8 Months Old!

This is a few days delayed but Sunday marked Bman's 8 month birthday.  We celebrated with a pancake breakfast and a St. Patty's day meal for dinner.  He seemed to enjoy both meals and I love that we can include him in one of our favorite activities--eating!

 MMMMM...whole wheat pancakes with banana

Stats:  No official updates but he seems like a chunk so I'll venture to say he continues to grow and fatten up.  His 9 month clothing has been retired and we have busted out the 12 month and 12-18 month clothing stash.  Some are a little but roomy but most are the perfect fit.

Eating:  I've posted a ton about this lately so I won't go in to too many details.  Brody continues to explore all types of textures and tastes and is getting the hang of the swallowing business.  No idea how much of the solids he is actually eating but he is still consistent with his liquid diet: three 5oz bottles at school and nurse morning and night.

Brody enjoyed pot roast, mashed potatoes, carrots and celery for dinner. 

First time having mashed potatoes.  He liked the taste but seemed a little unsure about the sticky texture

Messy fingers

Sleep:  Brody sleeps from 7pm-7am and at least 4 nights a week he wakes around 4am and wants to eat.  I can not confirm that he is actually hungry but he does nurse for about 5 minutes.  I have tried to let him cry it out and go back to sleep but the result of that is usually a fussy and mad baby who ends up wide awake, and a mommy who is staring at the monitor waiting for him to go back to sleep.  I tend to just give in because I know he'll go back to sleep which means that I can too.  It's a long day; I need all the rest I can get.  Any advice or tips in  this department would be greatly appreciated :)  He is still taking three naps a day.  An ideal day is when he takes two naps that are at least 1-1.5 each and one 30-40 minute nap.  Some days he takes three really short naps which never makes him grumpy but after a few days of this he usally chrashes for a good, long nap.

Play:  I know that I say this every month but he is really becoming more and more fun in this area.  He just giggles and laughs at peek-a-boo, loves when you babble back at him,  and cannot get enough of his oball- he rolls is back and forth with me and can seriously chuck it across the room!  He adores his soft toys, especially his taggy pup which goes with him everywhere.  Things with lights and music have become increasingly interesting to him.  He has had some of these toys for months but is just not liking them or understanding how to interact with them.  He loves his Scout dog and his Laugh and Learn Puppy.  I am growing a bit tired of the songs and find myself singing, "I love you, I love you, morning, noon and night..."  you know how it goes....  He loves to look at books, chew on Sophie the giraffe and he loves playing with his dogs, especially Willis.

He loves this board book above.  When the page of the Weimaraner puppy opens he just laughs and smiles.

Num num... my flash is waaaay to bright in  this picture.

Best. Buds.

Loves this oball.  Don't tell him but the Easter Bunny tipped me off that he's bringing another one

Physical Development:  Brody still uses rolling as his primary method of transportation.  He pushes up on his arms and will get his knees up but has not actually gotten up on his knees to crawl.  He will scoot backwards and also uses his arms to go in a full circle on his belly.  He can sit really well and loves to play while sitting. He will stand if you hold his hands but typically just jumps which we call Riverdance (his legs remind us of those awesome dancers.)  Not so sure this is physical but not really sure where else to insert but Brody also is cutting his two bottom teeth.  One is already through but he other is just breaking the surface. 

Working on getting his knees up

Language:  Brody's words are actually starting to sound more like words.  Although I am not really sure if he is using the word with the correct label he can say 'dada' and is using it almost exclusively when he talks.  He likes to talk to the dogs and himself in the mirror.  He is also displaying emotions to fit our voices.  For example our happy voice gets a smile out of him and the voice we use when we yell at the pups gets a little bit of a frown/concerned face.

The days just get more fun with out little guy.  He continues to be easy going, laid back and has a smile that melts my heart. Happy 8 months, little man!