Nicolas Jay: 8 Months

Nicolas is 8 months old now, really 8 1/2, and sooo much is changing with him I had to do a quick post on what is going on in his life right now.

 I gave up baby books in 2009. ha. So really this is an online baby book for me. Feel free to read along if you wish. :)

He is FIN-A-LLY sleeping through the night (for a month or so now). He started waking up again, so I've let him cry 2-3 nights over the past few weeks but he does great now. 10-11 hours solid, and I'm looking forward to when 12 hours becomes a part of our lives.

 I've noticed a huge change in the solid food area of his life this month. He has cut way down on nursing (not sure how I feel about that) and loves to eat real food. Bread ranks his #1 favorite right now, followed by bananas, sweet potatoes and carrots. This week he tried pizza and was a huge fan. He really eats everything at this point and feeds himself really well! The baby-led weaning style of eating has been so much easier than the way I fed my other kids. I love it!

He's been rocking on his knees and standing on all fours for a few months now, but he won't actually crawl more than a few times before back into scooting where he gets all over the place fast. His favorite place to be is under the kitchen table. :) He loves to pull himself up to standing if the object to pull himself up on is low enough, and then he gets pretty proud of himself.

His eyes are still very blue with no signs of changing yet. My other kids had blue eyes this long, but they were changing at this point so I'm wondering if he'll keep the bright blue?

 And speaking of eyes, he was diagnosed with stribismus, which is the fancy term for wandering eye (or lazy eye). Since it was caught so young (his 6 month well visit) it's not gotten too bad yet and his vision is still fine. He wears a patch on his good eye for 1 hour a day and it is the cutest thing I have ever seen! It really doesn't seem to bother him at all. We go for another check up in a few weeks to see if we can cut down to every other day depending on how his muscles are strengthened through this month. I had a list of several pediatric orthopedic Doctors and chose one at random. I was super impressed with him and his office. Later, a friend with a son who has the same problem told me he was the best in our city! I love how the Lord works out little things like that.

His looks are changing quite a bit, but he is still twinnies with Brooke, which she loves.

Phone captures over the past few weeks...

 Happy crawler

First day with his patch

Standing at the couch and tickling big brother's foot ;)

His second fever in just 3 weeks... we all had a day like this yesterday. I think it's teething, because besides being fussy and warm, he has no other symptoms. I do garlic drops in his ears just in case it's that.

I couldn't end on that note, so here's one more of my little guy who is happy 99.9% of the time. ;)

Happy Friday, friends! Have a great weekend!

Nicolas Tries Food (Baby-Led Weaning)

It doesn't matter what number baby you are--new milestones are a big deal. Probably an even bigger deal when you have older siblings to squeal excitedly over every little new thing you accomplish. Since Nicolas is 6 months old, I decided to start giving him some solids this week and it was so much fun. I'm giving baby-led weaning a go, and was amazed at how well he chewed and swallowed without choking! Babies at this age still get 100% of their nutrition from milk, so at this point it's just exploring and learning the hand and eye coordination to feed themselves. He puts everything in his mouth at this point, so that was a good indication that he was ready to start.

The older kids were super excited to help with this exciting event!

Their faces when trying something new are always priceless! And yes, he was chewing chunks this big, even though a lot of it came out of his mouth. Their chewing/swallowing is completely developed at this age--apparently, they learn it from sucking. Amazing! He loved to play with it and look at it, which "they" say is their way of learning and exploring new foods. 

The banana pieces were too slippery, so this was his preferred method of choice ;). I've since learned that you can give it to them right in the peel with some of it cut off. That worked much better because he had something big to grip and hold.

This is his, "OK Mom, shows over. Can I go to bed now?" face

Based on just a few days of experience (ha), I highly recommend this method of feeding! Of course, do your own research, and the book (which I borrowed from a friend-thanks, Amy!) was very helpful as well! Nicolas doesn't have any teeth yet, so I feel comfortable with only giving him soft foods for now, and I'm excited about the fact that I don't have to sit and feed him. He will participate right in our family meals all on his own!
 I won't bore you by making you listen to me lament about the fact that he is so old, (6 months is such a milestone!) so I'll end there.
 Have a great rest of your week, friends!