On the very first day of 2014, my baby boy turned 8 months old.
How, oh how, is this even possible?!
The month of December flew right by.
You, sir, are a BUSY BOY. In fact, no sooner did we snap your 8 month picture, you turned around grabbed the side of the chair, fell forward and cracked your eye on the corner of the nightstand by the rocker. Daddy and I were both *right there* and you were just too quick. You are constantly on the move or calculating your escape :-) It's like you scan a room thinking, "Hmmmm, what can I get into?!"
December was a really fun month, because Mommy was off work for a few snow days, as well as a nice long winter break. We got to spend a lot more time together than usual, and it was GLORIOUS!
So... let's go over the basics, shall we?
You weigh around 20lbs. Grandma weighed you around Christmas time and said you were right around 19-20 pounds. You're so wiggly, it's hard to get an accurate reading. You're a growing boy though, that's for sure. You are so. darn. LONG. 12 month sleepers are the norm, and 12 month clothes are starting to fit way better than 9 month clothes. You wear a size 3 diaper, and I think you'll probably be in this size for a while yet because they still seem to be fitting you really well. You have the occasional blow out, but other than those few up-the-back squishy poopy jobs, a size 3 diaper seems to work great.
You have been a slobbery, drooling baby this month... on the verge of cutting some teeth. You did *finally* cut some teeth, but this happened too recently to include in the 8 month update - I'll share more about it next month :-) Some of your teething symptoms have included increased night time waking, slobber EVERYWHERE, chewing on anything/anyone you can get your little mouth on, attempting to shove your fist in your mouth, rashes around your mouth from all the slobber, increased number of poopy diapers (some verrrrry runny), and *wahhhhh* your first diaper rash from all those dirty diapers. ;-( You haven't really been fussy... you're still your jolly ol' self, just waking up unhappy a few times in the night.
You are down to nursing about once every two-three days, and those moments are usually times when you're trying to fall back to sleep in the middle of the night, or you bumped your head and are seeking comfort. The rest of the time, you're taking 4-6 formula ounces at a time. You love to grab your feet when you take your bottle. :-) You thoroughly enjoy your oatmeal and fruit, as well as sweet potatoes. You're not crazy about green beans or peas... but I'm not giving up on those veggies ;-) Santa left you some Puffs and Yogurt Melts in your stocking to try, but every time I try to give you one, you gag and gag. I don't think you care for the texture, and they're definitely different from what you're used to. Again, we will keep trying.
In terms of sleep, you go down anywhere from 8pm-9pm. In the past month, you have been up several times in the night - sometimes three or four different times, crying from the pain of teething. You begin your day around 7am. You usually take a good 1-2 hour nap in the morning, and another 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon.
You have been on-the-go with crawling for a while now, and you've decided that getting around on all fours is for the birds. Now, you're not satisfied unless you're pulling yourself up on your crib or on furniture. You've become a pro at pulling yourself into a standing position. Problem is, you're not so great at getting back DOWN yet. Which, unfortunately, has resulted in a few bumps and bruises. ;-( You're learning how to lower yourself down better now, but it's taken a lot of trial and error on your part to figure it out.
You are at a stage where you're really enjoying playing with toys! Our living room usually looks like a toy store exploded in it by the time you go to bed. We get out your bigger toys for you, and you also have a basket of smaller hand-held toys. You sit up on your knees and reach into the basket to get toys out on your own. Sometimes you just up-dump the entire basket on the floor, and of course then try to climb on top of the basket. You. Are. All. Boy.
It's funny, because you have found that you can use your mouth for "carrying" things with you as you travel from toy to toy. Cracks me up, every time.
You love to play with your Daddy. You wrestle with him, he gets a little rough with you...and you LOVE it. Again... ALL BOY! Daddy has been helping more with bedtime routine, and he ends up giving you your final bottle most nights. While taking that last bottle, you usually fall asleep and Daddy takes his time putting you to bed ;-)
This was also a special month because we celebrated our first Christmas as a family of 3! You made this Christmas so, so special. I can't wait for all of the Christmases to come.
And of course, we had a few lil' photo shoots along the way of the Christmas holiday ;-)
Love you so much, Jesse. 8 months have flown right by... I know we'll blink and you'll be celebrating your 8th birthday. Trying to treasure every moment with you. You're growing up so fast and we love the busy, happy, cuddly, smart, funny, goofy little boy you are. :-)
