Forest at 8 Months (33, 34, 35, & 36 Weeks)

In the last month Forest has decided to start doing a modified crawl. One weekend morning he just randomly started making his way towards me where I was sipping my coffee and reading the internet. I did a double take before realizing he was dragging himself along the floor and then jumped up so I could document it! I’d been waiting and waiting for this to happen and here he was, starting to really move. He hasn’t figured out how to put his knees up under him yet, but that’s coming soon I think. It’s insane how this stuff just happens overnight. I know they are preparing slowly, little changes here and there, but the big stuff just happens so fast!

He’s sitting up better each day, though not on his own yet or for long periods of time. (Err since starting this draft he’s really mastered sitting up! He can sit for a good period of time and play with a few toys and not get cranky about it. I’m loving this!) I bought a foam mat for him to play on so he wouldn’t be bumping his head on the wood floor as much as he figures out the crawling and sitting thing. Sometimes he’ll just roll to get back to where he wants to go, other times he won’t. He’ll flail about on his belly and want someone to come help him back over. It’s hard not to get into comparison mode with him and other babies of his age. Some are sitting on their own now and a few I see have pulled themselves up and are trying to stand. Forest isn’t there yet and sometimes I wonder if we’re not giving him enough opportunities to try. I know, I know—stop worrying! All in due time, right? Gah!

So, more of the all in due time thing is this solid food eating business. He’s just not into it. Sometimes I have half a mind to start baby led weaning again with him, or offering finger foods, because maybe he doesn’t like being fed. I don’t know!! Some days he eats a decent bit, other days it’s a bite or two, then closed lips and a shake of the head and pushing the spoon away. No more. I’m done, he says. So, I’m being patient…or trying. And since starting this I opted to let him try eating straight out of those baby food pouches since I had some in the fridge that had been open a few days. He really liked that option and I may look into buying the reusable/refillable pouches so maybe we’ll try food that way. On a whim I decided to offer up mushed bananas since he hadn’t had them in awhile. He ended up gagging on them—texture! He had done ok with them in the past, so I think I still need to be offering more textured/chunky items in with the purees. You know, apparently feeding a kid is some kind of science.

He has really started liking when I offer him a sip of water off of the side of a cup. He was good at first but now he’s figured out how he can spill it because he’s so excited about water so I’m having to slow down on offering him sips without a lid. One of the sippy cups we have, he’s starting to figure out. At first he didn’t like it because it didn’t have the soft nipple like a bottle, but I think he’s getting it now. The kid loves his water, which I am thrilled about! Right now I just offer a few sips after he eats a little food and that’s about it. Sometimes on the weekend I’ll try to let him have a sip of mine if we come in from out in the yard, but it depends how excited he is and if his arms are flailing about.

He recently had another ear infection and was sick for a few days. He randomly got a fever and I thought it was going to be for cutting some teeth, but no, just another ear infection. He’s been pretty healthy for awhile so I was bummed we had to go to the pediatrician once again. Now that he’s a bit older he’s now aware of the medicine even more and has come to start fighting it by closing his lips, blowing air, or turning his head. I’ll be happy when he can sip off of a spoon better and maybe we can give it to him that way instead of squirting it into his mouth with a syringe. At least he stops being hysterical a few seconds after we give the last squirt of medicine. He used to be upset for several minutes after.

Overall, he’s doing really well! He can play be himself for awhile but really likes it if you are within sight of him.

Since I started drafting this post he’s sprouted his top right tooth. The other top tooth appears to be coming but is probably going to take another week or two. He was cranky about it for awhile and on the outside it looked like it was pretty painful—swollen gums where you could see the tooth just underneath the gums for a day or two before it finally broke through.

OK, here’s a bazillion photos from the last month!