Jude's 8 month letter

Dear Jude,

You are 8 months old! Happy 8 months!

I am astounded at how quickly time has flown. And this month especially has gone by so fast as you have continued to grow and develop at such a rapid rate!

Your personality has really started to come through this month. You'll giggle and laugh and ham it up for me and pretty much anyone who will look at you. Your facial expressions, especially crack me up. You'll furrow your brow or raise your eyebrows or just give the most blank stare-down before cracking into the most heart-melting grin.

You have LOVED going for walks lately and the other day when we walked to the library, you flapped your arms and kicked your legs for the ENTIRE duration of the walk. You seem to love being outdoors and getting fresh air. I love it, too.

You have gone from eating pureed food to finger foods! You LOVE Cheerios and do really well when I've given you cubes of baked sweet potato. You also had cubes of pear the other day and of course you loved it!

And the biggest thing, we moved you and your brother into the same room.

What a transition! And it's still going on. You have rejected the room for the past 3 nights but tonight you fell asleep okay. You are still randomly waking up throughout the night and will eat twice a night (including the dream feed - which I hope to stop by the time you are 9 months). You went from sleeping through the night to waking up multiple times which is a bit frustrating, but right now we're just going with it to keep the peace. How can I let you cry it out when you're sharing a room with your brother?

Which brings me to your brother. You go from being frustrated with his constant desire to hold your hands to being absolutely enamored by him from the minute you hear his voice when you wake up in the morning. It melts my heart to see your smile as you look at him and hope for a glance from him in your direction. You two are going to give me trouble in a year or so (sooner?) but for now it's really sweet to see your adoration of him.

You are loving when someone holds your hands and pulls you up to standing and seem quite proud of yourself, but you have not really shown initiative to take steps forward in this position.

You are also not quite crawling but I think you are becoming interested in the idea and you can usually spin around while on your belly.

You have two bottom teeth sitting under your gums, just biding their time but wreaking havoc in the meantime. Rosy cheeks, a whiny disposition (sometimes) and incessant amounts of drool are making it clear to everyone that teeth are on the way!

Your cheeks still make me want to NOM on them every time I see them and blow raspberries on your chubby little belly. You are such a sweetie pie and while generally good natured, I already see a very independent/stubborn streak in you. While this may give us grief when we try and direct that stubbornness, I know that God can use this for HIS glory and I pray you seek to serve him with ALL your might.

love

Mama