Eight months
Look who's 8 months old?
My heart almost bursts on a daily basis. This motherhood thing...it's awesome.
A little about Carter at this age:
Vocals | All the time. His usual is "da da," "ba ba," "gah," or "uh-ta" in a whisper. Or a loud shriek. Or a click of his tongue. All seem to make him so happy to be communicating and he loves it when we mimic him. If only we knew what they meant.
Teeth | Two! One came in shortly after he turned 7 months, and the other we noticed two weeks ago after returning home from a weekend away. It sure explains all the fussiness of late.
Preference | Mama. If I am in the room, he must be in my arms or on my lap or touching me of some sort. In many instances I can't even just sit next to him on the floor...he immediately crawls onto my lap and then reaches for a toy to play with. It's so very endearing, and melts my heart. But I won't lie there have been times where I wish he wouldn't have to be on-me-at-all-times, or that he wouldn't cry when I walked away.
Movement | Legit crawling! He has been army crawling for months now, but just a week ago used his arms and legs correctly for the first time for a legitimate crawl. It lasted 3 seconds before he army crawled again, but he finally figured out that coordination. That same evening, he discovered the fireplace screen (and scratched it endlessly), the corner where Jon's PS guitar and other electronics/cords are piled, a stack of photo albums, the speaker cords, and spent the rest of the time zig zagging between me, Jon, and his carseat carrier (a favorite toy, oddly enough). We asked Barb if she put a quarter in him that day, because it was just insane how suddenly mobile and curious and sort of spastic he was. Since then, he's been crawling more consistently on hands and knees and getting faster and faster and climbing on everything. Time to baby proof!
Eating | Meh. He's not consistently happy eating anything but milk, but he is having more good days than bad as far as it goes for learning how to eat food. He inhaled purees from my dad last week but had been refusing to eat them with me. He haaaaates baby oatmeal, and I can't blame him after taking a good whiff of it. I am trying more real foods than purees now, which seem to be more his preference. Plain macaroni noodles and banana are willingly eaten, along with Mum Mum crackers. He has tried an assortment of veggies at daycare with some degree of success. He's slowly getting the hang of it, and I'm trying to be zen about it. He doesn't need it nutritionally, so I know he'll get there when he's ready.
Sleep | A- While he's had a few rough patches lately, for the most part his sleeping has been amazing. He goes down for naps without nary a peep (and no bouncing/rocking/swinging production) at home and daycare, and he still rocks night sleep. He's been waking 1-2 times a night still, but I really don't mind. Once is ideal, but he seems to need an occasional second nursing session for comfort. I've learned that putting him down before he's too tired is key to a successful night. He often crawls around in his crib and talks to himself as he settles in to sleep, and must hold his second pacifier in his hand while falling asleep. He also prefers to have his head wedged into the corner of the crib or leaning up onto the side of the crib in some way. Crazy kid.
Play | Bang. Carter loves any toy that makes noise, or that he can bang and create noise. Fun. :) And pull out all of his toys and make a mess, of course. Legos are great fun to suck on, or giggle when a tower falls down. Twinkle Twinkle still holds a magical touch on him, which saves us from screaming from time to time.
Disposition | Curious. About everything. From ordinary items like an empty plastic bottle or the edge of a rug to fun things like electronics and books, the kid has to check it out. It is rather amazing to watch that little face study an item and try to figure out what to do with it. He is constantly on the move now, wanting to touch and taste everything in sight. No sitting still for this guy.
So looking forward to what the rest of his first year of life in our world brings!
My heart almost bursts on a daily basis. This motherhood thing...it's awesome.
A little about Carter at this age:
Vocals | All the time. His usual is "da da," "ba ba," "gah," or "uh-ta" in a whisper. Or a loud shriek. Or a click of his tongue. All seem to make him so happy to be communicating and he loves it when we mimic him. If only we knew what they meant.
Preference | Mama. If I am in the room, he must be in my arms or on my lap or touching me of some sort. In many instances I can't even just sit next to him on the floor...he immediately crawls onto my lap and then reaches for a toy to play with. It's so very endearing, and melts my heart. But I won't lie there have been times where I wish he wouldn't have to be on-me-at-all-times, or that he wouldn't cry when I walked away.
Movement | Legit crawling! He has been army crawling for months now, but just a week ago used his arms and legs correctly for the first time for a legitimate crawl. It lasted 3 seconds before he army crawled again, but he finally figured out that coordination. That same evening, he discovered the fireplace screen (and scratched it endlessly), the corner where Jon's PS guitar and other electronics/cords are piled, a stack of photo albums, the speaker cords, and spent the rest of the time zig zagging between me, Jon, and his carseat carrier (a favorite toy, oddly enough). We asked Barb if she put a quarter in him that day, because it was just insane how suddenly mobile and curious and sort of spastic he was. Since then, he's been crawling more consistently on hands and knees and getting faster and faster and climbing on everything. Time to baby proof!
Eating | Meh. He's not consistently happy eating anything but milk, but he is having more good days than bad as far as it goes for learning how to eat food. He inhaled purees from my dad last week but had been refusing to eat them with me. He haaaaates baby oatmeal, and I can't blame him after taking a good whiff of it. I am trying more real foods than purees now, which seem to be more his preference. Plain macaroni noodles and banana are willingly eaten, along with Mum Mum crackers. He has tried an assortment of veggies at daycare with some degree of success. He's slowly getting the hang of it, and I'm trying to be zen about it. He doesn't need it nutritionally, so I know he'll get there when he's ready.
Sleep | A- While he's had a few rough patches lately, for the most part his sleeping has been amazing. He goes down for naps without nary a peep (and no bouncing/rocking/swinging production) at home and daycare, and he still rocks night sleep. He's been waking 1-2 times a night still, but I really don't mind. Once is ideal, but he seems to need an occasional second nursing session for comfort. I've learned that putting him down before he's too tired is key to a successful night. He often crawls around in his crib and talks to himself as he settles in to sleep, and must hold his second pacifier in his hand while falling asleep. He also prefers to have his head wedged into the corner of the crib or leaning up onto the side of the crib in some way. Crazy kid.
Play | Bang. Carter loves any toy that makes noise, or that he can bang and create noise. Fun. :) And pull out all of his toys and make a mess, of course. Legos are great fun to suck on, or giggle when a tower falls down. Twinkle Twinkle still holds a magical touch on him, which saves us from screaming from time to time.
Disposition | Curious. About everything. From ordinary items like an empty plastic bottle or the edge of a rug to fun things like electronics and books, the kid has to check it out. It is rather amazing to watch that little face study an item and try to figure out what to do with it. He is constantly on the move now, wanting to touch and taste everything in sight. No sitting still for this guy.
So looking forward to what the rest of his first year of life in our world brings!
How can he be growing up so fast? Love the photos and reading about his latest antics. It's fun to remember what N was like at that age (still no teeth and not legit crawling)! N also loves to have a pacifier is each hand in addition to the one in his mouth to fall asleep. And he loves to have his head touching the crib or in the corner! Sounds like he's doing better than N on the sleeping front though...so happy for you and jealous! How did you get him to do that!!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE THAT PICTURE OF HIM SLEEPING IN HIS CRIB! Apparently he was completely exhausted, too cute! Can't believe how fast he is growing, gonna be running and talking in full sentences in no time!
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