Eight Months

Today is Cruz Man’s eight-month birthday. I’m typing this month’s milestone journal at 40,000 feet, flying home from Boston, anxiously awaiting a chance to hold him, squeeze him, and kiss his little cheeks. Today not only marks Cruz’s eight-month birthday, but the end of a wonderful trip to the Cape, and four days away from our little guy. We missed him terribly, but loved having the chance to see a beautiful part of the East Coast, and celebrate the marriage of two pretty amazing people. Lots more on that to come…

Cruz did great on his little vacation to my parents’ house. Wednesday night, after reconfiguring our leave-time and realizing we’d be driving into the Minneapolis Airport during rush hour, we decided to head to my parents’ and stay an extra night. This way, I got to be there for Cruz’s first night’s stay in a foreign crib. And when we tiptoed around the house at 4 am Thursday morning, Cruz was still sound asleep. He ended up sleeping until 7:30 that morning, about an hour later than he sleeps for us at home!

Thursday night, our first night in the Cape, was a little miserable. We both caught annoying colds just a day before taking off, and Beau felt nothing short of terrible. Looking forward to a romantic night the two of us, our plans for walking the harbor at sunset were put on hold for a downpour of cold rain that shooed away the 100-degree temps that seemed to travel with us. There we sat, drinking a glass of wine at The Naked Oyster, stuffy and missing our boy. The sun shone on our parade the remainder of the weekend and dried out our noses. We fell in love with the Cape, had a blast at our first beach wedding, and had our patience tested on Sunday when our return flight was delayed for hours. Cape Cod to be continued…

It’s hard to believe I am writing about Cruz’s eighth month, and can’t believe he is two-thirds of the way finished with his first year. Boy has this been a big month for him…I know I say this every month, but this is my favorite one yet. As he gets older, gets to know us more, and gets to spend more time outside, he grows more and more content and happy with his surroundings. He smiles all the time, and the look on his face just shows his general love of his little life. He’s a lover and cuddle bug, but is also starting to show some signs of his dad’s wit and humor. He definitely makes our world smile.

  

Some milestones and memories of his eighth month…

-One thing Cruz has inherited from his daddy is his sales talent. The month started with an end to the school year and a wealth of graduation parties. Cruz developed a love for older woman as he was passed from one high school girl’s arms to the next. While Beau and I enjoyed graduation cake and turkey sandwiches, Cruz enjoyed getting to know Taryn, Jeron, Niki, and Sarah, among many more. 

-Cruz is a flirt and a charmer. Just recently, thanks to my mom, he started giving this shy look to people, smiling this half smile and lowering his chin to his chest. Or he’ll reach his head up, shoot whomever is looking at him a playful smile, and lay his head down on our shoulder as if to play hard-to-get. Every now and then, he gets a little frightened by someone ‘new’ in his comfortable surroundings, but he is pretty cool with everything. I guess another trait he inherited from his father…

-Lots of new foods have been introduced to our Cruz Man this month. His new favorites are avocados and bananas, cantaloupe and strawberries, corn casserole, and mango yogurt. I’m still stocking the freezer with homemade baby food, and Cruz is one great eater. We’ve never experienced Cruz showing signs of being full; in fact, I think he would eat avocados and Gerber Puffs for hours!

-There isn’t much he won’t eat; that is, if you’re not counting protein! I made three of Cruz’s first ‘meat’ dishes this month: chicken casserole; chicken, apples, and sweet potatoes; and beef and tomato casserole. Not a fan to say the least! He makes a huge deal of it too…gagging and hacking and choking and eventually, puking. I’m persistent, though. Beau says once he are able to introduce bacon, Cruz will warm up to the idea of meat!

-We are slowly transitioning Cruz to some solids too. He’s developed quite the strategy for eating his many flavored Gerber Puffs; he grabs as many as his tiny fist can hold, then shoves his fist in his mouth, hoping to snag a couple. By the time he’s done, I find Puffs everywhere. Stuck to his chest, in between his toes, in his diaper, etc. We’ll be finding Puffs in the car for months after I ignorantly gave the container to him as a rattle the other day on my way home from Target. He managed the get the lid open…you live, you learn, I guess. Other solid foods that are working thus far include: bananas, little pieces of deli meat, yogurt, and the cheesy cracker puffs from Gerber that taste like old-fashioned popcorn. Cruz gets three ‘meals’ a day, and is drinking about four ounces of juice from a sippy cup. Hasn’t figured out how to hold the sippy cup ‘up’ by himself, but we’re getting there…

-Cruz is still a champion sleeper, but has had a couple of rough nights that we’re blaming on teeth. Poor baby has cut two more teeth on top in a matter of a week, with two more working their way through. Although I have no idea how it feels to get teeth, I can imagine it’s anything but fun. The runny nose and funky smelling diapers are enough to leave me looking forward to a full set of teeth!

-Although the crawling thing hasn’t happened yet, I think we’re a short time away from having a mobile baby. It’s very easy for Cruz to get up on all fours, and I’ll oftentimes find him this way after a nap or full night’s sleep. He rocks back and forth and thinks he’s big stuff, but so far, no crawling. The biggest transition has been his contentment. At the start of this month, Cruz could sit in the same spot and be perfectly content; now, if he sees something out of reach, the wheels are turning in his head thinking about how he might get to it. He reaches, scoots, and tries his hardest to get to it, and usually gets frustrated. We’ll see how life changes once he starts moving…it could be any day now!

-Other milestones and memories of this month include lots of jabbering and babbling, reaching his arms out for people, and waving goodbye. He still thinks I’m the funniest person ever, but feels like he’s king of the world when Beau holds him on his shoulders. He had his first pool experience this month, in our tiny pool at home, and the big pool with his friend, Ethan. He is mesmerized whenever we brush our teeth, and is the best little imitator I know. If you give him the toothbrush when you’re finished, he actually brushes his two little teeth on bottom. He still shakes his head no, all the time, and still loves his plastic stacking cups.

Because I’ve been sitting in an airport for a mere eight hours today waiting for our wretched plane to take off, I’ve become a little long-winded. Happy Eight Month Birthday, little one. Mommy misses you.