8 Months Old

Where oh where do I begin? Let's see this past month once again has been a blur. Time truly flies with a baby. I mean the days are long, but the months FLY by! This month I feel like my baby has started to transition into a "pre-toddler." I think that is because he got his 2 bottom teeth last week. He'll have teeth for the rest of his life (not those teeth, but teeth in general) so I guess it just seems like he's "growing up."

This month has been a busy month in the life of Harper. I started back to work on Fridays at our church teaching a Kinder Enrichment class, so now Harper goes to "school" on Fridays..... We are also in the process of moving (Movers come on the 29th!) to Montgomery so Harper's new toys are boxes and bubble wrap! I've also had Project Prom most Saturday Mornings so he has had lots of special time with daddy (to make up for the week that daddy left us to go to the Masters) and two of his buddies were born: Charlie and AnnMarie. Whew! It's been a busy month!

Harper is pretty much a text book baby and so easy going. We're so blessed with such a sweet, mild mannered baby. He is a great napper when his mama keeps him on schedule! He still takes 2 naps a day for about an hour and a half to two hours. He wakes up happy and is pretty much happy all day long. He is a great nighttime sleeper. too....now that the teeth are in....he goes to bed around 8pm. We start our wind down routine with dinner at 5pm, followed by lots of play time with daddy, a long bath, a little milk, and then it's off to counting sheep. Harper use to fight going to sleep at night, but now he wants his paci, lamb (or rabbit not really sure what animal it resembles) and the heartbeat machine and he's out! He moves around a lot a night. I never know what position he'll be in when I get him in the morning. He sleeps on his side with his face covered up, it's really cute! I guess it's because when I rock him he snuggles and turns his cheek toward me.

As far as eating goes Harper eats 4 for times a day. He gets milk and oatmeal for breakfast, followed by milk, fruit, veggies, and meat for lunch and dinner, then a bottle before bedtime. He LOVES to eat. He devours everything except green beans....which is really funny because that is one of the only veggies that his daddy will eat. He screams really loud and makes a fist when you don't feed him fast enough. It was really cute at first, but I'm starting to think he's developing a red-headed temper! If he sees anyone else eating he gets really mad and will scream until he gets a bite! I guess that is why he has some serious thunder thighs! Some one even called him a "bruiser" the other day I guess maybe he really is chubby! I've given him pieces of bananas, apples, blueberries, grapes, and green beans. I usually feed it to him or it won't make it to his mouth. For a snack I've given him puffs, biter biscuits (I don't recommend.....totally messy!) and zwieback toast. I'm not really sure when we'll start eating table food, maybe after this move is over with.

Recently Harper has started to pull up on everything. He is not content just sitting in my lap, he'll grap whatever he can and pull up. Last week he was sitting in his bath tub and tried to use the ledge to pull up. I thought it was really cute so I sat back and watched. Well, it wasn't so cute when he toppled face first into the bathtub. My heart stopped. It was his first "accident" and my first horrible parenting moment. I think he was more scared than anything especially as the water splashed in his face. It was awful, I can't even describe it. After he calmed down we finished the bath. He was trying to pull up again so I had to say "No." I can't believe it's already that time. I think he's starting to figure out what that word means.

He still loves to play on the floor with his mound of toys. He loves his Fisher Price Stage and microphone rattle best. He is a master at the ring stacker. He squeals with excitement when he takes off the rings. He has recently gone crazy in the johnny jump up. He bounces vigorously, I mean today after about 20 continuous minutes of bouncing I took him out and he was sweating!! He's working out his legs for crawling. Speaking of crawling he's not too interested in things that involve him being on his tummy. He will scoot backwards, but not fowards. I'm sure he'll start to crawl right as we move! I guess that is good timing, I don't want to baby proof two houses!

I think Harper's laugh will always be one of my favorite sounds. He laughs out loud when he is being tickled. He has several ticklish spots....under his arms, tummy, and thighs. He giggles at Baxter and anytime I throw him in the air. I always try to video his laugh, but he gets serious as soon as the camera comes out.

I still can't believe he's 8 months old. We have already celebrated so many milestones. I am so thankful that he is healthy and happy. It is just a JOY to watch him grow and see him turn into the person that God created him to be.

Happy 8 months Harper! We love you :)