8 Months!

Okay, I've been having major writer's block lately, or maybe it's because things are going so smoothly (thank God!) that I haven't had any good material. Either way, I've been neglecting the blog a little, and it's not because I haven't had any time either. You're probably thinking Z must be crawling or pulling up by now, and you would be wrong. While, he is pretty strong on his feet and can basically support himself if I stand him up against a piece of furniture or his crib rails, he hasn't figured out crawling yet, and I don't think he quite has the arm strength to support himself, much less move much. And, I'm not sure how pulling up starts, but I don't think he's showing many signs of that either.

Upon further investigation of the little man, I have figured a couple of reasons for his lack of motivation to move around much. First, his every need is catered to all day every day. He doesn't really ever have to defend himself from an older sibling trying to take all of his toys (like in the case of my little nephew). He doesn't really even sit in one place for very long, because before he gets a chance to be bored, my nanny, my mom, or I scoop him up and take off somewhere or at least provide him a change of scenery. And, secondly, I think he's a lot like me. While, I enjoy physical activity and try to make it to the gym every once in a while, what I would always rather be doing is sitting on the couch with a cold Diet Coke watching Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or some comparable useless television. Also, once he becomes a little more self-sufficient, we are going to expect just that, self-sufficiency and he will lose some of his royal treatment. Perhaps he knows this on some level. So, I prefer to view this one of two ways: Z taking full advantage of his ever abiding caretakers or him expressing his inherited traits from me.

In other news, he's eating so well. Much to my surprise, his favorite veggies are yellow squash and broccoli. He still loves peas and ANY fruit. We've done apples, pears, cantaloupe, strawberries, mango (usually it has to be mixed with something else like bananas and/or avocados).

He's on a pretty good schedule, which I will elaborate further on for my own future benefit, but you may feel free to skip this part.

Wake up between 6:00 a.m.- 7:00 a.m. (though we rarely go in before 7:00), nurse at 7:00, fruit/rice cereal mixture at 8:00, First nap at 9:00, Nurse (or bottle during the week) at 11:00, Play or run errands, second nap at 1:00, Nurse (usually between 2:00 and 3:30 depending on when he wakes up, the afternoon nap tends to be longer), Mommy comes home (during the week) at 5:00, nurse at 5:00, vegetables at 6:00, bath 6:30, and bedtime at 7:00 (I do usually top him off right before bed). Then, I exhale, eat dinner with hubby and chill. Note: all of these times could have an -ish added to them. They are not by any means occurring on the dot every day. 

He weighs about 17 and 1/2 pounds, and I'm trying to fatten him up. He doesn't reject much, but I have found that if I overfeed him, he fusses before he falls asleep at night. I can't even express how blessed we are to have this little angel in our lives. He is doing so well, and I pray every day that God will protect him now and for always.

As usual, I had fun taking pictures of him. There are some smiles in there but more of the faces we've been seeing a lot of lately. Enjoy!