Having time off

I am absolutely loving that we have a full week off now for Thanksgiving! It allows me to catch up on time with Brody and see how much he has developed. There is something about going from seeing him a few hours a day to having him all day for an extended period of time. It helps me to see all the things I miss during the day. There are times I wish I could be a stay at home mom, but the more I think about it I am sort of glad I am not. One because being in the house all day I would go crazy since I couldn't afford to go out; but also, working helps me to appreciate all his developments. I am much more appreciative of the time I have with him than when I was home with him all day. 


This week I have seen so many wonderful developments. He is much more "talkative" and active in the morning. He is fascinated by all the things around us. He is in love with anything electronic apparently. He loves my cell phone and the remote and will army crawl across the room to get to them! I don't know what it is about our fireplace either, but he cannot keep away from it. He just wants to hit the slab all the time! I wish he would sit up more and start pulling up, but he seems perfectly content just rolling and army crawling everywhere! He will sit, but he definitely prefers to be on his tummy or back. I feel as though he is slightly delayed due to having his helmet to fix his torticollis, but such is life. 


Although I notice many wonderful developments over my week with him, I have of course developed some concerns as well...perhaps some other moms could tell me if this is normal. 


1. He fights me every time he goes in his high chair to eat. He stiffens up like board and pitches a fit. I am not sure why he hates that chair...it is where he EATS! Isn't that supposed to be the best part of the day (next to sleep and play)?


2. He will not eat solid food. He loves his baby food, but I have been trying to give him puffs, yogurt melts, and veggies/fruit cut into itty-bitty pieces and he does not like it at all. Yesterday, I put cut up bananas (again teeny tiny pieces) into his rice cereal and he absolutely hated it. He even threw up his food. Shouldn't he be interested in solids by now? He loves to watch us eat and grabs for our food, but won't eat it when it is in front of him. I put it on his tray and it is literally the only thing he will not put in his mouth.


3. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE that Brody is such a great sleeper, but is it normal for him to sleep 12 hours at night plus take two 2 hour naps in a day? It just seems like a long time for a baby his age (8 months) to sleep. For the most part, he is sleeping through the night. He occasionally wakes up, but it just seems like a long time. 


I am assuming all of these things are normal, but I am and always will be a worry wort. I am just glad this week I have been able to keep his naps on schedule (which is a miracle because he rarely naps for us). Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I cannot wait to see his reaction to all the chaos. :)