Eight Months

-- Robert is wearing some 9 month clothes still and can wear some 12 month stuff. He's in a size 4 shoe.

-- He still has his little curl on the side of his head and his hair is slowly starting to get a little longer. He has random strands that are a couple of inches longer than the rest in several spots.

-- Robert just got two more teeth this past week. They aren't the front teeth though. They're the ones on either side of the front top teeth. That puts his tooth count at 4.

-- He is pulling up on everything and has just started hanging on with one hand. He started pulling up in his crib a few days after he started crawling. Oh, and he started crawling the day after he turned 7 months. He prefers to crawl on one knee and one foot and he's fast now.

-- He clapped for the first time on July 2nd over at Glenn and Becky's house.

-- His favorite song is "Drive my car" by The Laurie Berkner Band. I discovered this one night driving home from VBS when he was crying. It came on and he immediately stopped. I figured it was just coincidence, but when it was over the crying ensued. Put it back on and he stopped. I've listened to this song a few times this past month when I've gotten desperate.

-- He is eating solids much better now. I've given him small chunks of banana, squash, beans and kolache bread and he also eats cheerios and puffs. The rest is mostly pureed still. Chris gave him a mushroom and he loved it. Blech! He's also had watermelon and the drinkable baby yogurt and loves them both. He takes a bottle with yogurt, breastmilk or formula really well now. He doesn't quite have his pincher grasp down yet so I have to help him get things in his mouth. I think he'll love eating so much more when he can get the food in himself.

-- First word: dada. I nurse the child at my breast, change nearly every diaper and wake with him every single night for 8 months and this is the thanks I get. I'm kidding; it was pretty sweet when Daddy came over to him while getting ready for work one day this week. He was smiling up at him and I told him to say dada and he did. Now he says it all day. It's about the only sound he makes. I don't foresee "mama" happening anytime soon.

-- We're working on our sleep. I've decided that right now my goal is to not bring him to bed during the night and we've had three successful nights in a row! Woohoo! I'm exhausted, but I think he's improving. I was up 2 times the first 2 nights and 3 times last night, but the amount of time I'm up with him is getting shorter. The first night I was up for 2 hours trying to get him back down that second time. Last night it was 20 minutes the first time, less than 10 the second and 45 minutes the third time. I'm paying more attention now that I'm not nursing him in bed and he is doing a full feeding each time so I do think he's still hungry. I may try a bottle of formula during the night to see if he'll go longer. I've turned off the baby monitor so I can't hear him until it's a full cry and I've also decided not to let him cry it out. (The reason for wanting him out of the bed is simply so I can get up before him and get ready. Clara starts preschool a couple of days a week next month so I need a little time in the mornings before the kids wake.)

-- He's still in his infant car seat mainly because he falls asleep frequently and I can just pull him out and bring him inside. Like right now for example; he's sleeping in the entryway. I'm not looking forward to when he has to move up to the bigger car seat.

-- I'm not sure what to think about his napping. I almost think he doesn't need a morning nap most days (at least not a long one). He will get fussy but he never sleeps more than 15-30 minutes and wakes happy and seems to be rested. It's impossible to get him down in his crib for that nap. It's either the car or my arms. He then goes down pretty easily in his crib for an afternoon nap. His afternoon naps are usually only 1-1.5 hours at the most. He has napped a little longer these last few days since we're on "boot the baby out of bed bootcamp."

-- Robert made it through bible class without crying last week! I was worried it was never going to happen but he finally did it. He prefers the nursery worker with long blonde hair like his mama's. This past week I was wearing a ponytail and they all scrambled to find a ponytail holder for her when he started fussing. Too funny. Hey, ya do what ya gotta do sometimes.

-- Highlights of the month include his first parade, saw (and loved) his first fireworks, went to two VBS's, his third roadtrip and got to meet his cousin Cooper.