8 Months

Dear Cade,

  

Up until this point, you have been the sweetest hunk of a baby.  You smile easily, sleep well, and basically just hang out, content to just observe whatever is going on around you.  Like all too-good-to-be-true things, it had to come to an end.  About a week shy of turning 8 months old, you made some big leaps in development which coincided with the first glimpses of your will.  

You are no longer thrilled with any posture but standing.

Have mercy!

After breaking our backs holding your big brother's hands as he learned to walk, we promised ourselves that our next baby would have to figure out how to crawl before we went down that labor intensive road again.  I'm sticking to my guns, but your Daddy loves to see you happy and helps you stand all the time.  

This month started out with Mama racing in the Possibilities Triathlon (April 27, 2014).  You were such an amazing training partner and the reason why she wanted to do it in the first place.  Besides getting into shape after you were born (goodbye baby weight), she wanted to teach you how to set a goal and persevere, even when it is hard to do so, all while giving the glory to Jesus.  That's pretty heady stuff for an 8 month old, but we hope as you look back at these pictures, you'll be reminded of these lessons.

Go Mama Go!

Who needs a chew toy when you have Mama and Daddy's faces

When Daddy came back from a long weekend in Vegas for a derm conference, we were rewarded with an entire week off of work to play as a family.  Besides the fact that Mama had the worst cold of her life, we managed to have the most wonderful time together.  We went on your very first bike ride to the Redlands Farmers Market.  We went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, Mama helped throw a baby shower for two dear friends, we swam in our pool nearly every day, we spent a day at Newport Beach, we hosted a two day yard sale with four other families in our front yard, and spent a day at the actual San Diego Zoo.  All of these adventures were just icing on the cake because in reality, the best vacation in the world is just spending time with Daddy.

Ready for your first bike ride

Bike ride during nap time?

No problem.  Gettin' your Zzzzz

Newport Beach

Someone is pretty happy about the zoo

Big brother Jack LOVED the Polar Bear exhibit

Not the bears

Just the play structure there

On May 20th, you finally, F-I-N-A-L-L-Y started eating solid foods.  Pureed carrots.  You are now eating a little less than half a container of baby food at dinner time.  Your interest in food has been there for months but now you can actually ingest it without immediately throwing up.  Hooray!

You want me to eat solid foods?

Hmmm....let me see about that

This month, you have become self aware.  We can see the wheels turning when you see something you want across the room.  Even though you can't yet crawl, you make tremendous effort (and get frustrated in the process) to get to that desired toy just out of reach.  When Jack was your age and we took away one of his toys for one reason or another, he was easily distracted with another toy.  You, Cade, know exactly what is going on and let us know with a sad lower lip and a good cry how you feel about it.  

Just the best picture ever

Jack has a big time need for personal space and has not always been gentle with you when you happen to touch him.  We are bracing ourselves for this next month as you undoubtedly will be on the move and probably begin stealing his toys, etc.  It seems like a whole new frontier of parenting as we try and help Jack be gracious in sharing and gentle in touching at the same time that we teach you (eventually) to respect his space and property.  Oh boy.

Panther Boys

Oh Cade, you couldn't be a sweeter baby.  Thank you for making our lives so wonderful!

Love you,

Mama and Daddy