8 Months

Graeme is 8 months old today!  It seems like he is constantly learning and changing now.  He is growing up so much!

In the past month, he has started crawling/scooting while holding his head up rather than putting it down in the snowplow manner.  He isn't moving across rooms yet, but he can get to toys that are out of reach.  He can also position himself next to the dogs (if they stay still).

In addition, he's now capable of sitting unassisted! Of course, he wouldn't do it for me and Steven this weekend for longer than a couple of seconds.  He either wants me to hold his hands for balance or he sits for a second then leans back against me.  This appears to be a case of wanting his mommy to baby him, because when he went back to his LiLi's (grandma) house today, he sat for over 20 minutes. She tried to give him a break and laid him down, and he was not happy about it.  He's been enjoying his new view of the window.

Teething has definitely become a not-so-fun struggle.  He is currently cutting FOUR teeth - two on top, and two on the bottom.  One of the bottom teeth is halfway in, the top two are starting to poke out a bit, and the second bottom one is just beginning to show up on his gums.  This makes for a very unhappy baby at times.  And lots of drool too!

Graeme was enjoying his solids until about a week ago, when he suddenly went on strike.  He's been adamantly against letting a spoon near his mouth and refused our offer of finger foods too.  Not sure if it's due to teething or a show of resistance.  Today he did eat some pears at LiLi's house, and he ate an apple/banana mixture for us tonight. Maybe he was just trying to let us know he was interested in what we were feeding him (we tried peaches and then some veggie mixes that contained carrots which aren't one of his favorite foods).  Despite his lack of interest in his own meals, Graeme still tries to steal our plates and cups at the dinner table.

He's been taking 2-3 naps a day, approximately 40 minutes to an hour long.  His sleep at night has been back and forth.  Sunday night he was up every 2-3 hours, last night he slept straight from 7 PM to 4:30 AM, then drank a bottle and went back to sleep until 6:15 (it was AWESOME!). He typically wakes up no later than 5:30 AM, so we're really hoping this 6:15 thing will stick. And of course praying that sleeping almost 10 hours straight will become a habit.

Right now Graeme loves water! He will put his hands or his feet in running water from the hose, the sprinklers, or the sink.  He also likes to spin things, like balls or the little spinner squares on his activity cube.  He loves sing-along music, especially the ABCs and the Itsy Bitsy Spider.  He has this stuffed dog that sings both of those songs, and he gets sooo excited and grins when he hears it.  He's becoming more attached to his pacifier, which I think is due to teething.

He's very observant, and you can just see him soaking everything in.  He seems to be getting a little separation anxiety now and gets upset if we leave the room or get out of his line of sight.  Graeme likes to play peek-a-boo now.  I will put a little blanket over his face and say "Where's Graeme?" and he will pull it off and grin at me.  So cute!

It's been fun to see his personality come out more and more. He's developing preferences for certain toys and games, showing excitement for different things, and certainly demonstrating his stubbornness and determination!  While the fussiness of teething and lack of sleep can get us down sometimes, Graeme's smile or laugh always makes the day better!

Grames loves some Mandisa!