11.16.11 - Eight Months Old

Time flies when you're having fun...and we sure are having fun!  Cale is in a really fun stage right now (I hear that will probably not be the last time I say that), and I love getting to spend all day, every day with him.  This past month, I feel like he has become extra curious, very focused on new things and wanting to touch, hear, and see how everything works.  I love watching his eyes, because he gets very focused on something, and it's almost like I can see his brain processing the new information.  I guess this is the beginning of the "sponge" years.  I better watch what I say and do!  

Cale is scooting himself all over the place.  He can get where he needs to go and he does it quickly.  He has been getting up on all fours and moving his hands forward, but then he goes to his tummy and scoots himself the rest of the way.  I have to admit that I am completely okay with his method of moving right now, because he still stays in his general vicinity.  When he figures out that crawling will get him places at a faster rate, I am going to be in BIG trouble, so I'm not going to push it.  He recently has started pulling himself up on things - he definitely prefers to be standing...I think he likes the view better!

He has six teeth now!  Well, four of them are still working their way down, but his bottom two are officially in, and all four top teeth came at the same time - talk about a few killer nights!  Cale was such a trooper though, and I think we're through the thick of it though.  Now, only about 22 more to go!

He has also gained some independence - he has officially become opinionated about being fed.  He doesn't like it.  He wants to do ALL BY HIMSELF!  I have a feeling this is just the beginning...  His new selection of foods include waffles, yogurt (still likes it, thankfully), diced peaches, pear, and banana, strawberries, peas, diced carrots and potatoes, and his new favorite is Ritz crackers.  I think we're only a few weeks away from cutting our "grown-up" meals into tiny bites for Cale to eat with us.  That feels very grown up to me.

We made a BIG change in our house last week!  For the past eight months, Cale has slept in the "third bedroom" of our house, which is a great sized room, but with one BIG problem - the only way to get to the master bedroom is to walk through it.  Pictures below...

 (Side Note:  The floral valance is no longer there...this picture was taken before Cale was born, so we were prepared for a boy or girl!)

Well, before Cale was born, I had decided that we were going to keep all of the window blinds open so the sun would shine into his crib, we would keep his bedroom door open, so that he would hear all of the noise and get used to it, and we would walk freely back and forth through his room, and he would have to get used to that too.  Now, I just laugh at myself.  Really?  What in the world was I thinking?  I mean, the first month, it did work.  For one month.  Until Cale started screaming 23 hours a day and I would do just about anything to get him to sleep.  Like use black out curtains and a sound machine.  And I wouldn't dare enter his room while he slept, for fear that the crying would resume, and I really did not think I could take much more of that.  That lasted about three months, but when the crying finally subsided a bit, Cale all of a sudden became acutely alert.  Of everything.  Like the door quietly opening, or the creaking of our hard wood floor we tried to tip toe across.  I am embarrassed to admit that there were a few nights where Adam even decided to sleep in our guest room so that he did not have to walk through Cale's room at 6:45 in the morning and wake him up early.  Oh, and one more detail about Cale's room - his closet is where our washer and dryer are.  Imagine trying to coordinate laundry with a LIGHT sleepers nap schedule.  Well, after eight months of the craziness, Adam and I decided to take the plunge and move Cale to the guest room and the guest room to Cale's room.  I thought I would regret "losing" the guest room, but it turns out that I didn't really lose the guest bedroom at all.  And, after Cale's AWESOME naps that he's been taking since moving to his new room, I really don't think I'd care if we had a guest room at all.  This has been life-altering...and I am NOT being dramatic.  I was able to get all of our laundry done in 1.5 hours - that hasn't happened in 8 months!  Needless to say, we are all three very happy with Cale's new room.  The ONE downside - we left his striped walls in the other room.  These walls just seem so plain!  Oh well, I don't miss them enough to repaint them...talk about HOURS of labor!

Introducing: Cale's new room!!

Last weekend, we attempted to get a family Christmas picture taken.  A dear friend of ours met us at a local park and took A LOT of pictures - I think we did end up with some pretty great pics!  After the family shoot, I tried to get a few of Cale.  I think we were able to get a few "framers".

 This is a total Adam face!

While we were at the park, Adam took the opportunity to teach Cale about ducks...

Recently, I've become addicted to Pinterest.  There are so many great ideas on that website - if only I had time to do them all!  Well, today, I did get a little bit inspired...

Pretty Hysterical!