8 Months

8 MONTHS

Here we are with an 8 month old! This is what he is up to lately. 

• He is still super smiley, makes friends with everyone, loves being in public and going on walks. Just recently he's been a bit whining but I think that is just coming with him being more expressive. This could also be he is starting to show some separation anxiety and prefers Mommy to be holding him (yes, my back is getting sore!).
• He has EIGHT teeth people! Yep, eight, and yes, I'm still nursing, and yes, that has not been fun sometimes, but in the head his super cheesy toothy grin makes us laugh!
• He pinches now, Mom, Dad, visitors, his nanny have all left with bruises on the inner arm from time to time. He bites and my finger as I type has a big blister/mark on it from him biting it last night when I was trying to get some food out of his mouth. He also blows raspberries on your arms or legs sometimes and it is hysterical!
• He can make his away around on his own! It is more of an army crawl than a real crawl, but we are sure that is coming. We had to baby proof and have a few more things to do when he is a bit quicker/more mobile.
• So we've hit a sleep regression friends, and boy have we hit it. They say it can hit anywhere around 8, 9, or 10 months and it happens because of large developmental periods. He is getting up 2 or 3 times every night and has been for the last two weeks. Before that he would sleep through until 5-6 a.m. more than 75% of the time. This can this usually lasts 2-6 weeks ("they" say), so let's hope he can stay asleep soon. We will be working on some sleep training now because of this. Wish us luck people (and also wisdom as we don't know what we are doing!). 
• I've stopped the dream feed at 9:30 p.m. because he was soaking through his diapers so many nights. He can go 10-11 hours without eating, now we just need him to sleep through that whole time. He's got two sleep parents - I had no idea we'd be dealing with this 8 months out.
• I've added dairy back in, some cheeses, etc., and he finally seems okay with that. I am being careful however since I have some lactose intolerance, so I can't go overboard and still can only take the processed dairy. 
• Gavin's about 19 lbs, clothing size ranges from all sizes, he has some brands he can fit in 3 month still and some are 9 months. Of course his cloth diaper bum makes some things a bit snug. 
• We are making his baby food and he is enjoying lots of fruits and veggies, plus we started him on meat this month. Gavin meet chicken, chicken meet Gavin. So far so good since we mix it with a veggie or apples. To help us with our ventures, all three of us got a Christmas present early - we got a Vitamix! It is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! We are able to make all the baby food including the meat now, and it makes smoothies, soup, salsa, hummus, on and on and on. We've used it every day since we've had it this week. :)

Blowing raspberries, see his album for the video.

Daily we are grateful for his continued health and tell each other how much we love him and how awesome we think he is ;) He has added more to our lives than we could have known and love hanging with the little man. 

It's fall - looking at me like, "I can really have this?"

Next up on our whirlwind end of 2013 ... Grandma Underwood is coming to visit soon! Then Stefan has yet another work trip to both Japan and San Diego in the same trip. While he's gone in November I'll be heading to Tulsa for my cousin's wedding then going back to MI for the rest of the month. Stefan will join us there the week of Thanksgiving. Hopefully he won't have another work trip in early December, but he might. I'll head home to get some down time before we make our way to the great white North (Calgary) for Christmas. Yes, being able to take my computer to work from home during some of these trips is another big plus! 

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian family and friends!

Gavin grows album>>

Gavin's album>>