8 Months Old!

Another month has gone by already. Maybe it is because our life has been so incredibly busy lately, but I swear I was just writing his 7 month post. This past month has seen many milestones and, while I have cherished each stage thus far, I love watching Luke discover his world and get so excited when he learns he can do something new in it.

Here are our updates:

• Weight ~21 lbs (again an estimate, we'll get formal stats next month)
• Wears some large 6-9 month sizes, but mostly 9 month and even some small 12 month sizes
• Loves his food and eats pretty much everything. Enjoys all the new food combinations. Has a bit of an orange nose because he loves the orange veggies and fruits so much. Have not yet started meats and only just started on puffs; will incorporate much more over the next month. Also just started introducing lunch.
• Can hold his own bottle, but doesn't do so all the time
• SO curious about everything. Wants to touch, grab, feel anything new. The best toys are not really toys.
• Among the toys he does love: his jumperoo and doorway jumper (the kid gets air when jumping!), his curiosity cube (a cube with all sorts of fun sides) and his Leapfrog table (this one is fairly recent, he can push/pull and the buttons and things and he loves the music and noise).
• Raises arms to be picked up by certain people (mostly mom and dad).
• He is impossibly wiggly and changing a diaper is still the ultimate challenge because of his need to roll all over.
• Babbles more and more with actual sounds and syllables.
• VERY close to crawling! He gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. He can scoot himself backwards and turn himself in circles, but has a little trouble with the shifting of weight from one arm to another to move forward. If you grab under his arms when he is on all fours, he will put his feet under him and actually walk them in to you. However, we need him to crawl first for all those developmental reasons and use of opposites, so I give him lessons each night. :)
• While he is not a cuddler, if you are sitting on the floor near him, he will be quick to scoot himself over and crawl into your lap to play. So cute.
• He is actually pulling himself up! It started with his leapfrog table. He gets his feet under him and pulls on up! Such a big boy!

Here are few updated pictures from the last month:

On his tummy right after a bath because he won't stay on his back. So much more fun to roll all over. Mommy and Daddy just have to be extra diligent not to let him roll right off the counter!

We moved his little tub to the big tub because the counters became just too unsafe for our roly poly. As you can see, he doesn't like to stay seated in his bathtub either.

This is how he sleeps. It's precious. He likes his head right up against his bumper and sleeps on his tummy with his little arms tucked underneath and his booty in the air.

Look at my big boy!

Such a character. Probably trying to grab the camera to eat it.

And notice the orange nose.

His shirt says "Chubby Cheeks". It is so appropriate because he has my big cheeks when he smiles. And because he has chub pretty much everywhere else.

It's hard to tell, but he is standing in this pic after pulling himself up. I keep his boppy close by in case he takes a tumble. Unfortunately the boppy has not caught every tumble so far...I am sure this is only the beginning of all that. Having a boy makes me so nervous!

This picture is precious to me for 2 reasons: 1) my little boy is doing the plank and just on the verge of crawling and 2) it is taken at Gram and Grandpa's house where I have baby pictures on the very same wonderful, gold, wool carpet. I cherish this one!

Another milestone -- feeding himself using his pincer grasp! (And notice the left hand...can we accept a lefty in our house??)

While I can't wait for our little guy to crawl, I know it will be a mixed blessing with such an active one on the go! We have the baby gates ready to put in place, I am sure they will be up soon! Until next month!