8 Month Must Haves

Ok ok so I know I haven't been keeping up like I promised but I'm trying!! And it's the thought that counts right? No? Oh. Well then I promise you will hear from me more and more as I figure out all the new things this year.

Here are the must haves for the 8 month of your baby. I have to say it "This has been the most fun age so far!" Jack is really taking off, literally and figuratively. He's crawling everywhere (still army style but he's quick!) and his personality is shining through each day.

#1 Bathmat - We officially graduated Jack to the big boy tub! As you recall from his 9 month update. This bathmat has been amazing. He hasn't slipped once and it's super cute. It has a sensor that tells you when the bath is hot expect it always says hot. I even made it on the chilly side and it still said hot so now I just go by how it feels. Mother's know best right :).


 #2 Walker - This walker has been the best Santa hit. He LOVES it. As soon as he see's me setting it up he starts screaming and waving his arms wildly. Then once his feet touch he's off to the races. He simply can't get enough of it. And I love that it folds down, super nice for our tiny house.


#3 Dino - This toy has also been a huge hit from Christmas. I will say though out of all of his toys this one has the most annoying sounds. It says the same like 3 sentences over and over and over and the voice isn't the greatest but he loves it and it calms him right down even if all he does with it right now is chew on its tail and hit the giant red button over and over and over again.


#4 Push Walker - This has been our go-to whenever we need to set him down and get some us time or when we drop him off to be baby sat. He loves the phone. If you hang it up he immediately scoffs at you and grabs it again. He throws it, chews on it, and sometimes just holds it as if it was going to save his life. All the other things are pretty cool especially the swinging barn door but that purple phone is simply the greatest. We also use it to entice him to stand or do something :). I also love that the front panel can come off. That's what makes it the best baby sitting toy. So easy to travel.


#5 Neato - Ok so is this a baby "must-have" not necessarily, is it a mommy "super-duper want" yes. This was my Christmas gift from my parents and I was probably more excited for this Vacuum than I was for any childhood toy. Our house has hard floors throughout which was awesome when we moved in baby-less with two shedding dogs. We swept and vaccuumed and it was a breeze. Now with a baby who finds so much joy from picking up every blade of grass, who thinks that mud is for eating, and who loves to play with burrs and thorns the hard woods are my nightmare. He constantly smells like dirt from dragging his belly around and the amount of fur is un-holy. This vacuum has solved it all! I can schedule when it runs so it gets done just as Jack and I are walking in the door after work/daycare and he can play right away. It grabs all the fur, grass, dirt, burrs, etc. It also remembers it's location after it recharges so if it didn't get it all done in one shot it can pick up right where it left off. It's simply amazing. The only down side is that it sounds like a 747 in your house so watching tv or anything is out of the question. But small price to pay for a clean house every day without any work.

Jack's 9 Month Update

Weight: ~18 lbs

Length: ~27"

Loves: He LOVES to army crawl around the house but especially under and through things. He's always crawling between our legs or under the chairs and tables. Maybe we need this. He also loves to stand. He still loves bath time especially since we have graduated to using the big tub. My only annoyance is how long it takes to fill and how much water we have to use for it; the desert girl in me is horrified by wasting all that water but o' well. But the thing he loves the most is his new walker (watch for it on the 8 month must haves). He could walk around in it all day if we let him. But he's not very good at turning so we have to chase after him and that is less fun haha.

Hates: Not very much. He does get bored easy so there must be plenty of toys or people or something to keep him constantly entertained.

Milestones: He has stepped up his army crawl game. He is super quick and now moves around the entire house with ease. We are constantly wondering where he is and what that noise we just heard was. He has also just started to pull himself up on things. So far he has limited it to people, his froggy chair, and only the coffee table at our sitters but not ours. Clearly they had a falling out ;).

He is just starting to say "Mama" and "Dada" when wanting us. He said them all the time before but it never really meant anything. But now when I pick him up from day care he crawls over to me saying "mamamama". He also says it the cutest way. He puts his top lip completely over his bottom lip instead of meeting his lips in the middle. It's adorable.

