Eight Months: Happy Birthday, Henry!
This month as been all about crawling. You army crawled from 5-7 months, and from 7-8 months you figured out it was faster to get up on all fours. You go especially fast when you’re headed toward something you aren’t supposed to reach, like the toilet or Hoss’s bowls. You’ve also figured out how to pull open doors, so you love letting yourself out of your room when you wake up.
You’re still pulling up on everything. Luckily, you’ve figured out how to get down really easily (although you still bonk your head occasionally). You move from crawling to sitting and back to crawling really easily. You just started pivoting from one piece of furniture to another (like turning from the couch to the coffee table). I love when you pull up on the sill and look out the front window. You love to climb in the refrigerator. You even reached in the drawer and pulled out a carrot for yourself.
Speaking of eating, you are obsessed with everything. Today we ate vegetarian chili together for lunch. You always want more, more, more.
We have more and more fun together with each passing month. You play with me by crawling toward me with an open mouth and collapsing on my face. We laugh and laugh.
Halloween is right around the corner. You have a lovely knitted Hoss hat, but you hate wearing it. Sigh. I hope to teach you how fun it is to leave the hat on and suck on the ears before Halloween gets here.
This month, your Montessori guide said that you were “such a Montessori baby.” She explained that you are confident, observant, and comfortable moving all around to get what you want. And the people at Whole Foods love you. You smile at everyone and anyone. You especially love when they have apple samples at the front entrance.
Oh, Henry Jones, we feel such immense gratitude for the fact that you have come to us safely and that you continue to thrive. We are doing our very best to be the kind of parents you deserve. We love you with our whole hearts.
Until next month…
4 Comments
Christin
You mentioned that Henry can open doors. A couple questions. What do you do with your door ways so that they are safe and he doesn't squish his fingers in them? Also, when he crawls out of his room in the morning – how have you prepared the rest of the house in such a way that you aren't worried about him crawling around (is he unsupervised when he first wakes up??) Where I live not many people have even heard of montessori- I wish I had a montessori guide!! I'm sure I have a LOT to learn about creating a montessori environment for our little guy (almost 6 months old)
saracotner
Hi, Christin! I should have clarified: Henry only opens the door and crawls out of his room when he's finished napping. I'm right down the hall (in our small bungalow) so I hear him right away. At night, we completely shut the door (so it latches) and he can't open it independently. If he wakes up happy in the morning and starts playing in his room, I watch him on the video monitor from my room. That way, I honor and cultivate his independence, while ensuring he's safe.
As for the door and fingers thing: I haven't had to deal with that yet. There's a little gap in our doors that's wide enough to not hurt Henry's fingers. I'm not sure what we'll do when he's opening cabinets. I've heard you can get spacer things that prevent the cabinets from being able to close all the way (and pinching fingers), but I'm not sure I could handle having all the cabinets a little open. It might make me crazy!
There are some Montessori books listed in the left-hand sidebar. Also, check out the "Montessori at Home" sponsor. She sells great binders with information.
Best of luck to you!
s.
Raquel.Somatra
It's amazing to see his progress and growth through his birthday updates. I also wanted to thank you for introducing me to the Montessori concept– before reading your blog, I had never even heard of it before. I'm excited; I plan on doing much research before we try to conceive (and I'll definitely start with your recommendations!)
kacey
Whoa- look at that red hair! He's looking like quite the little man. What a cutie.