clark wilde : eight months

e i g h t  ♥  m o n t h s

my little valentine just gets cuter every month.  look how big he is!  is he even still a baby?!  I am so in love with him!

as the months go by, I've been taking less and less pictures because I feel like I have no time to stop for a picture!  this boy keeps me so so busy!  it's a different busy than when he was a newborn but no less exhausting.  now instead of nursing him all hours of the day I'm chasing after him!  not to mention still unpacking boxes, ordering things for our home, getting everything all set up and my to do list never ends.  I keep telling Mark I can't wait until everything slows down but he said it's never going to slow down!  things are just going to get busier from here on out.  oh boy, better get used to this mom life!

eight month stats:

weight: 20 lbs (72nd percentile)

length: 29 in. (91st percentile)

head circ: 18 in. (84th percentile)

♥                ♥                ♥

well, it finally happened.  Clark got his very first boo boo :'( he was pulling himself up on the dresser and went to suck on it (his top two front teeth were just starting to poke through) and slipped and banged his top gum on the dresser.  I was freaking out because even though I saw the whole thing happen I wasn't sure where he had gotten hurt.  I picked him up and ran downstairs to get a frozen teether and that's when I saw his gum bleeding!  we were both crying!  I guess 8 months is a pretty long time to go with no accidents though...probably the longest we'll go from here on out with this wild one.

Clark took this!  hahaha "silly face mom!"

Clark also got his first blister this month!  he loves to walk everywhere and has grown out of all his shoes except one pair of sandals.  he hasn't really complained about it (how would I know?) but we put a band-aid on it and have had him barefoot or with socks until it goes away.

f a v o r i t e s

some of Clark's favorite things to do this month are...

 ♥ go to the park (all day, every day!)

♥ push his walker (no pictures because I have to hold him while he pushes it!)

♥ mix up all his puzzles together (in this picture he's just making a mess!)

♥ take the tags off everything and eat them

♥ pull himself up on everything (coffee table, bath tub, crib, couch, ME!)

♥ swing with mom

♥ go on walks

♥ play with his girlfriend Addison

and go shopping with mom & dad!

okay, he doesn't really like the last one but he's a good sport :)

e a t

Clark is a great eater!  we are still nursing four times a day and he has three meals a day and usually a snack too.  he loves quinoa puffs and yogurt melts, anything he can feed himself.  he still eats mainly baby food but some real foods he has tried are blueberry muffins, yogurt (his favorite is Yoplait Light Vanilla because he loves everything I eat!), blood oranges, banana, bread (he takes the Sacrament at church now!), scrambled eggs, and mashed potatoes.  we bought some real macaroni & cheese for me to make him this week!  ahhh, my baby is turning into a little kid!!!

we had our first nursing strike this month!  as usual, I freaked out...called the doctor, texted my cousin, I even thought I might be pregnant and maybe my milk had dried up!  haha, it only lasted a day though.  all day he just refused to nurse...he would start to suck but would pop off after a few seconds and the longer I tried, the harder he persisted.  he was acting like he was in pain because it would seem like he wanted to nurse but then once he would start, he'd scream and push away from me.  I did some research and usually nursing strikes are common when baby has an ear infection, is teething, or has started solids and isn't as patient for the milk to let down anymore.   we think the real culprit was his top two teeth which popped in a day later.  so now Clark has 4 teeth!!

s l e e p

sleep has been sort of all over the place these days...we had one really terrible night, maybe the worst we've ever had, before Clark's top two teeth came in.  he was up every hour starting around 2 am and would not calm down except when nursing.  my mom brought him over to her house twice the next day so I could sleep (so lucky to have her!) but poor Mark had to go to work!  Mark is so amazing, whenever Clark is having a rough night, he is up with me trying to get him to go back down.  most nights when Clark cries out, Mark is the one to go up and give him his paci, rub his back, sing to him, change a poopy diaper, you name it.  he is the best dad / husband ever!!!

shopping for a console table!

typically, Clark goes down around 7:30 and wakes up around 7:30 the next day.  when he isn't teething or going through some major development, he usually wakes up only once, around 5 am and one of us goes up and gives him his paci and he goes back to sleep until 7:30 or 8.  the past few nights he has been sleeping straight through and it's been so nice to have a solid stretch of sleep!  but I'm really not complaining...I hear some babies are still waking up 3-4 times a night at this point!  I don't know how those moms do it.  I'm exhausted by the end of every day and I almost always get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep.  I've learned to never take a single good night's sleep for granted because you never know what the next night will be like!

