Look what I can do!

I'm going to go ahead and pull the "sleep deprived" card as an excuse for any cliches and/or grammatical errors in the following posts. It's probably the one thing I enjoy about being sleep deprived--being able to use it as an excuse for innumerable foibles.

Why am I sleep-deprived? Matthias is certainly past that newborn stage. Could you tell him that? Could you also reassure him that he doesn't need to eat every 2-3 hours at night? That Mommy is still there, even if he can't see her?

Honestly, anyone who knows me has probably heard me complain ad nauseum about Matthias' failing sleep habits. I've gotten every bit of advice, from feeding cereal before bed, letting him cry, letting him sleep with us, to "suck it up and deal with it." So before you offer advice, I've probably already heard it! Unless, of course, I ask you for advice!

I've read the Baby Whisperer, the Sleep Lady, Weissbluth and Pantley along with numerous blogs and discussion forums. The only constants I have found are....
-I'm not the only parent with a sleepless 8-9 month old child.
-Babies often lose sleep around important developmental milestones.
-Babies Matthias' age are learning about object permanence, which can trigger some separation anxiety (i.e., "I know Mommy still exists even when I can't see her...but where is she? Is she coming back??)
-Babies need a schedule. This includes good naps at regular times.

So we are doing somewhat of a "schedule boot camp" around here, which means Matthias is getting more of a routine, and I am having more at home time. Neither of which is totally bad.

WOW. That was a huge tangent. I'm going to pluck the "developmental milestone" from the above gobbledegook and go from there. Matthias has been making several of these. He can now pull himself up in his crib, as well as anywhere else, to a standing position. He can also walk around the couch, holding on. He loves to push his choo-choo train with Mom's help. But most importantly....

Crane your neck to the left!

"Whoops! He got my coffee mug!" said Jon one evening.

Gotta help Mommy with laundry!

....and housework!

I love my bath!!

...and the humidifier. That is a fun toy!

Oh, and the camera! I think that would be a very fun toy, if Mommy would let me touch it!

Welllll...I guess these are fun toys, too....

If I don't have a huge grin, I've got to have at least a little one!

Oh, for the most important and exciting thing, you'll have to read my next post which will have a video. Spoiler alert: the title of this post is kind of self explanatory.