First, holy mobile child. Pros: He doesn't cry as much because I can put him down and he can follow me. He is SO stinking cute when he crawls (and climbs) that I can't help but encourage him. Con: He can now get into pretty much everything that is near the ground. I still haven't really baby-proofed the apartment.
Christmas was fun. We actually made it back home this time! (in hind-sight, this fact is so much more exciting than I thought it was... more on that later.) Last Christmas, there was a mondo snow storm that prevented us from traveling back up to Logan, so we stayed at my parents house that night. No big deal since we were just us, but I prayed really hard that it wouldn't blizzard this time because I just didn't want to try and stay anywhere with Bennett. We didn't get much in the way of gifts this year, but that's ok; we've got each other and when I think about it, that's what is most important to me. We got a few things for Bennett, but his favorite things Christmas morning were the bows that topped his presents. He did not care about what was under them one bit. I think it will be fun next year when he can/will actually open his presents.
My kid says my name. Haha, well he says momomomomomomomom..... I think it's so stinking cute! And while I can't prove that he associates the word "mom" with me, he sometimes does look at me when he says it, which makes my mommy heart melt.
Speaking of melting, remember when I talked about Christmas and being able to go home? Well, it turns out that our child can't handle sleeping in someone else's bed (cue total melt down). My cousin came home from his mission this past week and spoke yesterday. We took the opportunity to visit our friends in Logan, including staying with some friends there over night. That was THE longest night of my life. (Including the night I was in labor, I swear!) First, the kid hadn't had a good nap all day (driving in the car for hours can do that to you) and he just did not want to settle down and go to sleep. We ended up taking him for a drive to get him to sleep, but that only lasted until about 11 (the sleep, not the drive which lasted until about 9). Then when he woke up again, I was able to put him in the crib (that belonged to another baby who was graciously letting him sleep in it) and he fell asleep for probably about 3 hours. Steven ended up taking him for another drive at about 3 in the morning but Bennett woke up not long after they got back. That was probably the saddest part: when I got him out of the car seat that time, he looked around and started crying again. I think he was really hoping to be back in his own room with his own bed. Well, then we put him back in the car seat to try another drive, but he fell asleep almost instantly and Steven ended up finishing the night on the couch with the baby in the car seat on the floor. That night's "sleep" wasn't really good enough because as soon as we put Bennett in the car seat to leave at 10 he was out. I just can't imagine how Christmas morning would have felt if we hadn't been able to make it home to our beds. Because of that, I am grateful. (I am also grateful we have friends willing to let us stay with them, though I'm not sure we'll be doing it again...)
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| This was the first time I got him to go to sleep... by laying next to him on the floor. But it didn't last long, and that's when we took the first ride in the car. |
I'm realizing that all these are really about Bennett. But I guess that's what it is now: our lives revolve around him. I can't believe he will be 8 months old in 6 days. I feel like time is speeding by on a freight train, and all I can do is take lots of pictures and try to keep up!
