8 Months!!

 8 months! I can't believe he'll be 1 in just 4 months! I have a friend who had a baby the other day so seeing pics of her tiny newborn makes me even sadder when I think about how quickly he's growing.  I know that's the whole point. but I do miss it already!

 

Silas is having fun exploring the house now that he is crawling.  He knows the doors we keep closed and he bolts towards them the minute they are opened or the baby gates are down.  For the most part he has a lot of area that he is free to explore and it's safe for him so I let him.

 He stands up everywhere he can, he's still pretty wobbly but he doesn't care.  I've also noticed he stands on his tip-toes a lot.  I don't remember the other boys doing this.... hopefully it doesn't cause problems later. 

He's still not that into solids.  He nurses great though! We kind of took a break from trying baby-led weaning, because it just doesn't seem to work for him right now.  We are still trying purees, and his usual reaction is usually some kind of "this is gross" face and gagging.  I'm just hoping he's a late bloomer and there's not some kind of actual sensory issue we'll have to work with.  We usually try every few days to offer something to see if he becomes more interested.  The things he's actually seemed to like so far were broth and juice from a grapefruit! And both those were just liquids so there wasn't really a texture for him to deal with.  I also bought one of those mesh holder things and let him have blueberries in it. He seemed to like that a lot too!

He sleeps great at night but naps come and go... lately he's been having a few days of crapy naps and then a few of really good naps.  He hardly ever naps on the weekend (most likely from the extreme lodness of his brothers! Hopefully the nice weather will change that- since they'll be outside more).  He usually takes his best naps on days we have somewhere to be ;) He hardly ever will fall asleep in the car.  It's almost crazy how he fights to stay awake in there, hopefully when I get him a new seat (for our van!) he'll sleep better.

He's still really into his brothers. They make him laugh and now he enjoys destroying things they build with blocks ;) He's pretty good at entertaining himself. We have a few baskets with his toys in them in the living room and he likes to sit and discover all the toys, and then dump them out of course!

 He is so happy! And usually smiles anytime someone talks to him! He says "dadada and mamama" although I don't think he does that on purpose though... He just learned to clap but doesn't do it on demand yet.  He also signs "milk"! I find it adorable! He doesn't do it all the time but when he does it is clear he wants to nurse.  He even put his hand in my face and did it the other day!

I just noticed this morning that his 2 bottom front teeth are starting to poke through! I can see the tiny holes starting.  Maybe that's contributing to the lack of naps? He doesn't seem to be too fussy from it at least not yet, lets hope that conitnues!  He's been wearing an amber necklace on his ankle for a few months so hopefully that'll help.  I know it helps with the drooling!

 

Happy 8 months baby boy!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Eli woke up so excited for today! He's not usually a morning person so this was really nice! I made pancakes last night for supper ( with the maple syrup Mike cooked down last weekend!) so for breakfast they each had a leftover pancake and I made an egg in a cookie cutter so it was heart shaped!

I helped with Rowan's class party this afternoon and I planned the games. Rowan helped me pick some Minute to Win It style games. The favorite was Face the Cookie. Where we put a cookie on their forehead and they had to get it to their mouth without using their hands. We had their teacher try it first! They loved that! Some kids would give up pretty quick and just eat the cookie, others would keep trying over and over...I think one kid might have spent almost 10 minutes trying to get it and he finally did! :)

Eli loved being in Rowan's class! I think he really feels like one of the big kids when he's there. Silas was awesome as usual. Just sat in the stroller most of the time and then a friend of mine who works there came in and held him for a while so he was happy. All the kids rushed up to see him when we came in :)

I had to wake Silas up from his nap to go to the party.

One of the games we thought about doing was eating a donut off a string. Rowan really wanted to do it but I realized it wouldn't work so we just kept the donuts. We tried it last night to see how it'd be and they loved it so I told him we'd do it tonight. So after dinner Mike and I held the strings for the boys and then they held them for Mike and I. Eli held mikes and got a little crazy with it! :)

Tomorrow Rowan gets out early so we might go in town for lunch and to play. This weekend Rowan gets to go with Mike and I get to hang out at home with the little ones. Should be fun :)

Spring? (coming soon)

 

We had a few nice days last week so we spent some time outside.  Silas wasn't sure about the wind and did NOT like touching the grass!  I remember Eli reacting the same way at first.  I know it won't last long, but for now I'll enjoy him just sitting still for a few minutes :)

 

A leaf!

 



 thinking about leaving the blanket.....

Oh, I love him! I will never get tired of those dimples!

 

(I bought those green pants at a garage sale last summer, they are 18months, I remember thinking I hoped he'd get to wear them since he'd probably be in that size in the summer- ha!)

