I hope these teeth are through soon... 8 months, 3 days

While I'm not looking forward to the fun of sharp little teeth on my breasts, I'd gladly take the pain if it would take his pains away.. My poor little guy has been unusually cranky and having trouble sleeping and napping. For him, "unusually cranky" means there are still smiles and fun, but with random bursts of crankiness, and LOTS of crawling to Mama and clinging to my legs... Since he hasn't napped, and somehow just fell asleep on me, I'm letting him nap, and I'm typing one-handed.

I haven't written in a while, so I'm just going to write about all of Cole's new accomplishments! I can't believe how quickly he's growing up! He's incredibly mobile now - at first when he started moving more I was able to just build a "wall" of laundry baskets and his car seat across the 5' doorway from our living room to our entryway, and that kept him in until the huge gate we ordered came in and was put up. It's strange how hard it is to find a truly sturdy gate that can span that width.. We ended up buying the Summer Infant Sure & Secure 6 Foot Metal Expansion Gate, and since it's metal (and since I have an amazing handy husband!), he's cutting and welding a kitty door in one of the pieces! For the kitchen to entryway and for the top of the stairs we bought the Summer Infant Sure & Secure Extra Tall Walk Thru Gate, which is similar except it closes automatically and isn't up to 6 feet wide. I just can't think of putting one of the gates that stay up with just pressure and not bolts into the wall. Cole's only 8 months old and about 18 pounds, and he's already pulling himself up on anything - the couch, coffee table, his Exersaucer, even a laundry basket! He often stops while he's crawling to push himself into the downward facing dog.. I think he's trying to stand, but who knows, maybe he's trying to reach some inner peace! We still don't have any words, but he has plenty of encouragement!

Around 6 months we started giving Cole more solids and cutting back on all of his purees. We're not doing Baby Led Solids exactly, because I'll still "assist" him sometimes, and I'll still feed him the occasional puree. We're doing our own thing now. Cole loves pastas - mac & cheese (mmm Annies!), ronis with sauce, pesto, even pasta salads! He'll hold onto his own asparagus stalk and gnosh it, and LOVES chicken. He'll take a grilled chicken finger in his fist and just gum it.. Terrifies his Nonna and Gram until they see that he's fine with it! He's eaten everything we've given him - fish, veggies and fruits if they're cooked or soft, even corned beef on St Patrick's Day! He loves his half waffle in the mornings, with some fruit and oatmeal on top! Even though these say they're for toddlers, he LOVES them! Plum Organics Fiddlesticks are hard, but one day I gave him one to see if he could eat it (I sat and watched him).. And he did! he held it just like he does with asparagus and gnoshed on it, and I think he really likes the hardness of it on his gums! He can gum a whole stick, which can be messy, but it makes him so happy! I much prefer to give him Plum Baby Puffs or Fiddlesticks over the Gerber snacks that just seem so salty.. He also loves animal crackers, or any cracker (great at parties!), breads, pretty much anything!

Things I'm looking forward to right now: ARUBA in August, hearing his first words and watching him start to walk! We're thinking about tethering him and starting skiing next year!

Things I'm not looking forward to: even though there are no signs of stopping, I keep thinking that he's getting older and eating more solids, and one day he won't nurse anymore :( I love that bond, even when it's tough and he wants to climb and twist while nursing, I know I'll miss it when he's done.

ECing is great! 7 months, 1 week, 5 days

Cole's had his little potty for about a month and a half now, and I've got to say, while he really seems to like being able to go on the potty instead of in his dipe, I LOVE it! OK, it's an extra step. Instead of remove dipe, spray and wipe, put new dipe on, we take dipe off, sit on potty, wipe (if needed), put new dipe on, or same dipe if it's still dry!

And the spray and wipe part is SO much easier. Yes you have to dump and wipe out the potty - but it doesn't wiggle nearly as much as a baby! Cleaning up after poop is especially easier - it doesn't get all over baby's bum!

Yes, there are misses, but more often the dipe is dry or just barely damp, which is pretty awesome. When we first started, Cole started waking more often at night, and I quickly realized that he woke because he needed to pee! Once we figured that out, I decided to start pottying at night, too, and now he goes most nights completely dry. At first he was waking ever 2 hours or so (OUCH!), but now he's back to sleeping well - he sleeps from about 8-3, and wakes up to pee and eat, goes back to sleep until about 6:30, pees, and we're up for the day! Since he hasn't gone 7 hours straight since he was about 3 months old, this is pretty awesome for us :) I'm already looking for tiny undies, which are really hard to find in the US unfortunately. I may just make my own, with a little extra absorbency just in case.. :)

In case you've gotten this far and you're still wondering WTF is "ECing?!" - elimination communication. Basically, just like you know the cries when he's hungry, or tired, you listen and pay attention to the cries that tell you he needs to pee, too. It's best to use cloth diapers so that baby can feel when he's wet so he doesn't lose that recognition (and since you have dry dipes, you can put a dipe back on instead of trashing a dry disposable!).. Babies don't want to pee or poop in their diapers naturally, they actually are born wanting to stay dry and clean. By putting diapers on them and only changing them once they've wet or dirtied themselves, we teach them that the place they should go is in the diaper. So instead of "diaper-training", we're teaching Cole that he can go in the potty. By doing this now, we won't have to actually "potty-train". Ever. Now I listen, and undress him, and hold him on the potty, but when he gets bigger he'll be able to do this, and he won't be resistant to the potty, as many "diaper-trained" babies are!