Jase: 8 Months

Hey sweet boy! You turned 8 months on January 8th, so you’re actually 9 months as I’m writing this (today is Valentine’s Day). Here is everything you were up to during your 8th month. We had a BLAST with you!! You are such a big boy, but will always be our sweet baby.

Weight/Height: You are around 21-22 lbs now. Your legs don’t seem as long anymore, but you can reach the top drawer of our cabinets (on your tippy toes). We have a doctor’s appointment next week- can’t wait to see how you’ve grown.

Health: Still praising God for a healthy baby! I know any of our health can go at any second- ya really just never know- so we are thankful for another healthy month. (If you get a chance, check out this post Emily wrote about some of my sweet friends from high school and say a prayer for their precious little girl- Katie Adams)

Sleep: Sleeping like a champ! (You must get that from your mama too!) You dropped that 3rd nap on January 20th, so we put you to bed a little earlier now. You’ve still needed it a few times, so we let you sleep for 30 min or so. Right now you take two 2 hours naps a day from 10:30-12:30 & 2:30-4:30. You are typically down for the night by about 8 pm. (8:30 on church nights.) You sleep a full 12 hours at night and wake up around 8:15-8:20 in the morning. Dad usually comes to get you at 8:30 and you’re playing happily in your crib. You get SO excited to see him & immediately start bouncing up and down & squealing with excitement! The only time you wake up in the middle of the night is if you move off of the sensor pad and your monitor goes off. We try to move you quietly, but you wake up every time so I go in and nurse you for just a couple of minutes till you go back to sleep. I hate for your sleep to be interrupted, but secretly LOVE that sweet snuggle time. (Before when I was sleep deprived I couldn’t WAIT for you to sleep through the night. Now I have to restrain myself from going in your room & waking you up just to hold you.) I love to nurse you and hold you pray over you during those times, and you are so loving & snuggly- even in your sleep. You love to rub my arms, and when I pick you up to lay you back down, you are completely melted in my arms with your head on my shoulder. Hands down my FAVE!!

You really love your room and it’s your favorite place to sleep. It’s SUPER peaceful in there. We’ve started spending some time in the guest bedroom/office too. You love playing on the carpet, crawling on the steps, & looking out the window.

Nursing/Eating: Nursing has become more of a challenge and sometimes I have to pump and feed you from a bottle because you are SO curious and playful. Nursing is not something I necessarily enjoy (except at night), but know it’s best so I’m going to keep going as long as I can, and I am SO thankful the Lord has allowed me to breastfeed. You don’t like to slow down to nurse, & you even suck down a bottle super fast so you can hurry up and get back to playing. But when it comes to real food, boy do you LOVE to get your grub on!! Seriously, you will eat for 45 minutes to an hour at a time. You eat pretty much everything we eat, and the only thing you don’t like so far is avocado and grapefruit. We went ahead and (cautiously) let you try eggs and peanut butter- no reaction. (We pray before every meal and ask specifically for God to protect you from choking and allergic reactions.) Your very favorites are baked apples and toast. You eat 2 pieces of cinnamon raisin Ezekial brad for breakfast- one with yogurt and cinnamon, the other with natural peanut butter. Daddy can’t believe you can eat two whole pieces of toast! You love pretty much all the veggies we eat (I haven’t given you kale or spinach yet, but other than that we eat a TON of veggies), apples, oranges, smoothies, soup, chicken, ground turkey, & oatmeal. The list goes on though- you’ll try anything. When you are finished eating, you will wipe you hand back and forth across your tray (and smear any leftover food or sweep it onto the floor.) I’m not sure if you’re copying us from when we clean your tray, but we are teaching you not to do that and try to get you out of your high chair before you start that. You still eat purees when someone else is babysitting you because other people get nervous about you gagging.

Yes, even Brussels.

What Jase is up to: Oh my goodness- you are all OVER the place and into everything! We are really working on boundaries. You can crawl like a mad man, pull up, walk while holding on to furniture, & open cabinets and drawers.