 

 



Go Silas

It happens so quickly. One minute they just learn to roll over and the next they are crawling. Fast!

Silas started officially crawling last week and within a few days of doing that he started to pull up on everything. The living room has been rearranged to keep him from going where he shouldn't. Upside down laundry basket placed between the ottomans to block the entertainment system. Large Rubbermaid container to block access to the exercise bike and lamp. Oh, I forgot how fun these times are.

Of course, every time he hits a new milestone comes some fussiness. My thoughts are that he's frustrated. He's so excited to stand up but ones he gets there nothing happens. He wants to move. To walk, maybe? Hopefully that doesn't happen for a while ...

For now we make barricades randomly through the house and make sure we close all doors and make sure the floors stay clean!
He has been taking great naps though so at least that's nice :)

Rowan and Eli naively thought they could build with blocks on the couch so Silas couldn't get it. Hahahaha (that was Silas laughing at them!

Saturday

This morning started nice and early when we headed to art class for Rowan and Eli. I don't enjoy that we have to be in town by 9 am but they are loving this class!

During the class Mike and I went to Target with Silas so I could get the things I needed for the games I'm doing for Rowan's Valentines day party at school. It sure is nice to run errands with only one kid! Especially when that kid is a baby who can't ask for things ;)

After class was over we went out for lunch and then to the store so the boys could pick out their Valentines for school. There wasn't a big variety but they had no problem finding ones they liked. When we were leaving I realized just how good the boys had been at lunch and the store. They didn't even ask for anything at the store. I really hope we've turned a corner and it'll be less stressful going out with them from now on!

Since it's maple syrup season Mike went to his parents house this afternoon to cook down the sap he's been collecting this week. Rowan didn't really want to go so we decided Eli would go and spend the night and Rowan would stay with me. Next week he'll go back to cook more down and Rowan will go with him and Eli will stay home. It's been quit relaxing to not have to hear them fight tonight! Rowan even helped me clean the living room, cook supper ( he was so excited that I let him turn on the burner!), and clean up the kitchen! I made us a special cookie-in-a-bowl for a treat and we are watching the Smurfs movie! Lucky me gets to watch it again next week with Eli ;)

We even spent sometime outside this afternoon when it was so nice! I can't wait for spring!

What Now?!

Last week practically everything possible went wrong with our cars. We had to spend about $500 that we really didn't have on Mike's car only to have them tell us it'll need another $500 very soon. We'll know when it stops holding coolant. We assume we'll be ok until we get our tax return at least. Right? Guess what started leaking 3 days later?!

We got a new ( used) tire for my car because the radials were starting to show and it has to last until we get a van after we get our tax return. But because of the other issues with that car ( hello heater!) I'm trying not to drive it much. But when mikes car started leaking we decided he'd just start driving my car and I just wouldn't leave the house. Ever. Great plan, right?

Silas had a cold this weekend. Nothing too terrible, nursed less because he was stuffy, had to hold him most of the night so he was propped. Not that big of a deal.

Then last night at 4 am. He coughed. Not just any cough. The "sounds like a barking seal cough". It was a quick one but I knew as soon as I heard that sound. Croup. Ugh. I can't believe it's back. I can't believe I have to listen to my sweet baby go through that. At least with Eli he understood when we'd talk to him during a coughing fit. But Silas won't understand. I know the 2nd and 3rd nights are typically the worse. I'm not sure if last night even counts as the first. If Eli hasn't just had it I probably wouldn't have even thought much of that cough. It's gotten worse during the day and he's coughed a little but not too much. I am so hoping he doesn't have it as bad as Eli did. He doesn't have a fever so that's a plus.
His " voice" is getting raspy and when he laughs or cries you can tell he has it. The nurse said if he gets a fever or other symptoms to bring him in but otherwise it's viral so we'll just do what we did before.

Of course, once I knew he was sick I didn't want to be stuck without a car so we took mike to work this morning and we'll pick him up tonight. I'll probably do it again tomorrow too and maybe Wednesday because I just can't be here without a car with a sick kid. I'm already anticipating a sleepless night. Lets hope I'm wrong!





We got a new used tire

Insta-Friday

We are having another ridiculously crappy week thanks to car problems ( both cars this time!) so rather than whine and bitch about all our issues I'm going to share some Instagram pics from the last week.

I love Instagram!
Some highlights- Silas fell asleep during supper. We "cooked" candy canes and made them into different shapes. I made pita's. We painted Valentine decorations ( and still haven't hung them up). We play Cootie! Silas is obsessed with my baskets under the coffee table. Silas loves to stand! Silas is cute :)