I can’t believe Grady is eight months old, going on nine! Scott and I feel like this is the month where his personality is really starting to take shape. He’s growing in the blink of an eye. I don’t know how Scott feels but I can’t stand it. Why do they grow up so fast? The first few months of being a new parent are so chaotic and emotional. It soon morphs into this happiness you never knew existed.
Grady’s Schedule
Since Grady is getting older, his schedule has changed and is continuing to change. His wake time is much longer and that afternoon nap is starting to disappear. In between naps he’s going to music class, gym and swim lessons. He likes to be out and moving around. Below is what a typical day of Grady’s looks like:
6:00 am – He’s awake!!! (We’re starting to see some mornings where he’s sleeping in until 6:30. It’s usually when that afternoon nap is short.)
6:10 am – first bottle (8 ounces formula)
6:30 – 7:00 am – play and “breakfast” (Grady has just started having a little breakfast first thing in the morning. He was totally not interested at six or seven months. It’s usually pretty small, like a little yogurt, fruit or an egg.)
7:00 – 8:00 am – play (we usually just chill in the living room and play around there first thing in the morning)
8:00 – 9:00 am – first nap
9:45 am – second bottle (8 ounces formula)
10:45 am – “brunch” (I usually give Grady a little snack at this time. A little fruit or a vegetable, an avocado, a baby yogurt…it’s usually small.)
12:00 – 1:30 pm – second nap (sometimes he sleeps for an hour, sometimes it’s an hour and a half. if he sleeps for an hour, the afternoon nap is an hour. if he sleeps an hour and a half, the afternoon nap is a half hour)
1:45 pm – third bottle (8 ounces formula)
2:45 pm – “lunch” (I usually have a special snack made for him. He likes muffins, fritters, veggie patties…I usually try to have a cooked food ready to go so I can heat it up quickly.)
4:00 – 5:00 pm – last nap of the day (it’s either an hour or half hour depending on how the day went)
5:15 pm – fourth bottle (8 ounces formula)
6:30 pm – dinner (he usually eats whatever I cook)
7:00 – 7:30 pm – bath/bedtime routine (bedtime routine USED to take an hour but it’s way shorter now that we’ve added dinnertime and he’s sleeping through the night)
7:30 pm – Hit the sack!
What Grady is Eating
We’ve been pretty successful with food. Grady seems to eat most things I put in front of him. You can see what I gave him the first two months HERE. So far, he doesn’t seem to have a diary or wheat allergy but I’m waiting until his nine month appointment to introduce peanut butter. I read that babies his age need high calorie/high protein foods so I started to introduce him to chickpeas and other beans. He clearly didn’t enjoy them even after I introduced them several times. I’ll try again later. During the day I either give him a fruit or a vegetable or I have something that I’ve cooked for him. Dinner is usually modified with lower salt so he can just have what we’re having.
Some new foods we’ve tried:
- meats such as ground beef, steak, chicken, pork and turkey
- raspberries (he loved these muffins), watermelon, mangos, pineapple, strawberries
- cucumbers, tomatoes, baked potatoes, peas and carrots, asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini, peppers, sautéed spinach
- pasta and rice
- cheese (small amounts here and there)
Some meals he’s eaten:
- lasagna (baby version found here)
- parmesan crusted pork chops
- cheeseburger and sweet potato fries
- chicken and avocado bites (recipe found here)
- carrot muffins (he didn’t really care for them but your little one might! recipe found here)
- sweet potato cookies (his favorite! recipe found here)
When I was a child, I hated lima beans. As an adult, I STILL hate them and refuse to eat them. I never remember my mother forcing me to eat something I hated (such as the lima beans). Instead, she would make something we WOULD eat. I’m trying to keep that mindset with Grady. I’m hoping we’re developing him into a healthy, adventurous eater (fingers crossed). I say this and when he turns 3 he won’t want to eat anything.
What Grady is Doing
Grady is curious, getting into everything and doesn’t stop moving! He’s been pulling himself up for a solid month now and there have been a few instances where he’s been able to stand on his own. He’s also learned how to use one of those walker toys and pushes it all over the house. What’s funny is that he also just now started to learn to actually crawl. The army crawl is what we expected to see indefinitely because he’s been doing that for two months but he decided to use his knees this month.
I would say Grady has developed a rather strong personality. He sees me getting the supplies ready for a diaper change and begins to crawl in the opposite direction at a rather fast pace. Changing the diaper isn’t fun for me. He screams and kicks and tries to crawl away. When there’s poop involved, it turns into a shit show. Literally.
Aside from that, Grady is a pretty fun kid. He wrinkles his nose up when he sees something funny. He loves riding in golf carts, strollers, wagons, boxes, etc. If it’s moving, he wants to ride. We took him to the golf course yesterday for a ride in the golf cart. He threw his hands in the air and started screaming with delight.
Grady is also in love with the water. He loves bath time and swims around in the tub. We signed him up for swim lessons at the local indoor pool and he laughs and splashes around. I can’t wait so see him this summer in the neighborhood pool (but then again, I CAN wait because then that means he’s that much closer to turning one).
Scott and I can’t believe how fast this kid is growing. Everybody says that children grow up fast. Why is that? Why do children grow up so fast and then it seems adulthood lasts forever? I would love for Grady to stay young and innocent for longer but it looks like I’ll have to continue to savor every moment while he’s growing with the speed of light.