Here we are at 8 months and I love my big baby boy more and more every day! We have so much fun with him and it’s incredible to see his personality emerging as he grows up and he has become a hunk of curiosity and wonderment. Watching him learn and express himself gives me so much joy! This month can be characterized by lots of playtime and wrestling, afternoon walks enjoying the springtime weather (that finally arrived), trying new foods, making so many new noises, developing a great sense of humor (how can he not with a daddy like Steven? :D), and many other wonderful things I wish I had written down so I’d never forget them.
Growth
We recently created a profile for Miles on Wii Fit Plus. I’m trying to weigh in once a week and it’s been more like once a month, but I thought I would try to make one for Miles just as an experiment. Turns out they have a “Baby Stats” option that I didn’t even know about! And when it determined that he was so young it said “Miles, it looks like you’re zero years old…” and proceeded to POOF! … and his Mii turned into a baby. It was freaking adorable. Anyway… I’ve only weighed him once, just a couple days after his official 8 months mark and he was 23 pounds. Chunker.
Development
Strength & Mobility
I can’t say enough how much I adore this phase. He is working so hard to crawl! I keep thinking he’s only days away. I thought that when he was starting to lift his booty in the air like a little triangle, then I thought that when he started doing the “pushup” stance (I can’t even do pushups! Lol) and I thought that when he started to actually end up on his hand and knees. He is now in the “hands and knees, rocking back and forth” stage and I’m really expecting my baby to be crawling soon. I would say definitely by 9 months. He’s pretty mobile already, though. If he spots something he wants on the other side of the room, he will roll, roll, roll and stretch to get it. The other night Steven and I glanced down to see he had mananaged to make his way to the other end of the room under our dining room table and Steven’s sweatshirt had fallen off one of the chairs and was draped over it. We cracked up and he cracked up, too. If only he knew we were laughing at him. In in a good way. He also loves to squirm and wriggle. It’s nearly impossible to put his diaper on these days without it ending up crooked.
Hand/Eye Coordination
He’s not quite to the “pincer” picker-upper point yet, but he can strike his hand out like a snake and grab things pretty quickly. The other night we were at Red Robin and the waitress set down a small cup of ranch we’d requested. I’m usually pretty good at intercepting it (you’d think some of the waiters and waitresses in the world would have had experiences with grabby babies, but every single one we’ve encountered lately are just like “here’s a steaming hot plate piled high with food and sauces” and just set it RIGHT in front of him). Anyway… he got a quick handle on that ranch and it was ALL over him and the table within seconds. He’s also getting pretty good at turning book pages. He’s getting a little better at controlling his strength when he grabs faces. It depends on how excited he is. Haha.
Food
Miles it eating at least one meal at dinnertime with myself and Steven and usually a brunch/lunch with me. It is so fun to introduce new foods! I feel like I’ve been extra cautious. I suppose it’s partly a typical new-mom thing, but I’m scared to death of him choking or all of a sudden having his throat swell up so he can’t breathe because he has a rare allergy to some random veggie. Like beets. Ewww… I’m pretty sure I’m allergic to beets. My taste buds are anyway. But I must be a non-biased mom and give him the opportunity to hate beets on his own. Well he seems to have handled everything just fine and I am just now starting to try blends and I’ll probably relax a bit on the “introducing foods” first thing. At least by 9 months I plan to just give him foods without the 3-4 day wait period between them. We’re also just now starting to try chunkier foods. His favorite is still pears so he gets those the most. Some new foods we’ve tried this month:
- Beets – He seemed okay with them but I could barely handle the smell so after one beet’s worth of mush I didn’t feed him any more.
- Baby Guacamole – From my baby cookbook. Basically just avocado and cucumber and cumin. I’m not sure he was really a fan of that, but he ate a few bites and smeared the rest all over his high-chair.
- Dark Sweet Cherries – this was a pain to make and he only kind of liked them and they’re expensive. So we’ll wait until he can appreciate them more.
- Peas – He liked them. So I am a non-biased mom. Pees = yuck to me.
- Carrots – he seemed to really like them.
- Apricots – Nope. Lol. I don’t really blame him.
- I know there were some others but my brain is being dumb.
Sleep
Just no… LOL
Social
He has turned into a major flirt and the stranger danger is waning. Unless he’s in a bad mood or taken by surprise, he can usually handle a pass-off to a friend or family member.
Memories
I wish I remembered them more specifically. Our daily walks are stand-outs from our weekly routine and watching Miles move around more and find specific interest in things makes me fuzzy.
Other Photos
