8 months young!

We are celebrating 8 months this week (19th)! WOW! Wasn't it just recently i blogged about Max turning 7 months? Why is this little man growing up so fast?

To comemorate this moment, one of the mom's in my January group posted this link to a wonderful article called, "The Last Time". Read it HERE. I love this article. As a cold hearted person who doesn't show too many emotions, i was feeling a little misty!

I just now understand that in anticipating my son's "firsts," I've forgotten to appreciate what he's left behind. The firsts are monumental, celebrated and captured on film. I reveled in Little Dude's first steps, jotted down his first words and am prepared to save lost teeth. There isn't a first I haven't recorded in some way. I've paid less attention to his "lasts." I've ignored the finality that comes with moving from one stage to another. 

What's is this just turned 8 month old boy up to these days?

• crawling!  though this is limited to just inside the house on his own accord. when we're outside, (thank God) he hasn't tried to escape the borders of the picnic blanket (and subsequently need to be chased after)
• not sure how much he weighs, but at least 20lbs. still in #3 Cruisers
• eyes are still hazel
• pulls himself up from sitting to standing position whether using vertical bars, coffee table, couch, or my pants as he pinches me and pulls down my clothing
• i had the pleasure of an uninterrupted 11 hours night sleep just one time though on August 31st. maybe it was a belated birthday gift from him? anyhow, it hasn't happened again but at least i know he can do this. no pressure on the sleep anymore, i just go with it as im happily receiving quality sleep after moving out and back into my own room

• we're technically sleeping through the night, as in he's averaging about 4-6 hours of sleep before his first night waking. then feed. then 1-2 more wakings afterward. then feed. i move myself back into his room at around 430am or a bit later as he starts getting fussy around 6 and i try to catch him with a soother. is 7am too much to ask for wakeup time? hehe
• ive had the pleasure of a few bedsharing nights this month, but this may be a thing of the past as he gets upset when placed beside me. i think it's because i'm restricting his surface area...the boy rolls around all over the crib when he sleeps
• he's had a few nights when he just wakes up crying...i don't know why. one night it took about 30 minutes to calm him down (refused the breast). just lots of rocking and stroking
• lots of babbling. FINALLY im getting 'mamma mamma' ..though i dont think he's calling me yet

• he's sitting at the deeper end of his whale tub. his baths can be a bit of a battle as he wants to stand but it's just so dangerous! im doing the "if you stand bath is over" type of reinforcement
• im using a kid toothpaste (with fluoride as advised by my DMD) and rubbing it on his two bottom teeth. he also has a baby toothbrush that he plays with while bathing. to my delight, he prefers the bristle end in his mouth!
• we have 2 teeth coming in! 2 front teeth upper level! (now that i think of it, it probably explains the random crying at night)
• he's really into making this clearing throat sound when he's happy and excited. my sister likes to call it the 'hairball'
• i love that he's testing out his balancing skills by raising one arm every now and then when he feels steady on his two feet. when he raises his arm, it's as if he's in front of millions of people. i love clapping in return to congratulate!

• i love it when he offers his soother to people! what does this mean? like it makes him feel good and everyone have a try? Adorable! he finds it so amusing when we bite the ring end and shake it around and then "kiss" him with the soother end 
• speaking of offering, Max loves offering his rice rusks and maple biscuits to other people. maybe he sees that im not eating and wants me to eat too? or maybe he thinks it's good and that i should try? i love this giving nature of his!
• he's officially on the lowest crib mattress setting! just in the nick of time as he loves doing this

• he's scared of the sound of public toilet flushes and the roars of the ocean on the beach. he actually freaks when the cold ocean water touches his feet
• he can discern different tones in my voice like when im hurting (ie. after he pinches my thighs hard) I'm saying OW and he looks at me, surprised look on him, then cries. AW!
• he's eating OK. he prefers to eat when not in the high chair. and he eats even more if I feed him chunks of food using my hand, not spoon. the guy isn't motivated to work on the pincer grasp! or rather im not exactly motivating him to practice if i'm feeding him the bits of food! ah well, sometimes i get lucky

he's got the Dr. Evil pinky going on here

I love this little man!

As for me, im already contemplating on number 2! However, I wont be entertaining this idea until winter 2013/2014 for financial reasons and also because Max just needs to be the only one for now. we want him to enjoy us and us him during these precious times.