8 Months

This is babyhood as people know it.

At eight months, Jules rolls to get places, but also stretches super hard to reach something. He's doing the rocking thing but doesn't get up on all fours yet. He sits very, very well and has gone from sitting to tummy trying to reach something. It looks deliberate so he must really want the toy.

Not only do we think he's the cutest, but he's hilarious too! If his shade is down and we're changing him, he'll reach for it to see outside. He smiles and laughs at the light that comes in. Or maybe he's just laughing because I'm telling him "no". He's already ripped off the "warning" label. Speaking of labels, he loves tags on toys. He studies them and shoves them in his mouth. He gets all screamy when I come home from work, we show him a favorite toy, or when he just gets excited - which seems to be all the time!



He's between sizes right now. But really, some of his clothes are 3-6 month and they still fit, so who knows. It seems like every 2 weeks I have to pack up more of his clothes. So I've just kept the storage bucket in his room since I have to fill it all the time.

He's eating more and more, but still likes to nurse. He eats sweet potatoes, cereal, peas, carrots, bananas, and we just started prunes. We also started giving him a sippy cup for him to hold. Hes interested in it, but not enough yet. He's been so spoiled with bottles during the day so I might be a hard transition. We'll keep working on it.

He's got a little nubbin of a tooth coming in. It seems to be taking its time. But Jules doesn't seem too phased by it.

We're also teaching him to clap and wave and we'll start a few baby signs soon.

He reaches for people when he wants to be held. And his stranger anxiety (the little bit that was there) is almost gone.



There have been some major changes with sleep. Last month, not sure if it was because I was home for two weeks, growth spurt or what, but his sleep habits were crappy. He's gotten back on track but now sleeps a bit more. He's put in bed around 7pm, he talks for about 20 minutes and then falls asleep. Wakes up between 5:30 and 6:30 then will either doze for another hour or will be up for about 2 hours. Then Justin takes over. He takes about two 1 1/2 naps then a quick one late in the day. Which can make or break bedtime. So we drop it sometimes which helps his naps and sleep at night.

I know people stop swaddling their little ones around 4 or 5 months, but we were still swaddling him until about a week ago. While it did seem pointless every time we did it (he would bust out the second we walked away), he somehow knew that being swaddled meant it was time to go to sleep. The times we didn't swaddle him, he'd talk and play in bed for over an hour, but the second we'd swaddle him, he'd be out.

So now he's in a sleep sac. He's used it before but now we're trying to use it all the time. And he's cut down on the length of time he talks before falling asleep. It's usually about 20 minutes now.



When I get home from work, he wants me to hold him until he goes to bed. While I would love to do this, I do have a few things that I need to get done. So I decided he's big enough to carry on my back leaving me with my hands free. And he loves this!



We're still using cloth diapers. No rashes, no blow-outs, no leaks (unless he's left in it too long). It was a great investment. But now we've got the stinkies! It happens. And really, the only way I can get rid of them is to line dry. Ha! Can't do that until about April, maybe May. So until then, I have to just keep cleaning them in small amounts, altering the water hardness with the softener, try different detergents - basically a science experiment. But I still highly recommend cloth diapers!



Happy 8 month birthday baby Jules!