8 months

With every month that passes, I am in awe that I have a child who is continually changing. Seriously, he started out as this "blob" not being able to anything. He is transforming into this little boy with so much personality. I cherish every single waking moment with this child like it would be my last. My heart really does feel like it's going to explode for how much love I have for him.

His 1st christmas was a huge success. We visited Santa, which there was not a lick of stranger anxiety. He smiled the whole time.

Christmas eve was spent at my mother's house. We had lasagna and cheesecake for dessert. We opened some presents and then heading to church. Dylan did amazing and we even sat in the front row (ran a little late). The singing seemed to calm him because he fell asleep in my arms. I was such a proud momma :)

Christmas morning we were at home because Santa came :) Dylan got a cool new car that we can push him around the house in. Eventually he'll be able to drive it himself (not battery operated). It was nice that we got to be home for our first Christmas as a little family of 3! Hopefully we can keep that tradition going. 

Jason and I got a present from Dylan that he made at daycare.  It's a little ornament with his handprint in it with a picture of him on the back and a little poem that made me bawl:
"Sometimes you get discouraged because I am so small...and always leave my fingerprints on furniture and walls.  But everyday I'm growing - I'll be grown up someday and all those tiny handprints will surely fade away.  So here's a little handprint just so you can recall exactly how my fingers looked when I was very small"  Okay, if anyone got through that without crying...how did you do it?! LOL Oh...and the wrapping paper we think was him doodling on the paper :)

 Jason's dad, stepmom and kids came over later on and we opened presents. Jason's dad restored a 1933 GE refrigerator and gave it to Jason.  He worked on it for over a year! It was Jason's great grandfathers fridge so it's been around for quite a while!

After we opened presents and had a lite lunch, we made our way to Jason's cousins house. It was a nice evening with family. We are truly blessed with some amazing people in our lives. Parker was able to go with us too so we didn't have to rush home to him. He does so well around people. He just slept under the dinner table, played with the kids and just hung out!

 Jason got me a HUGE picture and picture frame of Dylan - I absolutely LOVE IT!!!

Madeline and Colin showing Parker some love on Christmas:

I love my family:

Yesterday, the 26th, we had Christmas at my dad's house. There are so many of us and yesterday was the only day we could get together. We opened presents and hung out all day. Again, I can't say it enough...we are truly blessed. Dylan was such a trooper too. He really nap at all and wasn't cranky whatsoever! Such a good boy :)
 Dylan said he wanted to try on daddy's tie:

 Playing with Uncle Jake - I think he thinks he's weird because of his goatee...

 PaPaw and Dylan playing. 

Now time for some stats:
AGE: 8 months 3 days old (December 27)
STATS: he doesn't have his 9 month appt until jan 19. I can't even guess how tall he is but he's definitely grown because when he used to pull up on the ottoman, his mouth was right up against the piping on the ottoman and now the piping is below his chin!
SIZE: still in size 3 diapers, 6-12 month clothes and 9 month PJs. The PJs are getting a little snug so I have a feeling we'll be moving to 12 month here shortly.
SLEEPING: ugh...the past two weeks have been crazy. He's teething and going through a growth spurt so sleeping has been hell. Last week he woke up at 1am and 4am for three days in a row. Then he slept great for one night and then Xmas night he woke up 4 times and last night 2 times. Poor little guy!! I just wake up, nurse him and he goes right back to sleep. Hopefully he'll be back on track by next week when we go back to work.
EATING: BFing is still going great! Still pumping 3 times a day at work to get enough milk for daycare and I still have about 700 ounces in the deep freezer. Dylan is now getting solids twice a day. He gets a veggie after his second bottle at daycare which is around 12:30 and then he gets a fruit around 5:30-6:30 at home. There is not a single thing this kid won't eat!! After he eats his solid, he gets a sippy cup of water. He drinks probably an ounce of it and wears about half of it! He love to drink out of it though!
MILESTONES: as I said in his last update, he's crawling. He is everywhere!!! He loves climbing on the stairs, playing with ornaments on the tree, playing in Parker's food/water dishes, climbing on my stool, everywhere! LOL He got some walking assistance toys for Christmas. He can pretty much walk by himself with very little assistance. I have a feeling he'll be walking in no time!
NEW ADVENTURES: took Dylan to see Santa and he loved him! When he goes back to school on January 3rd, he's slowly going to transition into the infant 2 room. Seriously, can you please stop growing?!
FAVORITE TOYS and ACTIVITIES: he loves his new car ride that Santa brought him. We push him all around the house and he has the biggest smile on his face. We got him an activity table that he's slowing starting to us more and he love pressing the buttons. And of course he still loves the remote and Parker's toys.
FUNNY HAPPENINGS: parker got a huge bone for Xmas. He was chewing on it on the floor and I look down and realize Dylan was chewing on the other end of it! Oops!!! He's starting to throw his head back when he's throwing a fit. Someone was asking us the other day if he's started to let his arms go limp when we pick him up and we told them no...guess what he started doing today?? It's kind of funny because he just throws his arms above his head and I have to make sure I have ahold of him tightly!