Wil Franklin - 8 Months Old

My sweet baby is getting soooooooooooooo big!!! It seems like every day he is doing something new and growing bigger and accomplishing more. Every stage is more fun than the previous. I have not made time to blog as much as I should have. It just seems that he is changing so much my head is spinning and I am NOT able to keep up. So this might not be a very interesting post for everyone else, but I want to get things down so that I can remember them for years to come.

8 Month Old Stats:

Physical: We have not been to the doctor since he was 6 months old (16lbs), so I am not sure his size. I am sure he is over 17 lbs by now...he is so much bigger. He is just now getting into size 6 month clothes. He has CHUNKY CHUNKY little legs and a little belly that pokes out (he still has a little bit of an outie). His eyes are still huge and a beautiful blue. He smiles ALL the time and is one of the happiest babies in the world.

Teeth: Wil Franklin got his two bottom teeth first, then his two top middle teeth. Now (just started this week) he is getting the two top teeth on either side of the two middle teeth...making our total tooth count: 6!

Emotional: Wil Franklin is very much a studier. He is not really cautious, he just wants to study everything and figure it out. He can have such a solomn face and stare you down. Then when he gets comfortable, he will grin and give you the greatest smile in the whole world. He is very much a momma's boy right now. He will go to almost anybody if mommy is right there in sight. He has started reaching for me or reaching for his daddy...who he LOVES! He has a funny little fake cry that he does when he is frustrated or mad. But when he gets hurt or is really upset, he does this cry where he sucks in a lot of air and holds his breath. Then the tears come and he SCREAMS. He is very much a snuggle bug and loves to fall asleep in my lap while I am singing to him. (Our fav songs of late are the Jesus Medley - Jesus,There's just something about that name, Oh how I love Jesus, Jesus LOves Me). He just moved into his bedroom and his big bed last week and is doing great. He is not sleeping through the night again yet, but we can attribute most of that to teething.

Abilities: At the end of last month (July) while he was still 7 months old, he started getting up on all fours and rocking back and forth. Then he would put one hand out and one knee out in a crawling motion and then faceplant. NOW he is totally crawling. He can get from one side of the room to the other in no time flat. That really just happened this week...yesterday to be exact. He is so mobile and it is scaring mom and dad. Before he got completely mobile, he was figuring out how it worked. One day I sat him down on the floor in the living room on a blanket. He got off the blanket onto the hardwood floor and was sliding because he still had his PJ pants on. He figured out he could slide backwards by pushing up on his hands and managed to get all the way under our table in the corner. I walked back into the room and couldn't find him. I freaked a little bit...then I saw him in the corner. It was way too funny for me.

He is also pulling up to a standing position from a sitting position. He flips and flops all around and doesn't stay still. Changing his diaper is quite an experience.

He's eating extremely well and loving solid food. He does have his favorites right now (sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce, pears, bananas, prunes, and rice cereal). He is a little resistent to a new taste and likes to take it slow to new foods. He is still nursing and doing great with that. I am making most all of his babyfood right now and everything that he has put into his mouth has been organic. I know it won't always be like that, but hopefully for the first year it will be.

Favorites: Wil Franklin LOVES his Little Einstein Exersaucer (which we call the poopy chair because he poops while he is in there without fail), his johnny jump up, his little red wagon, the roll and crawl ball, his cow bell rattle, his plastic keys, and his purple elephant.

In the morning when I get him out of his crib, he has the greatest smile. He is so happy to see me. We change our diaper, eat, and play a little. He is eating cereal and fruit in the morning time after he nurses. Then he takes a pretty good morning nap. He usually falls asleep by himself, but sometimes I have to sing to him and rock him a little. He sleeps with a passy and snuggled onto his lovey. The rest of our day varies due to what we have going on. Anywhere between 5 and 7pm he eats a vegetable and sometimes another fruit. Then it's BATHTIME!!! Wil FRanklin LOVES the water. He splishes and splashes and kicks his feet. He doesn't mind water in his face at all. He likes to suck on his cloth and pour water out of a cup and chase around his water toys. While we are getting dressed for bed, we do all the sounds of all the animals. Then we tell our Mr. Giraffe and Baby Giraffe goodnight. We say our prayers, nurse, and go to bed. EVERY NIGHT WITHOUT FAIL, as I am laying him down I say, "Mommy loves you {kiss}, Daddy loves you {kiss}, and Jesus loves you {kiss}. Sleep tight my baby and have sweet dreams {kiss}. I love you." Then I lay him down and lay my hands over him and pray protection over him. It is my favorite time of the day.

He is very vocal and can scream, yell, grunt, and talk. He says dadadadadad, yayayayyayayaya, and is now starting to say raaaraaaraaaraaa. Matt and I think he is trying to say Rags. I will be so upset if he says Rags before Momma! Ha!

He is such a ticklemonster and is very ticklish especially under his arms and on the bottom of his feet. He likes to be startled and gets very tickled when he is. He has the cutest laugh when he belly laughs and you know he thinks it is very funny.

I am sure I'll remember more later, but this is a good start to get down some of the things that are making this 8th month so much fun and so special.

I love you, Wil Franklin and am so thankful to "have" you.