8 Months Old

My sweet baby Ben,

Today you are 8 months old.  And I swear I do not know how that's even possible.

This last month has been quite the adventure for you.  

You mastered several skills:

-Going from army crawling to on-all-fours crawling

-Learning how to get yourself into a sitting position

-Pulling yourself up to stand

-Letting go while standing to reach out for someone or something else

-And now you've figured out how to start cruising the furniture

This morning I could hardly keep you out of trouble.  You are starting to follow your big brother everywhere he goes.  And you're getting into everything you can get your hands on. Today this amounted to being under the jumperoo and repeatedly pulling the Carbon Monoxide detector out of the wall.  You fall constantly--you're a little too brave sometimes.  

You currently have only been eating solids once a day, but this month we're going to bump that up to twice a day.  You nurse about every 2 hours during the day, usually before and after every nap, bedtime, wakeup, etc.  Bedtime is between 7-8pm, and you take 2-3 naps every day depending on how they fall.  You don't like to be awake for more than 2 hours at a time, and really only 1.5 hours first thing in the morning.  You fall asleep very well on your own. You're trying to start sleeping through the night--now giving mommy at least one 6 hour stretch (sometimes even more). 

You have been sick the last week, and you DESPISE having your nose wiped more than anything on the planet (except for maybe the booger sucker). You're also drooling all of a sudden like nobody's business and constantly chewing on your thumb (you've even bitten it a couple times and sobbed hysterically).  So, I'm wondering if a couple more teeth are about to pop through.  Compared to the first two, though, you seem much more dramatic about whatever is on its way next.

You say ma, ba, eh, ah, and I'm starting to hear a few other consonant sounds occasionally. You cry fairly easily over pretty much any little offense these days...I'm really hoping this is just a phase or related to teething.  You usually only want mommy and proceed to cry as soon as you see me walk in the door from work until I pick you up.

You wear 6-9 months clothes, weight-wise you have plenty of room, but they are starting to get a little snug on your torso (but definitely not your short little legs). You are still in size 3 diapers. 

Stats according to Mommy:

-Weight: 17lbs 9.5oz

-Length: 28 inches

-Head:  17 inches

 (Not a big gaining month for us on any front, but that's what happens when you're too busy to eat AND you get super active)