eight months.

Ethan is eight months old today. As plans for his first birthday party start to come into focus, I find myself utterly in awe and disbelief that he's this old already. Gone are the days of newborn clothes so tiny that they appear to be made for dolls and here are the days of trying to figure out how my not quite crawling child has brought a handful of clothing hangers inside his ballpit. Eight months is proving to be an age already full of unpredictability and surprises.
At eight months, Ethan is feverishly learning to pull himself up on the bars of his crib and the sides of the couch. Being in the standing position is his favorite thing to do, the smile unable to be wiped off of his face until the moment his legs quiver and he plops himself down into the sitting position. He's still trying his hardest to master crawling, something that both captivates and frustrates him and sucks up all of his attention and determination. He has mastered scooting sneakily around on his belly, figuring out how to spin himself in the direction he needs to be to grab hold of my Blackberry or whatever else he has his eye on. Eight months is the age of unstoppable determination.

He's still a big boy, fully in 12 month clothes at this point and holding strong in his size four diapers. His sleep schedule is becoming just that -- a schedule -- and it's becoming a rarity that he wakes up at all during the night. At eight months, his favorite foods are zucchini, plums and apples, greenbeans and lentils and, most recently, YoBaby organic yogurt. He enjoys trying to feed himself, though it takes a couple of tries before he successfully figures it out, and is starting to seek out more independence than he previously wanted or needed. He's filled with his own opinions, desires and wants, and it's been so incredible watching them play out as he continues to develop his own personality.

He is a busy boy, too, what with his My Gym class, swimming lessons and our Stroller Strides class along with the occasional playdate here and there, but we always make time to snuggle up together and read stories. Those fleeting moments of tranquility as we lay in bed or sit on his glider and turn the pages of our favorite storybooks are my favorite moments of every day. Ethan is also busy developing his own strange sense of humor and once he starts laughing, there's nothing that can curb that laughter. Case in point, there is a collage of photos we had taken of Ethan back when he was a month or two old. He thinks these photos are absolutely hilarious and we can't walk past the wall it hangs on without stopping to smile and laugh at the photos of Ethan "back when he was a baby." At eight months, he has totally found his voice and is constantly singing, babbling and screaming. We have some pretty awesome conversations, of course.

Just when I think it can't get any more fun or incredible, Ethan proves me wrong. I really don't know how anything could be better than this. Life with an eight month old is pretty great.

ethan's first haircut

My day was full of chocolates and other goodies, but the best part about today was Ethan's very first haircut!

His hair was getting a little scraggly. By "a little," I mean his hair was falling into his eyes and forming little dreadlocks on the back of his head. I put it off for as long as I could, despite my husband's insisting, at least until I couldn't comb the knot out of the scraggly piece of his hair hanging over his ear. Then it was time.

I'm admittedly fearful of those children's salons. We can blame my little sister's horrible first haircut experience for that one. I can still see the way the stylist put all of her perfect golden ringlets into a ponytail...and cut it straight off. I still get the chills thinking about it. Those ringlets were never seen again, fourteen years later.

I was getting my hair done earlier this month and asked my fabulous hair stylist if he would be willing to perform Ethan's first haircut. And because he is awesome, he said yes. So this afternoon, myself, my mother, my father and my husband (on his lunch break) accompanied Ethan to the salon. First haircuts are a big deal, okay?





Ethan did great! He sat on my husband's lap and was initially excited about this new endeavor. Towards the end, he started to get a little impatient and whiny, but he still sat quietly and tried to figure out what was going on.

I'm trying to figure out what went on, too, because when we left the salon, my tiny little baby became a handsome little boy!





And as my handsome little boy sleeps soundly (see what I did there? Fingers crossed!) tonight, there's a new little trinket box sitting atop his dresser.

Awwww!

take his picture by the pool 'cause he's the next big thing.

Ethan begins swimming lessons on Thursday. The swim school offers several open swim sessions in addition to the lessons, so I thought it'd be a good idea to take Ethan to an open swim session today so he's familiar with the water before he begins his lessons. He's one of the few babies his age who haven't already been exposed to the water due to his contracting RSV at five months. My husband felt fairly confident he'd love the water given how excited he gets about bathtime but my Overly Paranoid Maternal Neurosis was unstoppable. And, as it usually is, said neurosis was totally unnecessary.

