An 8-month-old Mudgie

Well, ok, he was actually 8 months old last week, but I couldn't come up with a snappy title, so just go with it. "Project Crib" continues to go well. Every night he goes down in his crib without any resistance. The resistance comes when he wakes up (sometimes 1 hour later, sometimes 3 or 4 hours later) and we try to get him back into the crib. I'll nurse him, change him if necessary, but after that first round of sleep, he does not want to go back in the crib. I'm actually not sure how to fix this one. I've even tried leaving the room and letting him cry for a few minutes, but it just breaks my heart, and then we're both crying and I feel like a terrible mother.

Mudgie has found a new favorite toy...a balloon. It was a birthday gift for me, but Mudgie thinks its the greatest thing ever. I think he's amazed by the fact that when he lets go of all his other toys, they fall down, but when he lets go of the balloon, it goes up...amazing! Another new game we play is "chase the baby." Either Dave or I will hold Mudgie and run around the house saying "No no no." The other one will chase after Mudgie saying "I'm gonna get you!" Then at some point we'll go in opposite directions so we run into each other in a doorway. Mudgie just laughs and laughs at this game, and Daddy and I get our exercise!

Eli continues to eat like a champ, and he loves feeding himself his "Mum Mums". These are the rice crackers I mentioned last week. These things are great...by giving Mudgie these when our dinner is ready, Dave and I both get to eat warm meals. It's great!

Finally, Mudgie had his first non-family babysitter. Jennifer, the 13-year-old daughter of a coworker, came over for a few hours today. Since this was new to all of us, she and Mudgie played inside while Dave and I did some yardwork outside for a couple hours. Let me tell you, it was a quick 2 hours, but Mudgie behaved pretty well, and she didn't run out screaming, so I think it was a success. Maybe Dave and I can go on a date sometime. Until next week...