Eight Months Old

Yep, yesterday Henry Jay turned eight-months-old! They grow and change so quickly at this age that it's hard to keep up. Let's see... in the past month he figured out how to get himself from down on his belly to sitting up. He has started clapping his hands. He puts his hand up to say "hi". I told Jay that Henry waves like he does. It's that hand-up-no-motion wave. Very manly. ;-) He loves food! Gobbles up all his baby food, snacks on puffs, and likes to sample whatever we're eating. (Yesterday I heard Charlotte giggling and looked over to find her sharing a sucker with him.) He still only has the two bottom teeth. He is SO close to crawling. He just doesn't have all the coordination down consistently. This morning he crawled 5-6 "steps" (what is the right word?) to get to the door stop. A lot of the time it's more of a bunny hop where his two back legs move forward together. Pretty funny to watch although I think it frustrates him. And then there is sleeping. I have never been a "cry it out" mom. I tried with Chloe with little success and, quite frankly, I just don't like it. But I gave it a go with Henry. It didn't go well. I think it's supposed to improve as time goes by, however it got to the point where he cried for 45 minutes, slept for 15, then was rested enough to wake up and cry some more. AND to top it off, it has created a hate/fear relationship with his crib. Where before I could lay him in there asleep, now as soon as we start to lay him down he opens his eyes wide and screams. I spent many days this month with him in our bed while Jay slept on the couch (I know, I know...). This week I decided to pull the pack-n-play back out and set it up in our bedroom, and much to my surprise, he will sleep in there (provided he's asleep when I put him in). I'll take it.

 

I tried taking his eight month pictures yesterday morning. I thought it would be best to do them before he had a chance to cover his clothes with food. He was already a bit cranky and ready for a nap. I did the same routine I have been doing for pictures. Remember all the pictures of him smiling up from his crib?

 This was his response as soon as I laid him down. See? He hates it.

 He was a little happier on the changing table.

 I had been taking a picture of him in one of the chairs, but now I think he'd fall right off. Like I said, he was ready for a nap.

 We tried pictures again in the afternoon with much more success. He was clapping in this one.

 Oh, and he loves to play ball.

 He kicked the sign off the changing table.

 And then decided it was time to move on. I don't use the changing table much anymore.

 And I tried the crib photo again. See? Still hating it.

 Sophie suggested we try it with him sitting up instead. Still not happy.

 But Sophie started talking to him and he really loves her.

And then he decided to pull himself up on the side of the crib which he hadn't done before.

The scoot/hop/crawl: he was trying to get to Jay's iPhone that I had put on his little dog toy.

Happy Eight Months, Henry Jay!! We love you lots and lots! You are a joy and a gift from God.