He's 8 months

Nicholas has been living his baby life for 8 months now. I can't believe how fast time passes. I've told you that Nick scoots back; well, now he's crawling...kind of. On Saturday, he actually took a few knee steps forward. It was so exciting since Marcus and I were both with him, and we both began letting out a couple of tears. Gosh, we thought it would never happen. He still goes backward more than forward, but he's getting there.

Butt Scoot

Forward Crawl

Also, his 2nd tooth came in. I always figured they'd come in pairs, but not Nick's teeth. It's one at a time for him. Yes, he has bitten me after feedings, but a firm, "no," usually gets him to stop. Now thinking of it, it's been a while since the last time he did it, and he almost did this afternoon, but he stopped himself.
We bought Nick a book; Dr. Seuss' A B C to be exact, and he loves when we read to him. It's cardboard so he'll try and turn the pages. He's as successful as an 8 month old can be I guess; he'll turn once or twice. It's too cute. I guess I need some more. Little by little we'll fill his library.

1st book ever, Good Puppy

New Book, A B C

I've been reading, and as early as 6 months you can begin teaching a child sign language. I think we'll start with Nick. At least we'll see if it works for us since I do speak to Nick in Spanish. I'm not sure if teaching words in English, Spanish, and ASL will confuse him more. Nicholas will be one smart cookie, that's for sure.

Something I realized this weekend is that we don't kiss as often as we used to. We kiss when I leave for work, when I get home from work, and when we're ready to sleep. I know we kissed more before we got so Nick busy. Without speaking, we made the decision to kiss more often by kissing about 10x in a row. It's tough thinking about anything not baby related, but we know that we need to keep our relationship good and healthy too. Yes, the three of us are a family, but Marcus and I are life long partners.

For every bad evening there's a great weekend

After an evening like today, I have to remember the happy smile to keep me from crying and thinking I don't spend enough time with Nicholas.
I got home, took Nick from Daddy's hands so he can work out and I can hang out with the little guy.  I fed him, played with him, watched the news (more playing while trying to listen), I ate so I could feed Nick afterwords. Then he begins with his little kitty whining. I try and entertain him and nothing worked for long. I put him in his highchair to feed him some dinner, and he hardly eats. Wait, wait, wait. I realize that he's only eating when he can see Daddy, as soon as Marcus is out of sight he begins screaming and crying. Why? I almost started crying just thinking he only wants Daddy b/c he's with him all day, and he doesn't see me for 11 hrs out of the day. We sit downs and he begins hugging but then pushes me. Now I know he's sleepy, but bath time isn't for another 30 min and bed time is 30 min after that. After Nick falls asleep Marcus says, "Oh yeah, he didn't take his last nap." No wonder he was in such a crumby mood.
He's in bed now without his bath and 8 o'clock feeding. I guess we'll see what time he decides to wake up.
I go back to the weekend and smile.
Friday we went to our friends house for a late football game, and he was sooooo good. I was so worried that he would cry the entire time and we'd have to go home early, and even though there was some crying, he was good and I watched 85% of the game (most of what I missed was b/c I fell asleep). 
Saturday I took the little man shopping. He needed some PJs and shorts, and I needed some shirts and tennis shoes. We went to the Houston Premium Outlet which is not far from the house and found everything at discount, of course. Even though there are at least 2 more mo. of warm weather, there were no shorts to be found (I've learned my lesson). He was so good, I couldn't believe how patient he was. We got to the last store, and as soon as I was deciding on what to take home, he began whining. I was just so excited that we got through 2 hrs that I didn't mind the crazy looks I was getting.
Sunday he was so good playing with me. I read his ABC book, we jumped around, we danced, and we played with blocks. Of course he took some really great naps that kept him from getting cranky. I got less tears during the weekend than I did just for this evening.
This weekend I definitely learned that I don't have to worry about Nicholas being a baby.  I was more worried about it than anyone else. Whats the point of stressing out; everyone understands. Today, I had to keep telling myself I am a good mom, and I am doing everything I can for my baby.

I love my Nicholas!

Nicholas is 7 mo plus some weeks

Nicholas is doing well. Last weekend I saw my baby after he woke up from a nap, and he looked so different. I'm sure he hit a growth-spurt (his pjs aren't long enough, gotta get some this weekend), but there was something about him that looked different. He's growing too fast. With the holidays around the corner I know time will pass even faster.
He is too funny though. He loves bouncing around in his bouncer. He's at the point where he doesn't want to sit so he fights us every time we try to put him down. Once we manage to put him down all he wants to do is find the nearest thing that is elevated so he can pull up on it. Now, I have come to realize that he may never crawl. He hates being on his stomach, and when he gets on all fours, he's butt skooching backwards. I don't mind it, but we haven't even baby proofed the house yet.
Yesterday and today he has been annoyed with everything. He doesn't want to play, doesn't want to be held, he won't go down like he usually does for his naps, irritated after bath time, doesn't want to eat baby food. Maybe his 2nd tooth is cutting through? I don't know what's wrong with him. When he finally does fall asleep for his naps they're longer than usual. Maybe all this butt skooching, trying to stand, and laughing is making him tired and irritable? If only babies could talk to let you know what was wrong (or right for that matter).
Sometimes it feels like I'm doing everything wrong. I feel bad b/c Marcus spends way more time with him, so I feel he knows him better. I have the need to spend as much time with him when I'm not working, even when I can't handle it any further, and I just want to pass him off to Marcus. Then I feel bad that I'm passing him off b/c he's with him ALL THE TIME. I'm sure he's tired and needs a break.
IT'S SO HARD!!! I don't know how people can have 2 or 3 or 10. I don't think I can do it again. Before you say, "Oh, no. You need another." Think about what it was like for you to raise more than 1 child. Then, think, oh yeah, Jhoanna and Marcus are raising this child, not me. We will decide when we're ready and if we'll ever be ready for another. Of course we've been thinking of having another (not any time soon), but it's been a tough week.

Wasn't my 30 day transformation great? Well, the next one will be more than 30 days later. Last Friday I sprained my ankle. I know what my family will say, "Of course, you always get hurt." Well, the last time something happened to me was 10 yrs ago, so shush. My ankle is already feeling better, probably around 75%. I had a follow-up appt today and the doc said to push as much as I can, but not to the point where it hurts. As long as the pain continues to decrease I'm golden. He also said that driving my car is a good benchmark since it's standard.