He still hasn't picked up waving or kissing but he knows they are good things so if you wave at him he'll smile.

Sleep: He is a great sleeper! Pretty much the same as last month. I put him down around 8 and he wakes up around 7:30-8.

Eating: He still has 4 bottles a day 6 oz each. Then three solids, breakfast, lunch and dinner. He can do finger foods because he eats puffs like nobody's business but anything else he seems to forgoet how to do it. We also tried a little cottage cheese with pureed berries and that didn't go so well. He would suck all the berries off the pieces of cheese and the SPIT the cheese out. What person doesn't like cheese? We'll keep trying :)

Teething: Still nothing, I'm going to have the toothless wonder :)



PS - he has his 9 month checkup in a few weeks so I'll update with actual weight and height soon :)

Jack's First Christmas

Hello Again!

I know it's been forever since we've talked but with holidays, vacations, the new year, and getting back to work, it has been a total whirl wind around here.

So let's start this post off with some fun Christmas recap!

As you know every year Max and I trade which holidays with which family. This year was Thanksgiving in AZ and Christmas in CA. That meant we had to make the long 11 hr. pilgrimage to San Jose. Sure enough as soon as we start out Jack starts screaming. Not a cute baby cry but a red face, streaming tears, ear piercing scream. We had left around 3PM which was only 1 hr before his next bottle. So 30 minutes down the road we had to pull over and give him a bottle. He wouldn't drink it in the car seat like we thought he would but nothing is easy with a baby I guess. When we stopped for dinner we let Jack "drive" so he could stretch his legs and eat some too.

Once we were finally all settled and day faded to night and Jack fell asleep, the drive was easy. Time consuming but easy. We got to my parents house around 1AM because of the time change (whoo hoo) and Jack thankfully fell right back asleep after the hustle and bustle of getting in the door.

Let the Christmas festivities begin!

We basically hung around for a few days cooking and baking until the day. I was probably more excited than anyone but I have a baby now so it's acceptable :). He sat at the top of the stairs per tradition and we took tons of pictures. His stocking was super full and he even grabbed a few toys out before I had to help him :). Even though he didn't know what was going on his face was priceless. He was so excited that everyone else was excited and what can beat a whole tower of toys!

Yes that's a poop emjoi pillow on his butt :)

Santa and family were very good to him. He got many toys and so far he has enjoyed all of them. The big present was a walker from Santa. If he could live in it I'm sure he would :). My family soaked up every minute with him and he never got a single second to himself. But I don't think he would complain. During this trip he also figured out how to speed army crawl. Usually he would pull himself around a 5 ft. radius but one day I put him in the family room with some toys and the next thing I knew he was under my feet in the kitchen. He hasn't stopped since. He looks like a little worm just pushing and pulling himself along and man is he quick! He learned, grew, and changed so much over this short trip.

The rest of the trip was spent setting up and playing with toys and counting down the days with my family. It was so nice to see everyone and for them to enjoy the time with Jack. I already miss them and I can't wait to see them again. Though I'm sure Max isn't quite as excited ;).

The trek home was much easier than the first time. He slept pretty much the whole way and only cried when the car stopped moving. I swear that kid knew exactly when the tires stopped it's like he was sitting back there thinking "I sense a disturbance in the force".

The weirdest part was that we got home around 3AM and I put Jack to bed right away dumped the stuff from the car on the floor and collapsed expecting him to wake up around 7. I didn't set an alarm and figured he would wake me up. I woke up suddenly at almost 9!! I ran into his room and he was just sleeping soundly. I couldn't believe it! He has never slept that late especially since he slept the whole drive. But I wasn't complaining :).

It was a wonderful Christmas vacation and I'm already excited for the next. I hope you all had a great vacation too.

More posts to come on my newest present (you should be excited) and Jack's 9 month update! So stay tuned and I promise not to leave you for that long again :)

Happy New Year!