Since I try not to worry about blogging during our time in the States, hopefully it came as no surprise that this post was not on time! It's hard to believe that two weeks from today, we'll be back in Korea, but we've been having a great trip so far! We started with a couple of days at my dad's that involved trading in our little Corolla for an Expedition, so that we could all fit in the same car at the same time. Then, we spent a few days with Eric's brother, wife, and our nephew. Then, back up to my dad's and over to the cabin on Whidbey for almost a week with my family. Then, a few days of re-connecting with friends and family in the Mt. Vernon area before my dad headed back to Alaska and we headed to Sun Lakes. Now, we're starting to slow down as we try to get a few things accomplished while staying at Lindy's, before heading to Oregon to visit friends and maybe we'll fit in a camping trip with family. Does that sound busy? hmmm...maybe that's why I haven't had time for Reece's 8 month photo shoot! These shots were taken during his 8th month of life, though...
Sleep: Reece has only slept through the night once since we arrived in the States. It's rough, but we're used to it by now, at least. The first few days of him being up once every hour or two were especially tough because, of course, he'd been sleeping through the night in the week before we left (in spite of our crazy trip to Jeju and a move!). Now, it's a good night if he only wakes up three or four times. He's been rolling onto his stomach several times throughout the night, and if I had to guess, that's what's bothering him. Of course, having him in the room with us doesn't help things much. We hear every little moan and feel an obligation to get up with him. So far, he's slept in five different places (not counting different rooms in the same house) and that can't be doing him any favors. Obviously, naps are pretty inconsistent these days, but he's still getting in two ranging somewhere between 45 minutes (usually when we're in the car) to two hours when the house is quiet and dark (oh so rarely!).
Eating: Reece is just now getting into finger foods and he.is.loving.it. I can't even begin to list the new foods that he's tried since being in the States, so it's a good thing he hasn't shown any adverse reactions. It could be tough to narrow it down! His recent favorite finger foods have been crab, avocado, tomato, pickles, homemade hamburgers, french toast (hangs head in shame), and any type of fruit. It's hard to know from day to day and meal to meal whether he will be willing to eat from a spoon or not. Sometimes, he loves the baby food pouches and sometimes he'll have nothing to do with them. I started the summer continuing to make purees for him myself, but after staying in three different places in the first week, I gave up. It's just so much easier to buy it.
Moving: Reece is now officially happier on his stomach than on his back. If I lay him down on his back, it won't be long until he's rolled to his stomach, but he doesn't often go the other way. He's starting to scoot backwards a bit, but not in a I'm-almost-crawling type of way yet. Hopefully, he'll hold out a little longer. He's also sitting up pretty well now, thankfully. I think if he got to choose, he'd remain in that position most of the time. I appreciate having carpet around, though, since he still isn't 100% reliable. He'll often see something he wants to go after and the next you know, he's fallen over again. It's a rough life.
Everything else: Reece's second tooth came in shortly after his first, so he now has the two bottom front teeth, which help with all of that eating! In spite of his massive amounts of solids, he's still taking four 8 oz bottles a day and has somehow managed to not outgrow the 9 month clothes yet (well, except for the pajamas). The other day, our waitress called him chunky and though most wouldn't describe him that way, I was oh-so-proud! He's still long and lean in the opinion of most people. He is still the happiest baby you've ever seen and is pretty much guaranteed to give you a smile, but sometimes you have to be a little more patient than before. We've had a couple of run-ins with stranger anxiety and he does have a tendency to be a little shy and bury his face in my neck when meeting new people now. Thankfully, it doesn't take him too long to warm up, though.
He's been a great little traveler and I suppose he's being raised to go with the flow...he certainly doesn't have much of a choice! Our trip back from Sun Lakes ended up being about six hours because we made a few stops, and he barely cried or whined at all, in spite of the heat and the traffic in the last leg. And the kids still dote on him, in spite of the "a baby changes things" talks we've had to have with them lately. We're so glad this little man is a part of our family!
Sleep: Reece has only slept through the night once since we arrived in the States. It's rough, but we're used to it by now, at least. The first few days of him being up once every hour or two were especially tough because, of course, he'd been sleeping through the night in the week before we left (in spite of our crazy trip to Jeju and a move!). Now, it's a good night if he only wakes up three or four times. He's been rolling onto his stomach several times throughout the night, and if I had to guess, that's what's bothering him. Of course, having him in the room with us doesn't help things much. We hear every little moan and feel an obligation to get up with him. So far, he's slept in five different places (not counting different rooms in the same house) and that can't be doing him any favors. Obviously, naps are pretty inconsistent these days, but he's still getting in two ranging somewhere between 45 minutes (usually when we're in the car) to two hours when the house is quiet and dark (oh so rarely!).
Eating: Reece is just now getting into finger foods and he.is.loving.it. I can't even begin to list the new foods that he's tried since being in the States, so it's a good thing he hasn't shown any adverse reactions. It could be tough to narrow it down! His recent favorite finger foods have been crab, avocado, tomato, pickles, homemade hamburgers, french toast (hangs head in shame), and any type of fruit. It's hard to know from day to day and meal to meal whether he will be willing to eat from a spoon or not. Sometimes, he loves the baby food pouches and sometimes he'll have nothing to do with them. I started the summer continuing to make purees for him myself, but after staying in three different places in the first week, I gave up. It's just so much easier to buy it.
Moving: Reece is now officially happier on his stomach than on his back. If I lay him down on his back, it won't be long until he's rolled to his stomach, but he doesn't often go the other way. He's starting to scoot backwards a bit, but not in a I'm-almost-crawling type of way yet. Hopefully, he'll hold out a little longer. He's also sitting up pretty well now, thankfully. I think if he got to choose, he'd remain in that position most of the time. I appreciate having carpet around, though, since he still isn't 100% reliable. He'll often see something he wants to go after and the next you know, he's fallen over again. It's a rough life.
Everything else: Reece's second tooth came in shortly after his first, so he now has the two bottom front teeth, which help with all of that eating! In spite of his massive amounts of solids, he's still taking four 8 oz bottles a day and has somehow managed to not outgrow the 9 month clothes yet (well, except for the pajamas). The other day, our waitress called him chunky and though most wouldn't describe him that way, I was oh-so-proud! He's still long and lean in the opinion of most people. He is still the happiest baby you've ever seen and is pretty much guaranteed to give you a smile, but sometimes you have to be a little more patient than before. We've had a couple of run-ins with stranger anxiety and he does have a tendency to be a little shy and bury his face in my neck when meeting new people now. Thankfully, it doesn't take him too long to warm up, though.
He's been a great little traveler and I suppose he's being raised to go with the flow...he certainly doesn't have much of a choice! Our trip back from Sun Lakes ended up being about six hours because we made a few stops, and he barely cried or whined at all, in spite of the heat and the traffic in the last leg. And the kids still dote on him, in spite of the "a baby changes things" talks we've had to have with them lately. We're so glad this little man is a part of our family!
No comments:
Post a Comment