8 Month Newsletter

Dear Rory -
Today you turn a whopping eight months old, and once again I am totally amazed at the changes that have taken place over the last month. To begin with, you've definitely become more mobile, and even though you aren't crawling yet, that certainly doesn't stop you from getting around. You love to roll EVERYWHERE, and the look on your face when you pop your head up after rolling onto your tummy is one of pure joy. It's like you're saying, "See, I don't need you people. I'm perfectly capable of getting around by myself." You've just begun to get up on your hands and knees and rock, so I expect that you'll be experimenting with crawling any time now, but trust me, kid, I'm in NO HURRY. You're enough of a handful as it is, I can only imagine what adding crawling to the mix will do. Oye Vey.

Another major change this month has been the appearance of your very first tooth. FINALLY! Right now it's just a little white cap peeking out from your very swollen bottom gums, but I'm sure it will be a full fledged tooth before long, with several more to follow. It's hard for me to picture what you'll look like with a mouth full of pearly whites - and while I'm sure you'll be adorable, I'm really going to miss that toothless grin of yours.

A cool thing that has started this past month is your ability to somewhat understand what we're saying. One of your father's favorite pass times these days is to yell "VENT!" when he's carrying you around in the kitchen, and you instantly look up at the ceiling towards the heating vent that's there. (Random, I know, but it's how we get our kicks around here.) You also get very excited when you hear us discussing a bottle, so much so that I've started spelling it out so you won't know what we're talking about, even though I always hated it when my parents did that to me. (Sorry, little buddy.) And you definitely know what I mean when I say "ALL DONE!" when you're finished eating because you instantly get upset that your food supply is about to get cut off. (Does it look like you're not getting enough to eat? Come on now!)

But all of these pale in the face of your biggest accomplishment the month - SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT. Just a few weeks ago, you started going to bed around 7pm and not waking up until 6:30am. THAT'S ALMOST 12 HOURS. The first few times you did it, I thought for sure that you had died during the night, and I'd run into your room in a panic only to find you sound asleep on your tummy with your butt up in the air, snoring away peacefully. I've finally gotten comfortable enough to stop checking on you throughout the night, and now I usually get at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night. It's a wonderful thing. So how did we finally do it? Well, I'd love to be able to say that we followed a specific method, but honestly, after trying several approaches with minimal success (including the dreaded "cry it out" method), you really just starting sleeping through the night when YOU were ready to, and not a minute sooner. And that was that.



Right now, Rory, you're a lot of fun to be around, especially since you love to smile and laugh. Everywhere we go, strangers see your beautiful face (usually covered in drool) and they can't help but smile at you and come to say hello. I've seen you turn grumpy sales people into cooing masses of jello with just a few cute little giggles - and it makes me puff up with pride. I'm so proud to be your Mama, little man, and I hope you know that will NEVER change.

Happy 8th month, Bubba!

Love,
Mama