Letter to my Baby: 8 months

Dear Cupcake,

You turned 8 months yesterday, and I cannot believe how time is flying.  It feels like yesterday that we brought you home from the hospital, and now you're an established baby, smiling at the world.

You like to eat.  A lot.  In fact, I don't think I'm keeping up with how much you could actually eat, and I constantly worry that I'm not giving you enough solid food.  Then again, I want to make sure you're still getting the bulk of your nutrition from my breast milk (yes, we are still breastfeeding!).  You current favorite food is bananas.  I think you like it so visibly because you can recognize it.  All your other food comes to you in pureed form, so you have to wait until the first bite to know what it is.  Bananas, on the other hand, we feed you straight from the source (with a spoon, of course).  The other day we were at a convenience store and I reached to buy a couple of bananas and you audibly squealed in delight.  It was hilarious, and you managed to freak out a couple of school aged kids.

At this point you have officially become a carnivore.  I made you chicken and vegetable puree this weekend, and you loved it.  Actually, not to toot my own horn, but it came out delicious.  I should have made some for all of us too.  So far you eat:  chicken breast, lentils, spinach, apples, apple sauce, pears, bananas, brown rice, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, peas, butternut squash, yellow squash, parsnips, yogurt.  All your food is homemade with lots of love (and the help of blenders and ice cube trays).  Additionally, you love munching on MumMums, which is a commercial-food concession I've had to make.  I mean, they're such practical snacks.

You love standing.  Seriously.  All the time.  You stand, stand, bounce, try to walk, and stand again.  I'm certain, now more than ever, that you will bypass crawling, since you still show NO interest in ever being on your belly.  (Unless, of course, you are on your crib, since you finally sleep comfortably on your belly.)  In fact, your new trick is that you let go of whatever you're leaning on so you can balance on your own.  It's amazing watching you learn to stand on your two feet.  Sometimes you balance for half a second, a few times you've made it up to 15 seconds.  After you stand on your own, you look so excited!  It's almost like you realize the importance of what you're doing.  At this rate, I don't know how soon you'll be walking, but it'll be sooner rather than later.

On sleep.  You're habits are changing, and you've dropped one afternoon nap.  This is a bit exhausting for me, but its a good sign that you're maturing towards a more adult sleep.  I wish this also translated to you not waking up three times a night, but I try to remind myself that you're just a baby, and it's normal for you to to have interrupted sleep patterns.  

For your month-day, we took lots of pictures with the new party dress you Mamama brought you.  She's been visiting for a few days, and you love spending time with her.  And your mom and dad got some much deserved time off.  We love spending time with you, but it's also nice to go out to dinner and drinks.  Plus you got to hang out with your Mamama, so it was a win-win.

MCAD hasn't affected us yet.  You're still nursing at the same times as before, you're just eating extra solid food now.  And though you eat a lot, I know you're burning lots of calories by pulling yourself to standing so much.  So far you've been a great baby for MCAD, you have a healthy appetite and a strong immune system.  Lets hope it stays that way.

I have so much I could tell you, but soon you'll need your night feed.  

Love,  Mom

Letter to my baby: 7 Months

Dear Cupcake,

I can't believe you're already 7 months old!  For some reason, this age feels "old".  You're now an established baby, who sits, grabs things, rolls, laughs and is the perfect age to appear in toilet paper commercials.  It feels very strange to see you as this little girl, as opposed to the blobby baby you were just 4 months ago.

You're eating food now, and you love it.  Besides avocados, which you refused to eat, you've taken great to everything else.  I make all your food, and you eat as if your stomach was a bottomless pit.  Seriously, where does it go?  You're also getting really smart at figuring out where the food is, I think you recognize your plate, spoon and bib.  Also, you seem to take it in stride when we feed you outside or anywhere that's not your high chair.  Last weekend you ate while we were at an outdoor cafe, and as soon as you saw the banana and your plate, you seemed to know what was up.  And then you finished the whole banana.  I like to think it's because you're super smart, but I might just be a tad biased.

You are also very adventurous.  If life were up to you, you'd probably live it all upside down.  Unfortunately, we have to sit you up once in a while.  You also love going to the swings.  How do I know this?  You laugh the entire time the swing is moving.  Last week we also tried taking you down the slide while you were on my legs, and you LOVED it.  Maybe you've taken after you mom, who loves roller coasters?  Only time will tell.

The weather is getting nice now, and we are going on play dates in the park.  The outdoors seems to agree with you.  You'll stay out for a long time entertained looking at people and chewing on your toys.  You are no longer fussy at play dates or seem wary of other babies.  As long as we are outside, you'll happily play alongside them, and even grab your toys back if one of your friends tries to "borrow" them.  I know you should share, but at this point I'm just happy that you recognize a toy and lean forward to grab it back.  Sharing will come later.  Don't worry, we will parent you.

