Eight Months Old

Dear Monkey,

Eight months old. EIGHT. Somehow, in the last eight months, you’ve gone from a tiny glow worm who I was afraid to unswaddle (because I knew I’d never get you swaddled back as well as the hospital nurses) to a barreling ball of kinetic energy. You race through the days with a grin and a giggle and greet every moment with joy. Sometimes I wonder if you’re not teaching me more about how to live life than I’m teaching you!

It’s been a crazy month (which might explain why this letter is 3 days late!). For the first time, I will not be saying that this month flew by. It’s been a hectic and tough month, and it feels like it’s been a year since Easter! It’s been a month full of a few bouts with illness (for both of us!), a lot of teething, and not a lot of sleep. But it’s also been full of crazy developmental leaps and a LOT of fun.

I don’t even know where to start! First of all, you are cutting FIVE teeth right now. All at once! This brings you to a total of six teeth overall, and all cut in a month. You are mommy’s little trooper! You have two on the bottom, and four on the top. When you cut that first one, you spent two days doing nothing buy tonguing that tooth. Now, you sit around and grind your top teeth against the bottom, trying to figure out what all that is going on in your mouth. Daddy thinks it’s funny, but the noise puts a chill up my spine.

You are also now mobile. You’re finally conquering your hatred of being on your belly, and have worked out the cutest little scoot. You put your forehead to the floor, stick your butt up in the air, and push your face across the floor. You have permanent carpet burns on your forehead! You’re getting pretty fast, too. You can really hustle if you see Mommy or one of the kitties across the room! You’re working on a regular crawl, but just haven’t quite got the knees/hands movement down yet. I don’t have many pictures in this update, because you don’t like sitting still and posing much anymore.

You have developed such sensitive spirit. You definitely have your Mommy’s empathetic soul. You get sad when I’m sad and tense when you hear arguing (even if it’s just on TV). Strangers have started to make you nervous and loud noises upset you sometimes. But even with all that, you are still super social. You love to greet the world with a big smile – as long as you can see them all from the safety and comfort of your mama’s arms.

You are also getting a very independent spirit. You are 19 pounds of pure firecracker. When I’m holding your hands to help you stand, you tried to shove me away, the look on your face saying “MOM, I’VE GOT THIS”. Diaper changes have become quite a production. I have started changing you on our bed most of the time since you’re so wiggly. The second the old diaper is off, you flip over and start to crawl away as fast as you can, a maniacal grin from ear to ear. When I catch you and flip you over to put the new diaper on, you go bonkers and throw a fit. When I’m done, I feel like standing back and throwing my hands in the air, à la a rodeo cowboy. 

For someone who can’t talk yet, you’re pretty good at letting everyone know what’s on your mind. You have this loud goose honk that you make when you notice I’m not around, a shrill and ear piercing shriek that you get when you’re tired, a grunt when you’re hungry, and a million other vocalizations that make perfect sense to my mom’s ear.

I am SO glad that I’ve been able to stay home with you. I love getting to spend every day playing with you, and never having to miss a minute of your energy. It makes it so easy to make financial sacrifice to know that the effort is going towards keeping us side by side all day. I feel so blessed that I’ve gotten to witness nearly every single smile.

I wish I could give you words that would tell you how thoroughly I love you. I wish I could say something, write something, compose something that would whisper to you always the depth of my love. All I have are the simple words the God has given me, and I hope they serve their intention. You are my heart, little one. I revel in every second we share.

You are the brightest joy in an often dim world. If I could, I would make the world a better place – cleaner and safer and softer. I would protect you from every hurtful thing that lurks. But as you grow, I know I’ll be able to protect you less and less. Just as your sweet head has lost the powdery newborn scent, I will lose my ability to keep you safe and sound in my arms. But I promise you to always keep our home a haven, and to always provide a safe place when you need somewhere to rest.

My emotions are too great, and my words too jumbled. So I will just tell you this, little boy: your mommy loves you. She loves you as wide and as deep and as far as the imagination can stretch. And she loves seeing your personality emerge as you shed off the “vanilla-ness” of babyhood and develop a presence all your own. I can’t wait to see who you’re going to be.

To the moon… and back,

Mommy

Amber Teething Necklace Review

"Oh my God... you're a HIPPIE!"

"NO I'M NOT! I swear I just... well, crap."

Okay, so maybe I am a little bit of a hippie mom (and hippy. But I’m working on that). Which is bizarre, because that is one of the few "insults" that could never have been leveled at me before I had Larkin. The hippiest thing about me was… well, nothing. Give me stilettos and sparkles and pretty makeup and non-organic food and better living through pharmaceuticals (legal ones!).

And I still don’t consider myself hippie, per se. We chose cloth diapers because of the financial savings – I didn’t even learn of the health benefits until after we made the choice, and the environmental benefits were just very nice side benefits. Yes, I wear my baby in a wrap, but that started because he flat out refused to go in his stroller. I co-sleep, but that started out of desperation for a decent night’s rest (that DIDN’T occur sitting in a recliner with a baby on my chest).

