8 months

Isaac had a big month for his gross motor skills.  In exactly one month he went from mastering rolling over to crawling.  He started rolling about a week before his 7 month birthday, and quickly learned how to control his body from there.  He started pushing up to his hands and knees, and then figured out how to go back to sitting from that position.  Those were some fun days during naptime while I waited for that new skill to get boring.  He started pulling up, then crawled for the first time last Saturday, one week before his 8 month birthday.  He's only been crawling for a week but he's a pro now.

He's in almost all 6-9 month clothes, with plenty of room to grow in most of them.  Almost everyone we see comments on what a big boy he is, but I think his clothing sizes and growth chart percentile (in the 30's for weight) speak differently.  He's still in size 3 diapers.

He still isn't babbling at all, meaning no consonant sounds like mama, dada, or baba.  I'm a little concerned, but I've heard that boys are slower with their language skills, and that when they focus on motor skills or language, the other takes the back burner.  He has definitely been focusing on his motor skills, so if the language is still an issue in a month, I'll definitely be discussing it with the pediatrician.

Still no teeth.  That's ok, it definitely doesn't stop him from eating.

Isaac eats 3 solid meals a day now, and takes 4 7-ounce bottles.  Well, he used to drink 28 ounces a day, but that varies widely now.  I think he's just so busy crawling and exploring, he hates stopping to drink a bottle.  He absolutely loves to feed himself finger foods.  I could say that he loves *fill in the blank* (pancakes, scrambled eggs, cheerios, cheese, beans), but he loves it all.  I haven't found a food yet that I can put in front of him and he won't pick up and eat.  He sometimes refuses his purees and anything from a spoon because he loves his finger foods so much.

scrambled eggs -- so messy, but so yummy

Isaac takes either 2 or 3 naps a day, depending on how long his second nap is.  His morning nap is usually around 1.5 hours, but can be as little as an hour or as long as 2 hours.  His second nap can last anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes.  Lately he has been taking a longer second nap that doesn't leave enough time for a third nap, so we move bedtime up a little bit.  On days that he takes 2 naps he goes to bed around 7 and bedtime on 3 nap days is 7:30-8:00.  He is also a belly sleeper now most of the time.  He chose that for himself once he started rolling.

We put away a lot of baby gear this month.  We finally realized that Isaac was too big for so much of our stuff, so we packed it away and replaced it with toys he can play with as he gets older.  We packed away his bumbo seat, bouncer, exersaucer, and swing.  The swing was so hard for me to say goodbye to.  He still napped in it occasionally, and I knew the only way I would break that habit was to put it away.  Right around the time I was contemplating making the move, Isaac started sitting up in it, so that made my decision pretty easy.

We also lowered the crib mattress and moved him out of the infant bathtub this month.  We still have the jumperoo out, but he rarely spends time in it anymore.  We should probably put it away too, but I just can't bring myself to do it yet.

Now that he's crawling, he moves nonstop.  He tries to pull up on everything, but his favorite climbing tool is my lap.

His favorite toy right now is definitely his Fisher Price Gumball Machine.  When you push the handle down it plays a little song and a ball comes out.  Not only does he love the balls, but he knows to push the handle to get a ball.  It's the first toy he really "figured out".  It came with 4 balls, but we bought more because he loves them so much.  He loves chasing them around.

He gets more and more fun every month.  He likes to keep me on my toes, but we have such a good time together.  I can't believe it's time to start thinking about his first birthday party!

Love you, little man!