Clark is still napping two times a day but both naps are becoming later.  he usually goes down around 9:30-10 am and will sleep for an hour and a half or sometimes two hours.  in the afternoon he goes down between 1:30 and 2 pm and usually sleeps for an hour.  now that he isn't napping on me (well, he still has his days) I am so productive during his naps!  I pretty much get through the day by counting down until the next nap, haha.

p l a y / d e v e l o p m e n t

we have seen sooo many changes this month!!!  Clark can pull himself up, sit unassisted, army crawl, and on Valentine's Day he started waving!!  oh my goodness, life is getting so exciting!  I can actually set him down most of the time and he crawls around, explores, and plays on his own.  I'm loving this stage right now!  he is just mobile enough that I have some freedom but not so mobile that I'm worried he could actually get into trouble.  haha, bet that's coming soon!!

Clark pretty much does something new every day.  he dances when we sing ("I love coconuts, bananas, and grapes!"), kisses his reflection, opens the mailbox and holds the mail, self feeds, says "mama," understands so much and loves to imitate.  I think he gets about 50,000 kisses a day from everyone and is SO spoiled by his grandparents!  he is everyone's favorite and is totally in love with his mama ;)  my little boyfriend.  I love you so much my sweet baby Clark!

clark wilde : seven months

s e v e n   m o n t h s 

look at that mischievous little grin!  seven months and Clark Wilde is into everything!  I can't leave him alone for a second.  he isn't quite crawling yet but that doesn't stop him...he will roll, scoot and pull himself towards whatever he's after.  he is so curious I keep waiting for him to fall down a rabbit hole.  don't worry babe, I'll be right there to jump in after you!

so blogging has been the last thing on my mind lately.  we are finally in our new house and the unpacking has begun.  I've been finding all sorts of creative ways to get things done and keep Clark entertained at the same time.  he sits in his high-chair or bumbo and I basically throw him something I'm unpacking every few minutes.  his favorite is the packing paper.  sometimes I put him in a box and let him roll around.  it feels like I end up starting a million tasks and never finishing anything but it's slowly coming along.

we love, love, love our new house!!!  there is such a difference having your own place and Clark and I already have a routine that I love.  I feel like we've grown so much closer just in the past week because now it's just the two of us.  I used to be scared I would feel lonely not being at my parents' where there's always someone there or something going on but it's strangely calm and relaxing.  I feel more like myself and Clark feels more like my baby.  I feel like we're finally home.

Clark has changed so much this past month!  he's eating more, nursing less, down to two naps a day and back to sleeping through the night!  hallelujah!!

seven month stats:

weight: 19 lbs (69th percentile)

length: 28 in. (81st percentile)

head circ: 17.5 in. (69th percentile)

♥                ♥                ♥

f i r s t s

baby's first Christmas

♥ Christmas - Clark had a wonderful first Christmas!  I still can't believe it was just last Christmas that we announced we were having a baby.  and now it's Christmas again and he's seven months old!  craziness.  Clark was so spoiled and got more presents than anybody...but his favorite present was Grandad's hat, haha!

♥ meeting Santa - he was not a fan!  sitting on the lap of some big stranger with a funny hat and hair all over his face?  yeah, I should've saw that coming...

poor baby!

♥ trip to the Galleria - we made our annual post Christmas shopping trip and even though I wasn't able to get as much shopping done as I have in the past (the closest I came was setting aside some things to try at Urban but never actually made it in the dressing room), we still had fun!  I think Clark's favorite part was all the tags on everything...

♥ solid poop - these next few firsts may be TMI but they're a pretty big deal around here.  since Clark has started solids, he's been pooping much more regularly.  about once every other day, but sometimes twice a day (small ones).  the only thing is, his poops have become like little rabbit poops.  I think that means he's constipated but I'm not sure how to remedy it.  I try giving him juice and liquids but he's just not interested.  he will drink (more like lick) water out of a big cup but doesn't like bottles.  I think we're going to try a sippy cup this month and see if he likes that.

♥ poop in the tub - yes it happened.  I don't have a picture and I don't think you'd like to see anyway, hah.  Clark had been straining most of the day but never pooped and the second we put him in the warm water, he relaxed and went.  I guess it's good the first above happened before this one or we would have had a much bigger mess!

♥ New Year's - well he didn't quite make it to midnight but he was a party animal up until 8:00!

f a v o r i t e s

♥ giving kisses - these are everyone's favorite!  I think he does it when he's wanting to nurse but sometimes when you lean your face in, he'll grab your cheeks, open his mouth and suck on your nose or chin!  it's the cutest thing!!  sometimes, he'll flick his little tongue in and out while he's doing it and it's hilarious.  everyone loves kisses from Clark!

♥ taking people's glasses off - he has a thing about grabbing stuff off people's faces and thinks it's hilarious!  my glasses are always falling off my face because he's stretched them out so much but I can't help but laugh whenever he snatches them and bursts into giggles.

♥ his aunts & uncle - Clark met his aunts & uncle on my side when he was still a newborn so he re-met them when everyone came for Christmas and loved them all so much!!!  he thought Uncle Sean was the weirdest, funniest guy in town and of course loved being held by his beautiful aunts, as he does all pretty girls!

♥ being scared - just like his mama, I guess!  I'm gonna have fun with this one the older he gets.  a new scary movie buddy, haha!  Mark is such a fraidy cat ;)

♥ Lucy - that is, my mom's roomba 650 she got for Christmas!  she named her Lucy and Clark loves Lucy!!!  best baby-sitter around!

♥ ice water - I'm not sure if it's good to give babies ice water but Clark is always wanting sips of my water (and I always have ice water!)  whenever he sees me drinking, he stretches his hands out for some.  then he laps it up like a little puppy and puts his hands in to touch the ice, haha!

e a t

so turns out, Clark loves food after all!  I think when I wrote last month he had only tried vegetables and hated them.  well, he still hates vegetables and will only eat them if you sneak a bite in while feeding him fruit, ha!  he tolerates sweet potatoes and sometimes carrots but won't touch anything green!

Clark's favorite food, hands down, is applesauce! he could eat applesauce all day long.  and anything with apples mixed in.  he also loves bananas, pears, and peaches.  he is a very loud eater and makes noises like, "mmm," the entire time.  he's also very impatient and sometimes I try to multi-task while feeding him or eat my own food and he doesn't like it one little bit!  he's always been impatient when hungry...once the boppy comes out, especially before bed, he starts making his hunger sound, "nnnn," and gets so fussy until he's eating!

Clark eats solids three times a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and nurses four times a day (morning, after his morning & afternoon naps - or sometimes during naps! - and before bed).  I love our new nursing schedule!  I still get to cuddle him and feel that bond throughout the day but now I'm able to have 4-5 hours to myself if I need to.  the other day my mom took us shopping and let me go in all the stores alone while she watched Clark!  heaven!!!  why didn't I shop 24/7 before he got here?!?  it's so much easier to shop now that I don't have to worry about nursing him when he gets hungry because she can just give him baby food.

still, it's a little sad that the weaning has begun.  pretty soon he won't need me at all anymore...haha, well I guess that's an exaggeration but what I mean is, he won't literally be dependent on me to survive because someone else can feed him.  hopefully, he still needs me though! :)

s l e e p

he loves holding my hand when he sleeps :)

I'm happy to report Clark is back to sleeping through the night!  the night waking only lasted for a few weeks once he started rolling more and when he was teething.  now he sleeps from 7:30-8 p.m. until about 6:30-7 a.m.  sometimes he cries out early in the morning around 5 (Mark says I do this too, HA!) but usually it's just one cry and then he's asleep again.  sometimes Mark goes and gives him my shirt though.  yeah, Mark is always the one to get up with Clark at night.  he's the best best best.

we have a pretty solid napping schedule down too.  Clark is down to two naps a day, one in the morning around 9:30 and another in the afternoon around 2.  his morning nap is usually short, only 45 minutes to an hour (he will sleep longer if I nurse him when he wakes) and the afternoon nap is like two hours.  then Grandma picks him up after work and takes him home with her so I have a few hours to myself before Mark gets home.  this is my favorite part of the day.  I work out if I haven't been able to, unpack, blog, and just chill until my boys return.

p l a y / d e v e l o p m e n t

Clark has grown up so much this month!  he is basically sitting up, though sometimes he does fall over so I don't leave him sitting alone.  his rolling is out of control, making diaper changes practically impossible!  he has started crawling backwards haha and almost has his forward crawl down...he rocks back and forth on his knees and sometimes can go forward a little bit with help.  before we know it, he's going to be all over the house!  we haven't even baby proofed yet!

he has started talking all the time and believe it or not, says "mamama," when he's crying and trying to get my attention!  I think it's just babble but I pretend he's saying mama and I always pick him up!  he also holds his arms out now whenever he wants to be picked up out of his walker or high chair.  

one hilarious little tick Clark has picked up is Grandma's cough. Grandma was sick for the longest time and still has a cough and Clark is around her so much that he copies it and whenever he wants attention or is getting bored (or pretty much anytime) he starts doing this fake cough.  it's kinda cute for now but I hope it doesn't stay.  he is also always sticking his tongue out of the side of his mouth, it's adorable!!

Clark loves patty cake, being tickled and when dad lifts him high in the air.  when he's tired, he gets in this mellow, happy state, becomes very talkative and giggles at everything.  it's our favorite!  he loves being around kids and getting out of the house.  swinging always puts him to sleep and he is fascinated by animals of every kind.  he is so so smart and wants to see and know about everything, especially things he knows are off limits!  my little mischief maker.  best seven months of my life.

families are forever ♥