8 months

I can't believe Henry's 8 months old. It's going too fast. In the last couple weeks he has changed a lot, and is doing all kinds of new things.

Schedule: Henry usually wakes up between 6:15 and 7:00 in the morning. 7:15 nurse, 8:00 breakfast. 8:30-9:00 nap. Sometimes Henry takes a long nap, but lately he has been taking short morning naps and then having longer afternoon ones. After nap, he plays, nurses, and we all eat lunch at 12:00. Afternoon nap is between 12:30 and 1:00. Sometimes he's up by 2:00, but on the longer nap days he sleeps until 3:00. Henry nurses again at 3:00, and I usually nurse him again before dinner. He no longer takes a third nap most days, so late afternoon is a good time to go out. We play outside, do errands, have a play date, etc. Dinner is around 6:00, bath time a little before 7:00, bedtime at 7:30. I need to start moving the evening schedule back so both kids are in bed a little earlier, and getting up a bit earlier in preparation for the school year. 

Night time sleep still isn't great, but I guess it could be worse. Henry usually puts up a fuss when he goes to bed, but goes to sleep pretty quickly. He almost always wakes up around 1 or 2:00 am and cries. Sometimes he is awake for a long time. Lately he has been rolling onto his belly, getting up on his hands and knees, and then it's kind of like he's stuck there and wide awake. He is capable of lying back down and rolling back on his side, but he doesn't do it. He just stays stuck there, crying. Even if I go in and put him on his back he rolls right over again and it continues. Hopefully once he starts crawling this stage will pass. After that wake up, he sleeps until about 4:00, I nurse him, and he then sleeps until his morning wake up time. If we could just cut out that 1-2:00 waking, things would be pretty good. Every so often he does skip it, so hopefully he'll just grow out of it.

The little feet! The curled up toes! The little chunks and creases! I die.

Motor Development: Exciting things are happening! Henry sits up without any support now. He does occasionally fall back when twisting to reach things, so on hard surfaces I put something soft behind him. Henry Boy is trying so hard to crawl. He's very close. He rolls all over the place. He gets in crawling position and scoots backward and in circles, and actually moves around a lot that way. He has started really getting his knees up and has scooted himself forward a little bit too. I can't wait to see him crawl! 

He regularly practices the plank. Abs of steel.

Henry's fine motor skills are also improving a lot. Two weeks ago he wasn't able to pick up small pieces of food to feed himself, but now he can. He of course doesn't have a precise pincer grasp, but he can hold small objects between his thumb and index finger and is sometimes successful at getting them in his mouth. Between this new skill and Henry's new ability to move around more, we have to be even more careful to keep areas clear of small objects he might find. 

The other noticeable motor skill that improved this month is with eating. Henry can lateralize food with his tongue, to chew and eat soft foods. He is more used to food being in his mouth and doesn't gag or loose food toward the back of his mouth anymore.

Social and Communication: Henry loves watching people. He is so entertained by other babies and kids. He has started "talking" a lot more lately. He is often quiet, just observing things, but sometimes starts babbling and goes on and on for a while. He produces CV, VC, and CVC syllables. (That's really just a note for myself. If you're not a speech pathologist, disregard. :D) He doesn't quite imitate, but will go back and forth with someone taking turns making a sound. For example, if he's saying "Ba ba" and Celia or I imitate him, he will give us a turn and then do it again himself. He's on the verge of imitating sounds.

The cheeks! I die again.

Cognitive: Last month I mentioned that Henry was starting to show that he understood object function. This month he is doing that with even more objects. He enjoys peekaboo, but when an object disappears he looks for it rather than forgetting about it right away. The biggest cognitive changes this month have been with Henry's play. He is playing very purposefully with toys now. He understands how to make toys work. He has started playing his little drums, tries to play his little radio toy, and has tried to put a ball at the top of a ball run. He really likes playing ball, and has started to purposefully roll a ball. He has been catching a rolling ball for a while now. Henry enjoys toys that move, like cars that go by themselves when pulled back. He has started imitating a lot more with play, tries to move my hands to help me clap, dances to music, imitates mouth movements and sounds, and loves silly social games like when I pretend to eat his belly. 

Henry Boy is the sweetest, happiest little guy. I have enjoyed him so much that I'm already missing his babyhood. I know that more good things are to come and that we'll continue to enjoy him, but I sort of dread his first birthday. I feel like the rest of the summer is going to fly by, and he'll be nine months before I even know it. He's already an old man! What will I do? Sweetest little guy in the world, he is.