1) Peter is basically crawling now.
He was just doing an army crawl, pulling with his arms and dragging his legs. Now he is getting the arms and legs together -- but not all the time. He can do it, but he does not always do it that way, so he is not super fast yet.
2) He is pulling up now.
I find this adorable. My tiny little man, standing there at the gate watching me in the kitchen. And then suddenly, his little muscles give out and he falls and wacks his head. Poor Peter. But, after some consolation, he gets back up and does it again. He is Schroeder stubborn, apparently.
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| Here he is just before bed, in his sleep sack. |
3) Peter licked me!
I was holding him and he leaned his head in. So I leaned my head toward him, thinking he wanted to snuggle. He laid his head against mine and then turned a little so we were face to face. It was such a sweet moment. . . and then he licked me :)
4) Peter eats at the table now.
Peter is sampling more and more food now. And thus, he crawls over to the table and pulls himself up to eat with the rest of us. For some reason this brings me no end of joy -- to have all the family eating together.
5) He squeaks!!
All of my children have reached a point where they would squeal some. But Peter is definitely taking the cake. He was SO LOUD in church today!! I did not want to take him out because he was not fussy -- and honestly he was so loud, he probably would have been heard even through the cry room. The catch is that his squeaks are fairly unpredictable. We are not tickling him or playing with him. He just turns his head and fills the area with his high-pitched joyful cry.
6) He sees me mostly as a milk tank.
Oh, Peter loves me, I am sure. He will smile at me when I come into a room and I know he is so happy to be with me. But often when I am holding him, he will smell my milk and nose dive from shoulder height to about my middle (where I usually hold him to nurse). This is followed by frantic head-butting and pulling at my shirt. I don't remember any of my other children being quite so violent about their desires for nourishment. I guess I better get on teaching him sign language already.
7) He does not really have words yet, but . . .
When he wants to get my attention sometimes (like in the middle of the night) he will cry, "Ma ... (pause) ma ... (pause) ma..." and repeat. I would find it endearing if I did not feel sad for him crying.
(Side tangent, I am so tired of listening to crying -- from any of my children. I really feel like it is an assault on me some days. I try so hard to take care of them and meet their needs and how do they respond? -- They cry!! Silly kids/babies. I know it is just part of life, but my weary ears are ready for less violent noise.)
* Dear little Peter, you are growing so fast! 8-months-old and doing so much. You are such a blessing to our family!!
Bonus Section:
1) Miriam LOVES Peter.
Seriously. She tells me at least three times a day how much she loves Peter and asks me to confirm that he must love her back. -- From the moment I brought him home from the hospital she was asking to "pet Peter" and now she asks if she can play with him and is always hugging him.
2) Samuel is an awesome big brother.
Samuel was a little hesitant to help much with Peter in the beginning. He would grudgingly hold the little guy while Peter cried and I hurriedly finished whatever task I was doing. -- Then Samuel learned how to comfort him and I would ask Samuel to take Peter when he was fussy and calm him down! Samuel would sing to him and gently pat him or carry him. -- Now I often ask Samuel to help with Peter and he gladly scoops him up and carries him off. He will calm him if necessary or just help him get settled with toys and let him happily play.
3) Rebekah is a mini-momma.
This is probably not a surprise to anyone, but Rebekah is practically an adult in the household as far as caring for the children and babies anyhow. She can even be in charge of Peter for large chunks of time while Mom is fairly indisposed doing dangerous or particularly messy projects or special tasks. -- Lots of girls want dolls to play with. Rebekah has a real doll and his name is Peter. -- She also has two little sisters that adore her and she is so good with.