Some of my changes are temporary and mom-induced. I’ve set aside my stilettos (can’t carry a baby around with 4 1/2” heels) and most of my jewelry (ever had your favorite earrings ripped from your ears by a tiny pair of hands?). Others are more permanent. The extensive research I’ve done has led me to better consider the quality of food we eat and the importance of using fewer toxins and chemicals around the house.

One change that was brought along forcibly during my pregnancy was a reconsideration of pharmaceuticals. When I found out I was pregnant, I of course discontinued the prescription medications I was taking. I spent a great deal of time with my doctor, discussing what over the counter remedies were safe, and all-natural replacements to help me. After Larkin was born, I was blessed to be able to remain off of all my medications (controlling the symptoms of my anxiety, migraines, and other ailments through mental meditation, prayer and diet changes – yay for gluten free!) so that I have been able to continue breastfeeding without concern.

Of course, when Larkin was born, I had a bottle of infant Tylenol on hand. We didn’t need to open it until he began teething, but I hesitated to use it. I know over the counter pain relievers are hard on baby’s bodies, and (since alternative remedies had been working so well for myself) I figured there was a safer way to treat his aches and pains. Once he cut his first tooth, and we dealt with the DRAMA (crying, fussiness, tummy pains and fever), I upped my search for a safe, natural remedy.

I kept hearing moms online swear by amber teething necklaces. But I took all their anecdotal evidence with a grain of salt. I just wasn’t buying how a necklace (that the baby didn’t even chew on!) could relieve teething pain. So I did a bunch of research. There is a compound called succinic acid that occurs naturally in Baltic amber. The theory proposed is that when worn against the skin and warmed to body temperature, the succinic acid in amber is released into the bloodstream and serves as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory.  

I am a born skeptic, so I continued my research until I finally found a small mention of the successful use of Baltic amber in a study of patents with arthritis in a medical journal. Another study showed that succinic acid has shown to reduce anxiety and stress induced temperatures in mice. Between all of the empirical recommendations and some scientific evidence, I decided it was worth a try.

I ordered a teething necklace from Inspired by Finn, the website I saw most recommended by parents online. They have a wonderful tip sheet that explains the best way to choose a necklace. The most important tip is that the lighter the amber, the higher level of succinic acid it contains (i.e. – the lighter the necklace, the higher the pain relieving properties). I was glad to read this, because I aesthetically prefer dark amber, but that wasn’t the point of the purchase.

When the necklace arrived (in very quick time after ordering it – just a few days), I was pleased upon inspection. It was cute as can be, without being overly girly (I chose a honey colored, unpolished necklace). He looked just like a little surfer dude! I also appreciated that the clasp was secure, and the strand was knotted between each individual stone to reduce any danger should the necklace happen to break.

"Hang ten, man!"
I would like to say that I wish I had a better photo, but now that Larkin is getting the hang of *crawling*, he's not a big fan of posing for pictures anymore.

So, I put the necklace on Larkin and decided I would form an opinion on how well it actually works the next time he started cutting teeth. I figured that at the very least, we had an adorable piece of baby jewelry. He wore it for a little less than a week, and I was ready for him to start teething again so I could see how it worked. I kept checking his bottom gum, waiting for that second middle tooth to poke its way through.

One day we were playing on the bed, and I was making him laugh. When he opened his mouth wide, I realized he had TWO new teeth up top! TWO TEETH, Y’ALL! I didn’t even NOTICE. No crying, no fever, no tummy issues. NOTHING. I almost fell over. At the moment, he is cutting four teeth. Once that fourth one stated making its way to the surface, the fussiness did increase a bit, but nothing too bad, and still no fever or tummy issues.

Can I say that again? FOUR TEETH AT ONCE – NO PROBLEMS.

Let me clarify - this is not a scientific study. It is purely empirical evidence on something that has worked for us that I recommend as being worth a try. And, like I said, at the very least, you have a very cute piece of baby jewelry that will last forever. I also definitely recommend buying from Inspired by Finn – their customer service is wonderful (they responded to my questions within the day) and they sell legitimate pure Baltic amber (other ambers do not contain succinic acid). I’ve heard of parents buying from other sellers receiving glass beads rather than amber. Plus, their prices are great and their attention to safety-related details is admirable.

They also sell necklaces in adult sizes, and I’m enough of a convert to be purchasing a necklace for myself to help with my back pain and headaches. I will let you know how it works for me!

***Disclosure*** Inspired by Finn did offer me a discount on Larkin’s necklace in exchange for this review. However, the discount was offered after I had already made up my mind to purchase one on my own at full price. I assure you that all of the words you read are truly my opinion on a great product that I highly recommend. 

Does my baby ever wear a shirt?