Eight Months

Height: 26.75"

Weight: 16 lbs. according to our home scale 

(which is less than he weighed at 6 months, so I'm not sure if that's accurate or not?)

I think Peter is in my very favorite stage right now. Of course, I've thought that about 10 different times in his short life. He's just so fun! 

He hasn't had as many changes this month, but he's still as wiggly and giggly as ever. He continues to crawl everywhere and pull up on EVERYthing. He has started to let go while standing, but pretty quickly falls down on his bum.

I feel like I get a glimpse of what he'll look like as a toddler from several of these pictures. 

The best word to describe his behavior lately is CLINGY. He used to happily let anyone else hold him, but lately he has only wanted Mama. I've even had to hide from him at times so someone else can play with him and so I can get a little break. He likes to keep me in sight at all times, as evidenced by the picture below. He didn't like me disappearing behind the camera and kept trying to see around it to find my face. It's cute and heart-warming and exhausting all at once. 

Sitting still just doesn't happen these days. He sometimes looks like he's frantic as he rolls, dives, crawls and pulls up, in an attempt to keep moving at all times.

Yeah, these are the best shots I got with the stuffed animals this month...so you can only imagine what some of the ones that got cut looked like. 

You can really see his skin tone in the picture below. He's always had a more olive complexion and since he's been out in the sun this past month, he's got quite the farmer's tan going. (I do put sunscreen on him. He just tans easily, like his parents.)

Big Moments in Month 8:

*Peter went swimming several times

*Kory celebrated his 1st Father's Day

*Peter attended his 1st VBS and the theme was his middle name: Everest!

*Peter and I took a 2 week trip to Red River/Amarillo to see friends and family

*Peter spent his 1st Independence Day in Panhandle, TX & got to stay up late to watch the fireworks

He got one new tooth in on the top left and is working on a couple more now. The amount of drool this boy produces is pretty mind-boggling. 

One of my favorite things about his appearance right now is his old man hair line. It's been there since birth (and is probably due to his position during birth) but it's becoming much more visible these days and I just love it.

I love to just sit and watch him play. It's fascinating to see him figure things out and to imagine what's going on in that brain of his.   

He still sleeps really well in his crib. On our NM/TX trip, he woke up every single night 2-4 times. The first night we got back, he slept 11 straight hours and then another 3.5 hours after I fed him at 7:00 a.m. The only other place I can get him to sleep is in my Ergo. It requires a pacifier, the hood over his head, me walking/bouncing/swaying/sometimes all three at once, and him being patted on the bottom. It's quite the song and dance for me to perform, but it does work if we're away from the house and he can't nap in his crib.

He is still eating mostly fruit and vegetable purees, but he has had a few bites of meat lately and he really loved it, especially the steak. Go figure. 

Peter's Current Favorite Things: 

*Spitting (pictured below)

*Being held by me 

*Pickles (spears are great to chew on)

*Chewing/sucking on EVERYthing (especially shoes)

*Pulling up and then turning to make sure you saw him pull up

These photo shoots are a bore to him. As is life at home with just me, especially after he's been around his fun cousins for a week!

And, we must now end each of these sessions with the chewing of the month sticker. It's a good sign that he's done, and I should be too, because the pictures are all downhill from here.