Life on the Third Coast: linden

Holy smokes we're eight months old already. I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun we've had this last month. Linden's personality is really coming to life these days, and I love it! There have been so many changes in his abilities and skills this past month that my head is spinning. But if we got to redo this past month all over again, I'd do it in a heartbeat and wouldn't change a thing!!

LAST MONTH:

THIS MONTH:

EAT

World's best eater right here folks. Linden's at a stage in his baby life where he isn't very picky about what foods go into his mouth as long as there's plenty there. Since that's the case, I've been pushing a lot of veggies, fruits and whole grains (quinoa, farro, oats..) far more than meats and dairy. Since eating before one year of age is mainly for fun and practice, I've been trying hard to gear his little taste buds more towards the produce with his protein from grain sources. He'll eventually eat meat and dairy products, but I want to establish his first choice preferences to be veggies, fruit and whole grains.

There have been a couple of occasions where we have given him some mac n cheese, but other than that we have avoided processed foods and added sugars. Speaking of sugar, Conner has never been allowed to have juice or soda and we will do the same for Linden. Then negative side effects of juice and soda far outweigh any of the positives so we just stay away.

SLEEP

I type this as we've come off some pretty rough nights with this little boy. We sleep trained him at 6 1/2 months old, but some nights are just plain terrible. We're finding that the worst of the nights are driven by teething, so I'm hoping that is the cause for the lack of sleep the last three days.

He still gets two naps a day. His first nap is around 9am and his second is at 1:30pm (both are about 1 to 1 1/2 hours long). We do our best to get him to bed at night between 7 and 7:30, but it's summertime, so sometimes we don't get him to bed until 8:30pm.

PLAY

Linden is on the go!! He will not sit still especially for diaper changes. What used to take 30 seconds now can take 5 minutes because he twists his little body and takes off. He is starting to prefer certain toys with his favorite being his Tonka truck. Those good ole Tonka trucks are going to take over our house!

This little boy absolutely loves his big brother and those two will laugh at each other while playing or even riding in the car. Conner sometimes forgets that Linden is only a baby so sometimes I catch him trying to wrestle Linden, and that little brother takes it in stride (with an occasional loud protest).