You still love to be read to, and I’m a total book junkie. Kroger was having a book sale and I bought you a few new books that we both really love. Typically I am the one that reads to you- Daddy prefers to just play.

You love to see yourself in the mirror and really like when we give you a “tour” of anything (walk you around & describe what we see).

You got a new car seat this month. You get annoyed when we’re strapping you in, but you like being able to see better. We went with a Britax & are really happy with it. (We moved the clip down to armpits- this was just your very first time & we were getting you adjusted.)

You love to wave and clap your hands. You know how to wave bye-bye, but sometimes when we tell you to wave hi to someone you will clap your hands instead.

You are a friendly baby and will typically smile and talk to anyone. But if you’re tired, you get in the zone and aren’t as friendly. (Me neither, buddy.)

You love to touch and feel everything! You are so curious. (Except snow. You didn’t love the snow)…Check out Snow Day Pics from your first snow day!

You actually got your first little boo boos this month too. I was juicing & watching you play, and you got your finger stuck in the vent. You let out a yelp and when I got your finger out, you had a little cut and were bleeding. Another time you pulled my camera cord off the couch and it smacked you in the eye. Your daddy is way more worried about your boo boos than me. Not because I don’t care, but I’m just a little more laid back about it. I know you are all boy and we’re going to have lots more of that in our future! (But that doesn’t stop me from praying a hedge of protection around you daily!!)

You LOVE music!! Our house is pretty quiet during the day, so I keep praise music on all the time. You recently started humming during worship at church. At first, we weren’t sure if that’s actually what you were doing, but you do it any time we sing. So cute! And you can barely sleep without your hymns cd playing. I wonder if that thing can wear out?

Your favorite toys are blocks and your hammer. You beat on everything with that hammer!

When we show you how to do something, you mimic it really well. We can show you one time and you “get it.” Like high fives. So cool seeing you learn.

You & your dad have your own little language where you grunt back and forth to each other. Love seeing you two interact! You think he’s SO funny & especially love when he plays peek-a-boo with you. You will search all around from him, and when he pops out, you will crack up with your deep belly laugh.

You & I have our own little forms of communication too. I’m sure that sounds weird to other people and I can’t really explain it, but it’s no surprise that you talk a LOT. And sometimes you let out a really loud screeching noise. You started doing it during church last week so we had to take you out into the hallway a few times.

Your diapers are GROOOOSSSSSS!!!! Seriously, you had a blowout (like change the sheets, use stain remover on your clothes, and give you a bath first thing in the morning blowout) like 8 days in a row before I FINNNNNNALLY realized you need to go up a size in diapers. You are still in size 3 right now and wear nighttime diapers every night. It’s probably time for size 4, but I’m going to try to use these up first. Sometimes a stinky diaper will wake you up early from a nap, and they are really stinky. And you poot like a grown man! Hahah! I am super immature and think it’s hilarious, but am sure I won’t be laughing when you do it in public and everyone thinks it’s me. There is no way I could play it off on you and people actually believe it. (It is so loud!)

Post-Partum: I feel great!! I have so much on my to-do list, but I’ve been putting it all off to soak up as much time with my sweet boy as I can! I know I won’t get these moments back. Taxes, smaxes….

Thoughts: Jase, your daddy and I both love you SO MUCH. Just beyond words. You are SPECIAL, & we know God has called you to something big. We are enjoying you so much and every new phase with you becomes our favorite. We know we’re biased because you’re ours, but you are seriously the COOLEST baby we’ve ever been around. You fill our hearts with so much pride and joy, and we cannot wait for every new phase. Your daddy & I look at each other all the time in absolute AWE of you. You are already so loving and bring so much joy to others, and it is just awesome to see that our love created YOU. Sometimes we forget you are only 8 months because you act like such a big boy already.  We can’t even imagine our lives without you and can barely remember what it was like before you. Daddy & I love each other so much & had a blast being married before you came along too, but our lives are so much RICHER and more full with you in here. Time is flying; sometimes we just wish we could push pause! We’re so thankful God chose you for us and us for you. What a precious blessing you are! (And just when we think you can’t get ANY cuter, you totally do…)