eight months of colin

Happy eight months, cute baby!

This has been a big month for Colin! How did he go from "can sit unsupported briefly" at seven months to "pulls up to standing and OH NO HOW DID YOU CLIMB ON TOP OF THAT?!?" in just one month?

He still crawls on his belly, but he is shockingly fast now. Especially if you have the fridge door open. He'll be on the other side of the room when you open the fridge and inside it by the time you find the ketchup. He is desperately trying to climb the stairs but can't quite get his knee up high enough. He contantly pulls himself up on the kitchen drawer handles like they're a rock climbing wall.

His favorite activity this month was... laying in drawers.

He also enjoys shelves.

And sometimes, just to mix it up a bit, he likes to wedge himself under furniture.

There's really never a dull moment. I must say, his cutest milestone this month was learning to wave. I held him up in front of the mirror one morning and waved, "Hi!" and he gave me a big smile and waved his whole arm back at me like a Chinese lucky cat. He loves to wave now!

Our biggest problem this month has been an increase in the amount of spit up. He spits up about 10-15 times per feeding. Bottle, food, whatever is in him just comes back out constantly. Somtimes it feels like all we do is follow him around the house, cleaning up the mess. It's pretty frustrating. He can't really be in any carpeted rooms, on any furniture, or in our bed. We mostly keep him in the kitchen. It doesn't seem to bother him, doesn't seem to be isolated to a specific food, and the doctor doesn't seem particularly concerned. We're just sick of dealing with it. He eats all sorts of baby food and we introduced puffs, eggs, and cheese this month.

The biggest transition this month was moving Colin to the crib in his own room. Sometimes he wakes every few hours and needs to be settled back to sleep, but sometimes he makes it from 7pm to 5am without waking. That's a big improvement from last month. He also naps in his crib now, which is much more convenient for me than having to keep an eye on him in the swing.

Mae loves entertaining Colin. He loves watching her silly song and dance routines but has less patience when she tries to read to him. However, if he crawls towards her, she lets out a shrill scream and runs for high ground like a stereotypical woman seeing a mouse. I think she's doing it as a joke, but we might have to work on some baby immersion therapy for her. He mostly tries to communicate with her by blowing raspberries.

Looking forward to month nine! Send me your tips for getting spit up stains out of... well... everything.

snow day

Last Thursday morning, we woke up to a blanket of snow! It was killing me that we finally got a decent amount of snow, and I had to go to work! I decided to go in a bit late, so Mae and I got to spend an hour sledding on the driveway. I taught her how to bail out of the sled before you crash into something. Important life skill. We also made snow angels on the driveway.

The snow plows must have been as surprised by the snow as we were, because the roads hadn’t been treated. I was glad I waited a while to commute since there was a big car accident not far from our house. Dan decided to avoid the roads entirely and just work from home. He also had some time to take Mae sledding at a couple locations near our house. It was easier for me to go to work, knowing Mae would have some time to enjoy the snow. They visited a new-to-us sledding hill with a nice long run and some good speed!

They also tried out a small hill at the playground. Even Colin got to try sledding for the first time! (He was unimpressed.)

Some of the snow stuck around for our walk on Friday. Mae had fun taking icicles off parked cars and using them to write in the snow. We called them “pencicles.”

I felt so cheated by the lack of snow last winter. I don’t think we even got to sled! I hope we get a few more good snowfalls before spring arrives!