Growing Up - 8 Month Check-In

Baby Tuesday is almost 8 months old, and these past couple of months have been full of fun changes, for sure.  I feel like once he crossed the 6 month point, he suddenly became a "big boy."  As much as I sometimes miss his sleepy days, I really love watching him learn about the world.

 

He's interested in everything around him, from wrappers to water bottles to my phone. *sigh*  I had to dig up an old phone and gut it of its batteries to use as a bait-n-switch for his grabby fingers.

 

We recently washed and put away these play mats (activity gyms?), as he's no longer interested in laying down to play as much.  As he outgrows things, I try to resell them when possible because clutter kills me!  This is ironic, because I used to be the messiest kid, but sometime in my early twenties, as I moved from dorm to dorm, I learned to dislike piles and piles of stuff.  A part of me wants to hold on to stuff "just in case," but man, I can't imagine that at this point, plus everything would just sit and get old in storage.  I figure I can always shop used if I had to use this stuff again, right?

 

A few weeks ago, Baby Tuesday was sick, and although I am usually not one to jump at medications, we had to pull in the "big guns" to help by using Advil, which was quite timely because a representative from Nuk/Advil sent over some Advil samples and this cute Soothasaurus teething toy.  It appears to have been a hit (both the toy and the medicine)! 

I don't see any teeth yet, though he's been smiling more with his gums out, so I don't know if that's a sign.  In the meantime, he looks like a big boy playing with a dinosaur, and its soft rubbery material makes it baby-friendly.

Here's him with another rubber thing, not-so-friendly for babies, but of course I was watching him.  This is our home gym project, which I plan on sharing later.

As for sleep, well, that's a touch-and-go process, but we did get a nearly 5 1/2 hour stretch recently that was like a total miracle.  I'm sure we could hasten this process, but I am not good at dealing with crying, so it's been a slow (and often not linear) transition.  Along with no longer needing gloves to sleep (he was a huge night scratcher), he's also learned to find his pacifier (I admit to placing a couple in the corners of the crib), so that will probably be helpful as we eventually (!) shoot for "through the night."  But I'll take what I can get right now.  This is definitely the hardest part about this whole baby thing!

As for me, I am feeling the strain of everything, from being ill to chronically tired to trying to keep some sort of regular fitness routine to keeping up at work while still a primary food source.  The worst part about returning to work after maternity leave (well, besides being away from baby during the day) is having little to no vacation time when you return.  That, in combination with other things, makes it hard to take a break when it is often very much needed.  I know I can only accomplish a portion of the things I might have been able to in the past, fitness or otherwise, and I hope I (and others) can accept that for now.  After all, isn't this a common experience?


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FTC Disclaimer: I was provided samples from NUK and Infant's Advil and was not otherwise compensated to provide a positive review.  The Infants’ Advil product and information have been provided by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare.