.baby lane at 8 months.

Dear Baby Lane-

Wow! I can't believe you are 8 months old already!! It seems like you have been a part of our family forever and I cannot imagine life without you. Your sweet spirit and laid back personality add such a fun dynamic to our house.

God definitely knew I needed a laid back and easy child after all we have been through with your brother.You have been such an angel to me and just go with the flow no matter what! You get dragged to all of your brothers therapy sessions, grocery shopping, errands, running with me in the stroller, and everywhere in between.

Your sleeping has been less than stellar but you are really only waking up once a night to eat now and I kind of like that time alone with you. It's just you and me in the middle of the night, in the quiet house and you nurse quietly for a few minutes and then fall back asleep. Although I am looking forward to you sleeping through the night, I know this time won't last forever, so I am choosing to look at this positively.

I am trying to savor each and every milestone and moment with you as you will most likely be our last biological child. Each size clothes you grow out of and each new thing you achieve must be both mourned and savored and I try to hang on to each of these things and remember them forever.

You are my serious little baby and you make us work hard to crack a smile. I think it goes with your laid back personality that not much impresses you and you just kind of like to take it all in.

Your older brother loves you a whole lot. Sometimes too much! He always wants to be close to you and touching you or trying to get you to play with him. We try and teach him to be gently and "softy" with you, but most of the time he ends up being a little too aggressive and I spent most of my day trying to protect you from him :)

It is so sweet to see your relationship develop. The way you look at each other and as you are getting older and more interactive I cannot wait to see you two become best buds. Having you two close in age is sometimes difficult for mama but is so worth it. You guys are going to have a lifetime of memories to share and I love that already.

As easy of a baby as you have been, you have also given me my fair share of things to worry about. Because of your brother having Joubert Syndrome and being delayed in his milestones, I have been hypersensitive to you meeting your milestones and am always watching you like a hawk to make sure you are developing on time and correctly.

You've decided to take your sweet time with meeting your milestones and have even been at the tail end of the "normal" spectrum when it comes to sitting, crawling, standing, etc. But we are working on it and you are getting there. Maybe not as fast as I would like, but you are making progress and getting stronger.

I still worry about you, and although there isn't much to worry about, there have been a few things to cause concern and it makes me worried. I think God is just trying to get me to fully rely on Him through this whole parenting thing, because he likes to bring me to that place of desperation. I have to remind myself to enjoy watching you grow up instead of worrying about your next milestone and if you are falling behind. I know that God created you perfect, just like he created your brother perfect and we love you guys no matter what!

I love that I get to stay home with you and your brother everyday and spend our days experiencing things together and creating memories. And although there are days that being a stay at home mom makes me a little crazy, I wouldn't trade it for the world and am so grateful for this opportunity.

I am excited for the fall when your big brother starts preschool because we will get some one on one time. Although it is going to be very sad for me to send Parker off to school, I can't wait to have a few hours a day with just the two of us. Just some mommy and Lane time.

You are our miracle baby and we are so lucky to have you. So thank you for being such a blessing these last 8 months and I am so thankful to be your mommy. I can't wait for all that lies ahead.

Happy 8 Month birthday sweet boy!!