8-months-young

This past month, Jameston has been a busy, busy baby boy! When I told him he was 8-months-old on Thursday, this is how he reacted :-)

These days, he's on a pretty good schedule which normally goes a little something like this:

• Wakes up for the day usually between 5:45 and 6:30 a.m.
• Takes a bottle/nurses four times a day (right when he wakes up, around 11:00 a.m., 3:00p.m., and 7:00 p.m.)
• Eats solids and finger foods three times a day (9:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m., and 6 p.m., right before bath time)
• Takes two (sometimes three) naps
• Goes to bed typically between 7:00 and 8:00 p.m. (except on Wednesday nights)
• We fill those in-between times with lots of fun play-time! These days he is still all about the Baby Einstein play center and his Jumperoo, and, now that he is sitting up so good, he is playing more with some smaller toys. 
• His bedtime greatly depend on how well he slept at daycare that day. He's a social boy and has a hard time napping when he knows other babies are up :-) When he's at home during the day, he naps like a champ!

He recently made Mommy eat her words about him sleeping through the night when he decided to wake up 1-2 times/night for the last week and a half or so. We chalked it up to either a growth spurt or teething, and luckily he seems to be back on track. These days he weighing about 21 1/2 lbs., and is coming in around 29 inches. 

Such a big, super sweet boy!

JW's favorite activity is still to put everything in his mouth...

This favorite pastime of his is okay when it comes to one of his toys, but it has become more noticeable lately with other items (like our keys, phones, Mommy's jewelry, etc.). We have to be extra careful of what we have in our hands when we get him out of his car seat or pick him up. One trait we've noticed lately is his temper...when you take something from him to move on to to another activity, he let's you (and everyone else around for that matter) know that he was not finished playing with it and that he is not happy! Hopefully this is only temporary...please!

Jameston's newest discoveries:

• Finger foods: we've only tried puffs and yogurt melts but plan on incorporating small fruit and meat very soon!
• Coordination: He is getting super talented at picking up, throwing, and passing things from hand to hand. He is also putting his spoon to his mouth and his toothbrush to his teeth. So fun to watch!
• Rockin' & Rollin': No, not the music kind...our boy LOVES to rock, whether it be in his inflatable duck tub, our laps, his highchair, you name it. It is cute to watch, especially in his tub as he splashes water everywhere!
• Tummy-scooting: Although he favors rolling over and over and over to get places, JW is raring up his arms and sticking his hiney in the air (we call it the tripod pose) like he's getting ready to crawl any week now.
• Reading assistant: He likes to "turn" the pages (if he's not wanting to chew on them) for us as we read to him
• Chatty Charlie: Babbling is his middle name these days (mainly Mmmm sounds to help his gums, and sometime an inadvertent "Mama" in the middle of a cry if he's upset), and he does so in a sing-songy way. He especially likes to grunt and make shrill sounds :-) We have some video that I need to upload and post!
• Reaching!: When he knows he is about to be picked up or when he sees something he has to have, this boy has Go-Go Gadget arms...we think he might be a basketball player one day :-)
• Funny faces: Due to teething and the fondness he has for his tongue and gums, this boy makes the silliest (and ca-utest) faces in the world! We caught him making a fish face one night...

Showing off his teeth-brushing skills

Things we will remember most about this fun age:

• He gives the sweetest neck cuddling hugs when I get him out of his crib in the morning. He buries his head in my shoulder, and wraps his arms around my neck. So sweet!
• He prefers to drink from big cups rather than his sippy cups; so, we guess he's a cup snob :-)
• He laughs so hard when we feed him while doing airplane noises...gotta catch it on video!

At 8-months-old, Jameston LOVES:

Anything paper, tags and straps, Mommy's singing and the funny noises she makes to get him to laugh (one good one is her karate sounds), playing in the comforter and sheets, making funny faces (with his tongue and lips), keys, mirrors, peekaboo, bath time, and Marlie-Bear (as many pictures illustrate)

We love you, J.W., and we thank God for you every day!