C is now exactly 8 months and 3 days and since I failed to write about his 7th month’s developments, I decided to compile the two months in this post.
Between 6 to 7 months, C starting to pull himself to a sitting position. Sometimes he managed to do it but he was not really able sit up straight until he was 7 month old. During this time, he also learned to master crawling and crawling fast! He crawled to wherever his curiosity led him and unfortunately, that meant a lot of banging his head against furniture and falling from edges. So I was always on my feet ready to save him from getting hurt and getting stuck under furniture. Most of the time, I was successful but there were also some instances when I was too late—poor guy.
During this time, his upper two teeth cut through. I think that brought him a bit of discomfort—nothing alarming. I am glad that until now, he is handling teething very well. I hope it continues like that.
Since he became mobile, we started letting him sleep in his crib and it was not easy, I tell you.
We hoped that, other than learning how to sleep in his crib, he’ll also learn how to sleep though the night. I do feed him a meal before bedtime and I still breastfeed him before he sleeps but he still wakes up 2-3 times during the night to feed.
It is difficult because C is used to sleeping beside me. And he falls asleep while breastfeeding. He does not use pacifiers and he also does not thumb suck.
I want him to learn all those but I decided to do it one by one. First I had to teach him how to sleep without him being latch on to my breast. So for the first few nights, I breastfed him in his room while sitting on the chair (not while lying in bed anymore). I was careful not to let him fall asleep by talking softly to him and singing songs to him. After I am sure he had enough of milk, I pull away slowly. A few times he complained but he was quick to pick up on it.
The next thing was to let him fall asleep in his crib on his own and until now, this has not really worked yet. After breastfeeding, I put him in his crib. Most of the time, he cries so I take him out of his crib and calm him down by rocking him before I put him back in again. The first night was horrible because I needed to take him in and out of his crib MANY times before I finally gave up and let him sleep in my arms before I put him down in his crib.
I don’t like to let him cry it out. I am too softie for that. They say it’s the most effective way to teach a baby to sleep on his own and to sleep through the night but I just couldn’t do that to my little guy.
The following nights were not much different—I put him in his crib, he cries, I pick him up, I calm him down, put him down in his crib again, and the cycle continues. But each night, it gets a little bit easier.
Falling asleep in his crib on his own is still something we are working on right now. Right after he has mastered this, we can move on to teaching him how to sleep through the night.
At 8 months, C became more active. Peek-a-boo is a game I’ve been playing with him since the beginning but at 8 months, he already learned how to be the one making a peek and then, instead of saying boo, he squeals. He’s such a lovely boy! He also already plays catch with us. He’ll crawl as fast as he could soon as he realizes that one of us is right behind him. He loves playtime. Laughing, squealing, jumping, crawling, reaching up, bagging things together, pulling, pushing, clapping, waving bye-bye. He loves doing all those things. He also likes emptying drawers, boxes, and bags—he likes making a mess!
At about 7 and a half months, C already learned how to pull himself up while holding on to me or to furniture and at 8 months, he started attempting to cruise while holding on to furniture. Not yet very successful but almost. He can also already hold a standing position for a few seconds. My baby is developing quite well and quite fast. My guess is…he’ll be walking in a month or two. That would be a very huge milestone and we are all excited for it to happen!
With eating, he is also more independent. He now hates being spoon-fed—imagine the mess! He can already drink from his sippy-cups well. He still doesn’t know how to use the spoon, but I don’t think he is eager to learn it because he seems to enjoy eating with his hands. And he eats E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
C at 7 months and 3 weeks
C is a joy and everyday, he enriches our lives in so many ways. We love him very much and he is so much a part of us that we can’t imagine living life without him anymore. Everyday, we thank God for giving us such a wonderful blessing.
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