Ethan loved the pool from the moment we stepped into the water!

He had such a blast floating around the pool! I felt bad when it came time to take him out of the water, as he was just so content floating around and exploring the water. He was totally a natural, putting his own face into the water as he floated and kicking his legs as he navigated through the pool on his little raft.

Did I mention that he actually swam under the water? Twice?! Because he did. And I might have lost ten years off of my life each time, but he popped up from the water and kept on splashing without a care. Not a pout, frown, whimper, cry or tear. (From him, anyway. I make no comments about my own behavior during the second that felt like years that my child was submerged under the water and swimming his way towards me!)

The entire point of this open swim was to familiarize Ethan with the water before his swim lesson on Thursday but it was probably more of a nerve-calmer for me. He was never concerned. He's got this. No problem.

seven months.

Ethan is seven months old today. He's now on that upward climb up from half a year, making him even closer to one full year. I've been spending more time thinking about his first birthday party and doing some party planning, but it never actually hit me how quickly the time was flying by.

At six months, Ethan began solids with his first taste of homemade organic vegetable purees. He has had sweet potatoes (his least favorite), zucchini (his most favorite), butternut squash, summer squash, green beans, carrots, peas and a medley of carrots, green beans and lentils. It all has been going wonderfully save for peas which caused Ethan to break out in a skin rash. This month, we are beginning fruits. Ethan received his first taste of organic fruits yesterday with a homemade avocado puree which he loved.

Ethan is wearing clothing in 9-12 month sizes, depending on the brand. He's officially in Size 4 diapers, a change which seemed to happen overnight when his size three diapers just no longer fit when he woke up in the morning. His eyes are still a beautiful shade of blue which I'm holding onto hope will stick! He has his two bottom teeth and is getting incredibly close to cutting top teeth, too. This 7 month old also has one heck of a social calendar: we do Stroller Strides, My Gym, weekly playdates at friends homes and -- swimming lessons. This coming Thursday, Ethan takes his first ever Water Smart Baby class at the swim school. I just might be more nervous than he is.

He isn't crawling yet, but I've had a gut feeling for some time that he may skip crawling altogether due to the discomfort that his reflux causes him whenever he's flat on his stomach. He is, however, standing like a pro and can hold onto the couch or the crib rail while holding himself up with ease. Sleeping still isn't as perfect as it was, but we have gradually reduced the number of wake-ups in the night from two to one so maybe this is a sign that Ethan won't completely detest the idea of his crib in the near future.

His current favorite toys are his Green Sprouts stacking cups, his musical drums and our cat, Amelia, who allows him to stack the aforementioned stacking cups on her without protest. The YouTube video of Feist singing Counting To 4 on Sesame Street might win above all of these things. Let's just say it's Ethan's most favorite song.

I think this age right now is my absolute favorite. I've said this in the past and I know myself well enough to know I'll probably say it again in the future, but I am loving every last thing about this age. I've been watching him absorb the world since he was born, but watching him implement the things he has learned into his daily life has been incredible. He knows to hold his arms out for me when he wants to be picked up. My husband has graciously showed him how to bang on his tray when he wants more food. It has simply been wonderful watching him learn and develop and become the person who he is.

Accepting the fact that the 8 pound, 4 ounce newborn we brought home from the hospital is now closing in on 25 pounds and creeping uncomfortably close to one year is another story. Really, where does the time go?

college is yummy. apparently.

This morning we opened Ethan a college fund at a local credit union. Halfway through the paperwork, he threw a tempertantrum and fell asleep sprawled across my lap. It's safe to say that my husband and I were just a bit more excited than he was about his new Sea Turtle Club (I know right?! So cute!) savings account.

I've had several "oh my god. I have a child!" moments. I get them each time I sign him in at the pediatrician's office, sometimes having to cross out where I've written my name out of habit and replacing it with his. When he recently graduated from his first My Gym class to the next one up? I may or may not have teared up on our drive home. Depositing money into Ethan's college fund is another one of those moments. Right now I marvel over the way he can sit up like a champ or shake his baby tambourines before shoving them into his mouth (I may or may not text my parents and husband videos of this to prove that my child is a musical prodigy, don't you know it!). It's hard to believe there will one day be a time when he goes to college. College! It's too crazy to wrap my mind around -- that my little boy, sleeping so soundly in his Sleep Sack with his arms sprawled out around him, will one day be old enough to go to college.

