Letters to Valor: 8 months

My dear Valor Zeal,

A new year. A new month of life. What sweet grace from the Lord to start off 2016 at 8 months of life! We are thankful to our gracious God for your life. You fill our hearts to the brim. We cannot help but break out into the silliest grins when beholding you. Your chubby cheeks, your dinosaur voice, your chunky thighs, your cuddliness - it's all too good. The way you snuggle into our necks when we hold you. The way you plant slobbery, open-mouthed kisses on our faces. The way you smile so contentedly when we kiss your squishy cheeks. The way you stare, wide-eyed and open-mouthed at your sister and us. When we return your gaze, you grin and say, "Eh!" You are such a sweet baby. You observe quietly more than you vocalize, but when you do, you utter repetitions of "nyeahnyeahnyeah" and "mamama" in your raspy voice. You click your tongue, bite your bottom lip, and giggle close-mouthed. You laugh loudly when tickled in your armpits and tummy. You erupt into giggles during games of peekaboo, and when your big sister squeezes a squeaky ball. You are so endearing I squeeze you close and smother you with kisses as often as possible. Which you love!

You're more still and chill than I am used to, as your big sister was absolutely everywhere at your age. If you're sitting, you sit contentedly for a while, taking in your surroundings with calculation and the most furrowed of brows. If you then decide to be mobile, you lean forward until you land onto your tummy. Then you commence scooting and rolling around effortlessly, all because the world is such a curious place you must touch, taste, and see. You rock back and forth in crawling position, and crawled one step forward today for the first time. You grab everything with lightning speed. Once you take hold of an object, you taste it. If it suits your fancy, you gnaw away on it. You also enjoy pounding on the little piano in the living room. Your sister tries to have tea parties with you, and you oblige by stuffing teacups into your mouth. You adore bouncing on your toes while supported alongside your big sister, who jumps up and down gleefully next to you. You love her a ton, and break out into a huge smile every time you see her. Your growing sibling relationship is heart-breakingly sweet to witness.

You love to eat. You scarf down generous servings of pureed zucchini, butternut squash, carrots, green beans, mashed banana, mashed avocado, and meatball (which you tried for the first time today) with speed and gusto. You chew on your sippy cup happily. Or any teether these days because you're sprouting your two bottom front teeth! They're not visible yet, but I feel them emerging when I press on your gums. You're still nursing well, around six times in a twenty-four hour period. When you want to nurse, you pant, whine, and throw your head back. You're most relaxed when you feed as you snuggle closely against me for comfort. You stare up at me as if you're studying my face, smiling faintly as you drink, until you doze off. You take a nap every two and a half hours or so, three times a day. You whine loudly and kick ferociously when you're tired and ready for a nap, which is when we plop you down. You roll around, cry a bit, and knock out. You get ready for bedtime around 7:30pm, sleep around 8pm (sometimes 9pm if we're out and about), wake up around 5am to nurse, sleep until around 7am before you wake up to nurse again, and sleep for another 2-3 hours before you're up for the day. We are so thankful for the general predictability of your eating and sleeping habits these days.

You wear size 3 diapers, some 6 month clothes, but mostly 6-9 month and 6-12 month clothes. You wear size 2 shoes. You're a healthy, growing babe. We cherish having a little boy. God is so good to us through you. We enjoy you immensely. You are so very loved.

Love you so,
Mama

P.S. Valor Zeal at 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 months. Plus, his birth story.