Eight Months.

Eight months.  Two-thirds of a year.  We are trucking through this first year with our Gideon.  I can try and warn you all I want about how fast a baby grows, but it will never prepare you for how fast it actually is.  You blink and new things are happening everyday.  Especially when you reach this eight months age. So let's get this party started.

Stats:

No check-up until nine months so no weight or height stats to share.  He is big and growing.  If I had to guess I would think around 20 pounds now.

Sleep:

Our kid finally has learned how to nap.  He is taking two naps a day that usually last about an hour and a half or a little longer.  He goes down for the first nap around 9 or 9:30  and the second around 1:15 or 1:30.  I use to try and make them later in the day, but have learned that when he shows signs of being sleepy to go ahead and lay him down.  It works and he doesn't even fight it when I put him in his crib.  Mama is much happier, too!

Night sleep has been consistent as well.  We put him to bed around 7:30 and he usually sleeps until around 4 or 5 when I change his diaper and feed him and lay him back down.  Lately, he will then only sleep until 6 which has not been fun for me.  But on really good days he will sleep until 7 or after.  I think the best thing about his nighttime routine is that he goes to bed without a fight, EVER.  Knock-on-wood. Even if he doesn't fall asleep during his bottle, he just lays in his crib and talks himself to sleep within 15 minutes.  No fussing.  I'm so glad he can put himself to sleep!

Eating:

I think eating is one of the things where I see the most change and growth this month.  Gideon is a champion eater and is beginning to become adventurous as we try giving him new things.  He is still nursing four times a day and once in the night.  He is also having three solid meals a day.  Oatmeal with fruit for the first two and a vegetable and oatmeal with fruit for the evening meal.  He loves it all and is really great at picking up Puffs and feeding them to himself.  We usually give him Puffs after we feed him in the evening while we are making dinner.

Last week, I bought some of the Gerber Graduates Little Crunchies.  They are kind of like Cheetos in different flavors.  Right now, we break them in half for him, but he chews them up great. I tried giving him peas to pick up and eat last week, but I think the texture was too different for him and they got stuck to his gums causing him to choke.  He was not thrilled with them.  He has also discovered a love for sipping water out of our cups.  He thinks it is great when we let him drink out of a cup and it is the cutest thing.

Tidbits:

Gideon got his first tooth the day after turning seven months.  He is currently working on his second bottom and two top ones and I am pretty sure they will all come in at the exact same time.  The last week and a half has been interesting for sure. He also started "crawling" this month.  I put it in quotes because it is more of an army crawl on his knees and forearms than on hands and knees.  But that booger is fast.  We have baby-proofed with gates and outlet covers because he is in to everything! He learned to clap his hands at camp and it is by far the greatest thing I have ever seen.  He does it when he is excited or happy and it melts my heart.  We have been trying to teach him to wave and we say "bye bye" while doing it.  Just last week he started saying "baba" so I can't tell if he is saying "bye bye" or trying to say "bop bop" which is what we call a paci.  It's cute either way. He is becoming so independent and developing his personality.  He remembers things and constantly crawls to where he knows things are hidden that he wants.

Likes:

Any kind of cord (lamp, tv, etc), remotes, chasing Nala now that he is mobile, playing on our bed, his riding firetruck, our keys (basically anything that is not a toy).

Dislikes:

Green veggies, car seat, long car rides, laying on his back, having his face wiped.

Current "words":

mama, dada, nana (for Nala), baba (either bye bye or bop bop), yay (we say this a lot "Yay, Gideon," etc. and when he claps)

1 month
2 months
3 months
4 months
5 months
6 months
7 months