8 months, day 4 - The 8-month update

Well folks, it seems like we are back in business. Augie's returned to a fairly normal bedtime and up-time schedule and he's getting in a few longer naps, which is fantastic for all of us. And it means I have a couple minutes to share with you how he's doing.

First, I'll start by saying that we went to music class yesterday and it was fantastic. Unlike last week, when he melted down and cried and cried, yesterday he was happy to be in class, he loved the other babies and the music, and he seemed to have an all-around great time. In fact, he loved the other babies so much that he crawled around giving out kisses! He kissed three other babies while we were singing songs - he'd just crawl away from me, up to another baby, and then lean in with an open mouth and smackeroo! The other moms seemed to think it was pretty darned cute, too. When the drums came out, Augie climbed on top of ours and then crawled onto the next one over - guess he loves the beat.

So, as he enters his 9th month of life, here's Augie: he has 6 teeth (and likely more tucked away where we can't yet see); he's perfected his own spiderman crawl; he climbs everything he can, and is even starting to let go with his hands and stand for a second, which terrifies me; he's beginning to cruise the furniture; he has several words ("mama" and "baba" are the most common) and is starting to babble more; he bangs objects together to make music; he loooves to give us zerberts (see here and here if you don't know what a zerbert is); and he showers his Mama with kisses, which might be the most amazing thing on this list.

Would you believe that I actually thought this would work? These may be the outtakes from our photo shoot, but there were no non-outtakes.

8 months, day 3 - Augie's spider crawl

Augie has his own way of crawling - check it out as he plays hide and seek with his Baba.



Here's another look at the crawl:


And here's the little boy, ready to be carried away:

8 months, day 2 - Target

I'm sorry to say that the sleep issue has not been solved. Augie has pretty much recovered from jet lag but he still wakes a lot at night - too much. And his naps are hit or miss - some days they're fantastic and others they're all but non-existent. I've been meaning to write a post or two about it all but, as you can guess, I'm too tired. If I ever start sleeping at night again, I'll be sure to let you know all about it.

And the reason I told you that is to justify that all you are getting today is this lousy picture taken at the store this afternoon:

8 months!

Augie is 8 months old today. I totally forgot until right now. We're massively impressed with him. Maybe tomorrow I'll have time or energy to tell you about who he is and what he's doing right now, but right now all I have time or energy for is a couple pictures.
 

Broccoli or zucchini? Both please.

Some melon, too.

With Rupert and Nelly, friends who have just moved to Princeton for the year.

7 months, day 30 - Last day at South Beara

The Internet's back, Augie's in bed, the bookshelf is secured to the wall, Mama's had some wine, Baba's on the couch: we're getting back to normal.

This one is a bit late - exactly one week, actually. It's from our last full day at Grandparents' house, South Beara. I still have an assortment of pics from our days there that I want to share, and I'll get to them eventually.

7 months, almost 8 - So tired

Sorry, our Internet went down for almost two days, so I wasn't able to post yesterday. I still have a couple days of posts from South Beara to do, but this is all you're getting today because it's how I feel right now:

Here's hoping we get the Internet working tomorrow, we all sleep well tonight, and Augie doesn't bash his head on anything for at least the next 12 hours.

7+ months - Adjusting

Where's Augie?

There he is!!!

Sorry we've gone absentee lately. The last few days have been crazy with unpacking, babyproofing, laundry, errands, bills, phone calls to customer service, and on and on; in addition, Augie has decided that he only needs 30-minute naps during the day, which means that Mama doesn't get a break until the evening, when my body thinks it's five hours later than the clock says it is, and even hauling myself to the couch to watch trashy vampire shows is a monumental effort. Many thanks to Baba, who has been handling the 3am wake-ups (until the 5am naps).

Augie is actually doing very well with the time change and jet lag. We all still need adjusting, but the little trooper is doing his best to slide back into an east coast schedule. Though maybe I shouldn't have taken him to music class less than 24 hours after we'd returned to New Jersey, because while at first he seemed to love being around his old baby friends, when all the mamas started singing, he completely and totally lost it. Tears, screaming, body shaking. If it hadn't been so adorable, my heart wouldn't have melted so much. 

However, at library story time today, he gave a girl baby a big, fat, open-mouthed kiss. So I guess he's getting back in the groove.

Posting may still be spotty for the next few days as we all continue to get readjusted and I finish all my mama and wife chores.

 

7 months, 20+ days - Back home

We're back in Princeton now, after several days of travel. I've been going to bed each night with Augie, which is why I haven't been posting. Hoping to get back to it tomorrow, once the apartment is baby-proofed, we've gone grocery shopping, unpacked, done the laundry, bought a highchair, gone to music class...

This is from our last day at South Beara:

7 months, day 22 - Happy days at South Beara

As before, the pictures speak for themselves. Well, almost; I'll tell you that Augie was very tired and Ah mah was getting him ready for his morning nap, hence his tired face (the thousand-yard stare); and Granddad was playing with him just after waking up, hence his crazy smiles.

7 months, day 21 - Sunshine in Bristol

On the way home from visiting The Greats yesterday, we stopped in Bristol to visit a friend of James's - Dink - from university. We had a lovely little picnic in a lovely little park.

7 months, day 20 - The Greats

I'm too tired from too much driving to write much of anything. We had a lovely couple of days with great-aunt & -uncle Ilona and Paul and great-granddad & -grandma. The proof is in the pictures.

 

 

7 months, day 18 - Barnstaple

We went to Barnstaple today to run errands, eat Chinese food, and get James used to driving on the wrong side of the road before our trip north to see the Greats (great-granddad, great-grandma, great-uncle, and great-aunt). On the way home we stopped off to get Augie some exercise, and he and Granddad rumbled in the grass.

It may be a couple days before I post again, so hold tight.

So who do you think was the winner?:

Ah mah doing what she does best - feeding one of her babies:

Mama gets a nibble: