8 months old

Dear Leo,

Today you are 8 months old. That's 2/3 of a year already! You are a very smiley baby who lately is not interested in napping if you can at all get out of it. The ladies at daycare hate to see you bang your head on the crib railings, so they don't make you nap if you don't go to sleep right away. We try to tell them that you've been getting plenty of head-bonks at home from all of your attempts at crawling. Sometimes you seem so tired that you just kind of topple over--hence the current collection of bruises on your noggin. :-(

You love to play with your stacking cups and are thrilled that they make good bath toys, especially since this week mama and papa finally bit the bullet and started giving you baths in the big-person tub (still while in your infant tub, we're not ready for you to have that much room to move yet!) You are still liking your food and we are slowly working up to finger foods. You have the pincer grasp figured out, but we worry that with no teeth (yup, still no teeth!) you will have a harder time gumming things. But, we know we need to let you try soon. You like to wave your sippy cup around, and Ms. Ete had us take one to daycare, but we haven't been able to get you to drink from it yet.

You've gotten too big to carry in the car seat, so we have been leaving it in the car and have been carrying you too and fro. We have to order the next seat up, but haven't figured out which will fit in the car yet (they all seem to be made for Suburbans!)

This week you have learned to blow raspberries, although thankfully you don't try to do so with food in your mouth (yet). You haven't been "talking" as much lately, but do let us know when you are displeased or when you are happy (oh the giggles we can induce!). You like tickles and "high fives" and mama playing peekaboo (without the hiding part, which you think is hysterical!).




You have been very athletic, getting from prone to seated in no time flat. You can now get between laying down (front and back), sitting, and hands-and-knees with no problem. And to think that just a month ago you could sit up if we put you there but if you toppled over you were stuck. You grab for things outside of your reach, and it is really time for mama to start thinking about packing up some breakables.