the littlest carscadden: 8 Months: Making Waves

As a child, I had barbies. I guess most girls did. And like most girls, I assume, I gave my barbie a haircut. Even as a seven year old, I immediately regretted it. Poor barbie rocked the skrillex haircut 20 years before it was in fashion. This week, I thought Miles' hair was getting a little long in front and around his ears. Of course, I gave him a haircut. And of course, I immediately regretted it. At least Miles' hair will grow back; Barbie is stuck with her look in perpetuity.

Before

After

I'm sure the rate of development slows at some point but right now Miles is still rapidly changing. It happens right before our eyes and it's one of my favorite things about having a kid. One minute he is stuck on his back. Then he's rolling over, sitting up, crawling, pulling up. Currently, he's actively trying to stand. He pulls up, plants his feet and lets go. Over and over and over again. His longest free stand was about 10 seconds but while it was happening it felt like forever. It's especially funny when he's either really excited about a toy or crying really hard while standing and then realizes he's not holding onto anything. He looks shocked and then falls to his butt immediately.

An unfortunate side effect of his rapid development is the sleep disturbances that come with it. Miles is so excited about standing that he would like to forgo sleep to practice his new talent. I had read this was a thing that happened with skill acquisition but I was wholly unprepared for what it looked like in real life. What it ended up looking like was Miles waking every hour last night from 8pm to 1am and then staying awake until 3am, squealing and standing in his crib. He finally succumbed to sleep at 3am, in my arms, on the floor of his bedroom. I had made a makeshift bed and plugged my ears, waiting for his energy to burn off. Around 6am, we moved back to our bed. We were a very tired family when we got up at 8am.

Luckily, we still love him, despite our sleep deprivation, in large part because he's so cute. He learned how to wave hello this week and it just warms my heart each time it happens. I come home from work and the first thing he does is wave hello. Really, at that moment, if you cut me open, my organs would be replaced with some sort of squishy delicious liquid from all the love I feel for this little boy.

And it's a good thing I love him so much because this kid totally threw up on me during swim class today. He swallowed too much water and the next thing I know I'm covered in vomit. Only a mother (or father) could love someone who throws up on them. Imagine getting thrown up on by the drunk homeless guy by the train station. Or even your college room mate. You would never think, "Aw poor guy. He must feel awful. He probably needs a hug."

Here's our sleepy, skilled, sweet, and sometimes sick, little man this week: