner, followed by bath on bath nights and plays until he's tired.
We've found a wonderful balance of 3 bottles a day, each are 6-7 ounces (depends on who makes them, lol J doesn't like to leave just one ounce in a bottle in the fridge, but I don't mind). He eats every 3 hours or so. An ounce or two of fruit with a full bottle for lunch, and 2-2.5 ounces of vegetable for dinner with a bottle between lunch and dinner.
I've also extended my breastfeeding goal past 12 months. I've reset to 18 months, aiming for 24. But, pretty sure I'll stop at 2 years old. More on all of that later most likely.
At 8 months Pierce still doesn't crawl lol. He can roll...everywhere. If there's something he wants across the living room, he will roll over there, grab it, and roll back. I guess crawling would use both hands and he wouldn't be able to pick things up as easily. Roll on baby...
Pierce loves to stand, and can stand for long periods of time with assistance. He has his mother'slack of balance, so I'm not seeing him standing and walking for quite some time. He has to have both hands on something, if we place him up against the couch or his crib, or holding your fingers.
Pierce is just a happy baby, rarely fusses. Teething, dare I say, has been a breeze so far. Typically I give him teething tablets at night before he nurses, and that's it. Really bad days he will get tablets in the afternoon too, as his teeth don't seem to bother him until mid-afternoon. He still has 2 lonely pearly whites on the bottom, and 4 on the top with at least 1 starting to show that it will be coming soon. Still can't get him to show you his teeth well enough for a picture lol
He makes more sounds, his newest is an ooooohhh, and the face to go along with it
And he figured out he could go from that face to making raspberry sounds really quickly...resulting in spit flying. Ohhh, he is a boy after all. lol. The other day he was blowing air past his lips, making noise, and put his mouth on my bare leg....pppppffffftttttt. He looked at my leg, and did it again then laughed. Yup, all boy.
Everyone that spends time around Pierce always asks, "Is he always this good?" in a sort of disbelief. Yes, ladies (and gentlemen?) he is, we hit the jackpot!
I don't know why 8 months is hitting me so hard. I don't know what it is about being 4 months shy of 1 year old that is making me cry as I sit here. Happy tears, tears of disbelief that the sweet breathing I hear over the monitor is my own, yet not from my body. When they say having a child is letting your heart walk around in someone else's body, they're not kidding. That boy has my heart and soul, J and I are beyond blessed to have been granted guardianship over that angel.
Ok, enough sap, to the good stuff! lol
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| 8 months and takes up the entire width of his crib |
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| It was not easy to get his picture this morning! |
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| I wish I had started with the posed seahorse pictures before 4 months, but oh well what can you do |
Pierce wakes up any time between 5-7am, hungry and comes to bed with me to nurse. We don't wake up and get out of bed until 10 or 11. I am one lucky Mama! But, seeing as how I rarely go to bed before 2, I don't really get to "sleep in" but I do get a good amount of sleep.
I remember when I first quit working to stay home with him, I worried about him getting on a schedule. Well, worry no more, he put himself on one! He doesn't have a time schedule, but a very steady routine. We get up, he plays in his jumper for 30 minutes or so, long enough for me to enjoy my coffee and pop tarts. We play and read books until he's tired, some times tired and hungry, around 12-1. He takes a 30-45 minute nap. Up to eat a bottle, plays another 2-3 hours, takes about an hour nap, gets a fruit and bottle lunch, plays again until he may take a half hour nap, as long as he's awake by 830. He gets a veggie dinner, followed by bath on bath nights and plays until he's tired.
We've found a wonderful balance of 3 bottles a day, each are 6-7 ounces (depends on who makes them, lol J doesn't like to leave just one ounce in a bottle in the fridge, but I don't mind). He eats every 3 hours or so. An ounce or two of fruit with a full bottle for lunch, and 2-2.5 ounces of vegetable for dinner with a bottle between lunch and dinner.
I've also extended my breastfeeding goal past 12 months. I've reset to 18 months, aiming for 24. But, pretty sure I'll stop at 2 years old. More on all of that later most likely.
At 8 months Pierce still doesn't crawl lol. He can roll...everywhere. If there's something he wants across the living room, he will roll over there, grab it, and roll back. I guess crawling would use both hands and he wouldn't be able to pick things up as easily. Roll on baby...
Pierce loves to stand, and can stand for long periods of time with assistance. He has his mother's
Pierce is just a happy baby, rarely fusses. Teething, dare I say, has been a breeze so far. Typically I give him teething tablets at night before he nurses, and that's it. Really bad days he will get tablets in the afternoon too, as his teeth don't seem to bother him until mid-afternoon. He still has 2 lonely pearly whites on the bottom, and 4 on the top with at least 1 starting to show that it will be coming soon. Still can't get him to show you his teeth well enough for a picture lol
He makes more sounds, his newest is an ooooohhh, and the face to go along with it
Everyone that spends time around Pierce always asks, "Is he always this good?" in a sort of disbelief. Yes, ladies (and gentlemen?) he is, we hit the jackpot!
