A & E's Adventures: 8 Months

Weight - Probably still around 22 lbs? He's been moving so much more, which I know can mean a stow down in weight gain, but her certainly seems to be growing a lot!

Height - I'm pretty sure he's gotten even taller! This boy is always growing.

Head circumference - Won't know until 9 months also.

He's still fitting into his 12 months clothes, though they are starting to feel a bit shorter. No rush to move into the next size :).

Likes:

Life is fantastic with an 8 month old. Evan is just so much fun at this age, though a bit of a handful. His favorite right now is definitely pulling up and climbing on anything and everything. Boxes are a big hit, as are stairs, the couch, the crib, his box of toys, and anything else that hits that sweet spot of height.

Don't mind me, I'm just pulling up on anything I can!

He gives such amazing smiles when he's doing this, as if he's just so proud of himself. He also is moving incredibly fast now, heading towards places he shouldn't be, like the fireplace or the stairs. He's already taken a number of tumbles, so we're pretty thankful he has his new helmet to keep him safe. We definitely need to install the gate at the bottom of the stairs (we have one at the top already), as Evan can crawl up at least 4 stairs on his own.

Stairs are the best!

Ergo is still on our *like* list - for stroller workouts and family hikes. We've been trying to do a hike almost every weekend, which if not a love for Evan, is at least something he's tolerating.

Evan also has a newfound affection for his glowing seahorse. Its a fun toy that I play every time I put him down to sleep for nap or bedtime, and it plays lullabies while it's belly glows. Lately, he has loved finding it on the floor of his room and turning it on and off.

Food is a last thing we'll add to the like list. We've finally started really expanding his food experiences. Banana is still his favorite, though he's been pretty happy with everything he's tried. He also likes sweet potato, cucumber, bell pepper, yogurt with banana and applesauce, peas, and probably a few others. We're close to being able to just give him some of whatever we're having for dinner - hopefully we'll get there by the next month report!

Dislikes

Evan has been a much happier baby lately, so I feel like there isn't a ton to go on this list!

Except sleep. Evan hates sleeping more than 3 hours at a time. And this is getting pretty old. We've been working on sleep training still, and keep making progress, only for Evan to get sick or us to go on a trip, and go back to waking every 1-2 hours. Mama is tired.

He also isn't wild about being told "no" - though what kid is. We've been working on it mostly with the fireplace - just a stern "no" and "down" and putting his hands back on the floor. Eventually he gets the idea and has started doing a very dramatic cry for about 4 seconds until he moves onto playing somewhere else.

Evan has grown increasingly attached to his mommy lately, as well, which has made things a bit interesting in terms of me going anywhere. He definitely knows his parents now, and if we're both gone, he'll definitely look for us. He will also crawl after me if I leave the room, which is pretty darn cute, even it it makes it difficult to get any baby free time.

Lately, diaper changes have also been on the negative list. In general, Evan's grown out of arching his back, so now he only does it during diaper changes. He is basically trying to buck himself off the changing table. I read somewhere that babies dislike changes at this age, so even having a diaper or clothes changed can be upsetting. It reminds me of how he was as a newborn.

Strawberries...yuck!

Food wise, he only has really disliked super sour foods - not very good strawberry, plain unsweetened yogurt, and raspberry. We'll definitely try strawberries again once they are in season, and the banana in the yogurt has made a huge difference.

Important Events:

Baby's first Thanksgiving! Evan had a wonderful time celebrating with my whole side of the family, our neighbors, and his Oma. He even got a bit of good food - mashed potatoes, cranberry and sweet potatoes. He also "ran" his first 5k - Ed wore him in the Ergo for the race and he even got a race medal!

Climbing presents? Why not!

Evan also started his first Christmas season! He loved all the ornaments on the trees and has been enjoying lots of Christmas music.

So, so special to be sharing this with him.

He also is now in his second (and final!) helmet. This one is for 3-4 months, since his head will be growing slower now that he's older. It's definitely coming in handy with all of his crawling and climbing, and funnily enough we get comments in public from people who think we put the helmet on him so that he doesn't get hurt when he's crawling around. Definitely not the purpose, but a nice silver lining.

Successes:

I can help you decorate for Christmas!

Ed and I have really settled into life with a baby. I no longer have that desperate need for breaks that I had in the beginning (though they are still quite nice) and even though I'm still desperately tired, I feel like we can still function well and do everything we want to do. Evan is a very happy baby, which makes for happy parents.

It's amazing how much better he's gotten at crawling in the past month - he now is super speedy and crawls all over the house (and up on top of boxes and up stairs). He's really doing so great with all his physical therapy stuff. His PT isn't even worried about his torticollis now, because he is obviously turning his head easily in both directions. We're now just working on encouraging crawling (rather than practicing standing/walking) since the more crawling, the better, developmentally.

Evan is now 100% in his bedroom, which is fantastic (though, to be fair, he joined us in bed a number of nights when he was sick, and when his room was too cold). We love having everything for him upstairs - it's just so much easier to be organized when we don't have to share our bathroom or closet with him. Evan really seems to love his bedroom, too, which is lots of fun. We play up there a lot now before and after naps. Now we just need to get him to stay asleep.

And of course, it was a definite success that he was all smiles meeting Santa for the first time :)

Mommy Successes:

My biggest success is that I ran a 5k over Thanksgiving! It was my first race in over 3 years and it felt fantastic. All of my stroller workout groups have made a big difference, and I'm much faster than I used to bed. My time was 32:41, a 10:32 pace. I'm really proud of that, and have already signed up for a 10k at the end of January. I'm even entertaining the idea of a Half Marathon in August, but I'm trying to take it as I go. In any event, it feels fantastic to be in shape again.

Daddy Successes: