Month eight. I’m not sure why but I feel like this month snuck up on me. I think that I’m starting to realize that my baby is and will only be a baby for a short time longer. He’s growing so quickly. My 22 lb baby boy wears 12-month clothes and can no longer sleep comfortably in footie pajamas (I think). It is amazing to watch him grown, but I do find myself being plagued with the motherly thoughts of time just please stand still for a little while longer. This age has been so fun so far. He’s learning so much. He’s officially become a crawler in month eight. He can pull himself up with so much more ease. He mimics sounds and has a belly laugh to die for, especially when it’s coupled with those dimples.
In month eight he had his first overnight stay with a family member. I went to the Glory conference in Philadelphia and my parents had a birthday party to attend, so the Boss spent the night with my cousin, her husband, and their kids. I think the overnight stay was harder on me and my mom than it was on the Boss. If there’s one thing that I learned in month eight, it’s that you have to maintain some type of a life outside of your children because if you don’t it can make times like this extra hard. I became fully aware of just how much of myself I give to my son in the 27 or 28 hours that I spent without him. Fortunately the conference kept me busy, but I can only imagine what that time would’ve been like had I just been idle.
We restarted sleep training in month eight as well. The first night was a doozy, but we did it. It got better for sure. I told myself that I would give the full two weeks of trying and it was amazing to see how well he did. My goal for every night is that he falls asleep with minimal crying/fussing in 30 minutes or less and he’s done great. Full disclosure though: I sleep trained at night but didn’t follow through during the day so we’re almost a week out from our full 14 day trial and while his overnights are SO much better, naptime is a doozy. So we’re still working on the daytime sleep but this mama sleeps better at night and the Boss is sleeping through the night and that’s all I ever really wanted.
Month eight of my son’s life was also the month I turned 31. I had the most uneventful birthday that I have ever had in my entire life (LOL), but it was still a good day. It was very peaceful. I had dinner from one of my favorite places and I just got to chill. I took off from work so I had no responsibilities there. It was just really nice to be still for once. Overall I think month eight delivered way above what I could’ve asked for.