You see your dad a lot more in daylight, now that the days are getting longer.  You get so happy when he arrives home from work.  You smile and your feet begin to kick.  Then you spend the rest of the evening being held by him.  You like it and he does too, and it's giving him huge biceps.  Also, this is the best time for him to flip you upside down and make you do the kinds of acrobatics your mom is not quite ready for.

Things are good, Cupcake.   We love you sooo much, and you continue to grow, smile and be healthy, which is what we want for you.  You're just such fun now that you babble, try to stand, and play.  Sometimes I feel like the Grinch, whose heart grew three sizes in one day.  Except I've always liked Christmas, so don't worry about that.

You have no idea what summer is, but I have a feeling you're gonna really enjoy it. Get ready.

With lots of love,

Your Mom

Teeth

Dear Cupcake,

I know it must be painful.  The mere idea of having a jagged tooth literally break through your gums sounds horrifying.  And because of this, I know you're not being  obnoxious on purpose.

Seriously, when a baby gets a tooth, the whole family suffers.  We were all up several times a night to sooth you.  We rocked you and sang, and nursed you when you'd start crying as if you were in pain and still looked half asleep.  Should we have let you sort it out yourself? I don't know, but seeing that we can see the bump in your gum, I think we're just going to indulge you as you go through this process.

I hope it ends soon.  I love you and want you to feel right again, but this is exhausting.  We can't have too many more night like this.  Or else soon we're going to stop being receptive to your cries, and none of us want that.

We're so happy you have a tooth and are working on another.  Really, we are.  I know you had little control over it, but I can't help but feel proud of how well you're growing.  I just wish it would get here, you know, faster, and without so much fuss.

There's only so much Motrin we can give you before it just gets ridiculous.  So we've decided that a bit of painkillers at night are probably good for you too (I really think you're happier when you sleep well at night), and during the day I'll just tough it out.  During the day we can play and distract you.  We'll be fine.

Just please, don't be one of those babies that is teething for three months straight.  We'll love you matter what, but I really want to like you the whole time too.

Love,  Mama

Letter to my baby: 6 months

Dear Cupcake,

You are 6 months old today, and I am amazed at how much you've grown and how we can't even remember what life was like before you made us a family.  Seriously, how did we spend our evenings?  It feels like we always gave you carrots, played with you, and did your night time routine.  Its so nice.

You're getting really big, and according to your pediatrician, you are still on the 95+ % for height.  Since a couple of days ago, you can sit by yourself for long periods of time.  Today you spent long stretches sitting on your activity gym playing with your toys.  I couldn't be prouder of how strong your muscles are.  You like rolling over from your back to your belly, but you haven't figured out how to roll back.  Why is that?  Specially since you don't really enjoy tummy time that much.  It's a curious thing.

We think you are teething, because you were waking up a lot a few nights ago.  Mama & Dad are tired, little one, so please be nice to us. Then last night you slept wonderful, only waking for your scheduled feeds, so who knows what's going on with your biological clock.  I've even acquired a bunch of sleep books from friends to help you sleep better.  Do you need them?  I just want you to be getting the rest that you need to grow and be happy.

You have started eating some solid foods.  So far you really like bananas, though I am terrified of what they are doing to your diapers.  In the next few days we are going to embrace solids full throttle, so get ready for lots of fun tastes and textures.

Recently, you have also discovered our faces, and we keep getting poked and prodded by your adorable fingers.  Do you know that you are super strong?  I am amazed how hard you can pull hair, or scratch my nose.  Your nails also grow incredibly fast, it must be a good sign.  Maybe your got my fingernails after all, and you'll enjoy an adulthood of super strong unbreakable nails.

Last weekend we took you to play on the swings for the first time.  You had so much fun, and I hope this is the beginning of lots of trips to the play ground.   I can't wait to take you to the Zoo, so you'll finally get what all these animals and sounds are about.  Or the botanical gardens, or Times Square, or the beach.

For your half birthday, we got your a gift.  You now have a Sophie Giraffe.  Please don't think we are cliches, it just looked so cute at the store, and we wanted to give you something special.  Because we love you sooooo soooo much.  You have no idea.  You probably think it's totally normal to be part of our family.  But before you were born, we weren't a full family yet.  We are still getting used to it.  There are mornings when I wake up and I stare at you and your dad sleeping next to each other and I'm so happy you came into our lives.

Keep growing, my little cupcake.  Life is wonderful, and I'm so glad you are getting to enjoy it.

Love,

Mom