(And if you don't mind, I'll continue to believe that those days are way too far off for all comprehension and go back to marveling at his undeniable music ability and the way he can play with his stacking cups cuter than I could ever imagine anyone playing with stacking cups!)

Regardless, Ethan now has a college fund. And though I refuse to acknowledge he won't be an infant forever, that's still so super exciting!

never believe it's not so.

Overnight, Ethan has turned into an accomplished sitter. He's so proud of this that all he ever wants to do it sit. Wherever we are, whatever we're doing, he just wants to sit up straight and tall. This hasn't exactly worked in my favor as I try to transition him to his crib at nighttime, but it's still been pretty interesting to watch.

Recently he has discovered that he can sit up and play with toys. These are both things he had done separately in the past -- sit, and play with toys -- but now they become one shared activity. He spent a solid half an hour today mesmerized with a toy I grabbed from a neighbor's garage sale for $3 (I know, as if we needed another toy in this house) and then continuing to scan his playroom for other toys to explore.

Not that I'm in any hurry for him to grow up and leave behind the current phase of his life, but I'm guilty of wondering when he'll start crawling (and walking). These are things anyone will ask you on a daily basis: "is he crawling yet?" "is he eating solids?" "is he sleeping through the night?" I used to desperately try to imagine an answer, a definitive time when he would be doing all of these things, but now I'm happy to leave that all behind and enjoy the transitions as they come. There's something about watching Ethan pull himself up to that $3 garage sale toy and study it intently with such wonder in his eyes as he tries to figure it all out. I know that this phase, too, will end and he will soon lose sight of the magic of his current perspective -- but for right now, we're content to enjoy the magic.

baby, it's been unfathomably cold outside.

Yesterday was not cool. Well, I mean, it was freezing outside but inside? It was all about the meltdown (after meltdown, after meltdown). There was absolutely nothing that could keep a smile on Ethan's face yesterday. Sleep deprivation was the obvious culprit and for good reason. (No, it's not teething.)

My friends, the time has come for Ethan to sleep in his crib. And this does not make him happy.

My plan was to have him sleeping in his crib by five months...and then my goal moved to six months. A couple of weeks ago I said by seven months, I'd like him to be mostly moved over to the crib. Now I've learned that I will never set another goal again in regards to the crib.

Ethan has developed his own technique for fighting the crib transition and that is denying any all sleep until it's almost eleven o'clock at night and he just can't keep those eyelids open anymore. (At which point, he wakes up every couple of hours, notices he's in his crib and presents himself in a mood that sets the tone for the entire day. Like yesterday.)

It took him what felt like an eternity to forgive me for even placing him in his crib while I ran to get a ringing phone. It took what felt like an eternity for yesterday to end. The fact that he no longer fits in his bassinet is an apparent non-issue for Ethan. I get it, I really do. I hate change, too.

Today? Today was better. It was much better. Ethan slept in his crib until four this morning and took a two hour nap this afternoon. We spent the day with friends and family. The weather was warmer, we were able to leave our sweaters inside for the first time in a while, the sun was shining -- but the warmest part of the day was seeing that smile back on Ethan's face.

Yes, today was a good day.

and then there were greenbeans.

Today was Ethan's very first day of solids. (And, yes, we are those people who still have the Christmas tree up. I promise, I'll be taking the ornaments off tomorrow!) Greenbeans were on the menu, as you may remember from my great organic greenbean debacle. I prepared the first batch last night and anxiously awaited for this morning when he could have his first tablespoonful. Part of my oh no, I'm not ready for this yet anxiety was quenched when I realized it was pretty fun making Ethan's food on my own. We'll see how long it stays fun, but right now it's pretty fun.

Making Ethan's food wasn't the only unexpectedly fun part of this whole endeavor. I'll admit it, the actual feeding process was pretty fun, too. I have been dreading it for so long that it never occurred to me it may be an enjoyable experience.

So how did Ethan enjoy his greenbeans?

Okay, I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. Don't let that face fool you. It was the spoon he wasn't a fan of -- the greenbeans he eagerly lapped up. I was pretty surprised how quickly he got the hang of the whole thing and a little disappointed he didn't end up covered head-to-toe in greenbeans for, you know, the whole full effect.