Months 8 and 9

This was written a month ago. I just now added pics and am posting. Working on a 10m update.

Well I really have been neglectful of blogging and totally missed a 8month update so I will just meld it in with the 9month one and call it a day.

Shortly after hitting 8m James started crawling. He waited until he could do the traditional hands/knees crawling before moving much. He did a little scooching here/there between 7 and 8m. He is now an adept crawler and gets to where he wants to go in a hurry.  Since he's mastered crawling he is now working on standing, and lordhelpus walking will be next. He can stand for a second or two without holding something. Sigh. My house is not baby proofed yet.

We went for his 9m checkup, he is healthy lol. Weighed in at 23lb4oz and just a touch over 29in and his head is now 18in. All good sizes apparently.

He has two bottom teeth and is working hard on cutting his top ones. You can just see the right top tooth cutting through the gum line, and I'm certain lefty is close behind.

James looooooves bath time now, although we've still been using the sink but I think it's time to move to the big bath! He has begun to hate having his diaper changed, mostly because he just has too much to do and doesn't want to stop exploring. He talks a ton, it seems he has his own little language. He is starting to say mama and dada when he's upset and wants us but it's not always to the correct parent.

He is eating like a champ and loves food. Between me/Dan there's no big surprise there!  He is getting really skilled at self-feeding too. We give him big slices of things and he just chows down.

Lucky #7

So I may have neglected to post this in a timely manner. Whoops. Since he is still 7months it counts though.

No official measurements this month but he's around 22lbs and 29in. He has begun this fun trick of spinning himself in circles, he is really trying to crawl - gets up on all fours and rocks. I thought he was going to crawl the other day, he was up on all fours and kept bringing his one arm forward and back. He's close. He likes to stand too and is working on pulling himself up.

James cut his first tooth, bottom right, at about 7m1w and the bottom left now. We can see it just starting to poke through the gum line. Between the teething, the recent time change (DST) and him flipping over and trying to crawl in the middle of the night, sleep is becoming increasingly rare. I hope once he actually starts crawling he'll go back to his normal good sleeping self.

He likes to be fed table food off my finger, doesn't really care for purees, and his favorite foods thus far have been meat (both chicken and beef), sweet potatoes, hummus and avocado. He didn't care for the pureed pears I offered on Sunday but he did enjoy playing with the spoon and making a big mess.  He hasn't figured out the concept of self-feeding but I'm sure he'll get it eventually.

Separation anxiety is in full force, especially when he's overtired he gets very clingy and only me/Dan can hold him without tears. He likes other people so long as they aren't holding him. He gets overstimulated and annoyed with lots of people up in his face when we first arrive at a place but does warm up. 

James will talk on occasion and was talking a lot for a while but has quieted down as he's been working on crawling. I've read that babies will tend to work on one major milestone at a time so I'm thinking he's focused on his motor skills now. He loves to say "gagagagagagdadadadbabababba" lol. And "Ooooooooo".  He also likes to grunt a lot!

Right now the favorite toy seems to be the set of balls that have different colors and textures, one makes noise. They are great because he can hold them and bang them together, and they roll around which encourages him to work on crawling/scooting. He will push himself backwards which is quite funny because he wants to go forwards. 

He's gotten excellent at sitting and rolling. This morning he attempted to roll right off the changing table! I had just removed his diaper and he flipped himself off the edge. Thankfully I was right there to catch him but it definitely startled me and him! He is going to keep me on my toes for sure!

His hair keeps getting thicker/longer and it's a light brown with a slight curl and the ends. Dan is really hoping it's curly like his hair. His eyes are a very deep, dark blue and have been since birth. We think they will probably stay that way since they show no signs of changing.

All in all James is doing wonderful, growing like crazy and getting more active by the day...probably should work on baby-proofing the house! It's hard to believe that 7 months have passed since he arrived. I love watching him grow and become this little person.

6 Months and counting

Some how six months have passed since little one was born. Time really flies when you're busy changing diapers! He has really changed in dramatic ways since birth, and I sometimes look at pictures and cannot believe he once was so tiny and helpless.

James is keeping up the ridiculous growth rate, and has been wearing 12mo sized clothes for a few weeks now. He began sitting independently on Jan 2 and has gotten better and sitting longer as well as catching himself before toppling over, although that still happens too. His hand/eye coordination is getting dangerously good. He grabs all sorts of things, like my cell phone, with accuracy. James can pick up smaller toys like his toy balls and he watches everything. He is working on developing his pincer grip too but is excellent at raking things to him. He talks a bit, mostly in silly babbles. Occasionally it sounds like he says real words including "Hi" and "Ma" but it's just a coincidence he's saying those sounds not actual speech. Another great improvement is he no longer despises bath time. I accredit it to his ability to sit up well since he will now sit in the bath and play with the bubbles. He has yet to have "people food" aka any solids but we will be working on letting him play with finger foods in the next month or so.

His weigh in at the doctor's office is next week, but thus far my "at home" measurements have been pretty close. He is over 28in long and at least 20lbs. I will update with an official weigh-in after his visit. EDIT: He went to the Dr, and is 21lb and 28.5in which is the 90th and 95th percentiles respectively. I'm going to have some nicely toned arms carrying this beast around!

Computer is delicious!

James still prefers nursing over bottles and will occasionally decide to refuse a bottle. He has also started resisting naps! This is making both mom/James a tad crabby. He has grown increasingly aware of the world and wants to explore everything, it would seem sleep gets in his way of fun. Thankfully he still sleeps well at night so it's just a matter of forcing him to nap when he's obviously tired.