Eight Months

 Month 8 Pictures coming soon*

The fact that by baby is now fully mobile, is a little intimidating. I’m not ready to chase around a person from room to room while guarding my cabinet doors, grabage cans, cat litter and steps. Wyatt is very curious with the world around him and now that he’s moving (forward) he’s all about exploring just about anything. This means that I can no longer leave the room for “just a minute” because when I return there is trouble often brewing. A quick trip to the bathroom means that I come back to Wyatt tipping over the trash can and playing with it’s contents. Or running to another room for a brief second means that he pulled the wipes box out, learned to open it, and is pulling out wipes like it’s the funniest thing in the world.  For weeks I’m been coaching and encouraging Wyatt to move and now I’m somewhat regretting it because I’ve created a little monster. Certianly I didn’t consider the consequances of Wyatt being able to really move around the house and what that would mean for Glen and me. These milestones happen so fast. One day, Wyatt is stationary and the next day he’s crawling across the room in a matter of seconds. It’s really impressive and intersting how they learn so quickly.

Wyatt had a very eventful month and I attribute his success with hitting milestones to starting daycare. To be honest, the first day was somewhat difficult for me. It was a reminder of how much Wyatt is growing up and how independent he’s becoming. When I dropped him off on that very first day, he instantly started smiling and cooing with the other babies and he seemed so content. He hard;y noticed that I left him that day and because of this, I shed a tear or two. I was anxious for 4:00 to come that day. So anxious that I ended up leaving work at 3:50. When I went to pick him up he was playing with the other babies and smiled at me when I picked him up. He had an amazing first day at daycare and was very well behaved. His teachers loved him! Shortly following his first day he ended up getting a stomach virus, then a cold, and finally an ear infection. Then when he was starting to feel better from the various viruses, he got a little grumpy due to the discomfort of teething. It was a rough couple of weeks. I never had to clean up so much vomit and diarrhea in my life. I guess this was my first real ‘test’ as a parent. To take care of a sick, teething baby and still be on my game.

Since starting daycare, Wyatt has learned to crawl, pull up, stand without holding onto anything (albeit only for a few seconds), sit on his knees, ask to be held (visual cues), Say dadadadadada (not associated with Dad) and say MA (associates it with me), pinch small foods and self feed, open cabinets and doors and clap. A funny moment happened very recently when Wyatt chased the cat away then proceeded to sit up and clap. It was hilarious, especially to me who isn’t a cat person. I’m really proud of his accomplishments this month.

Wyatt also has a little baby crush on a girl in his daycare named Ellie. Ellie has brown eyes and blonde hair, just like Wyatt and she was born in June of 2011. The teachers at daycare describe them as being inseparable. It started one day when Ellie fel over into the crawling position and Wyatt pinched her butt. Then another day the babies were placed on opposite sides of the room, turned away to make a bottle, then turned back to see them foot-to-foot playing together. When I bring him in, he just stares at her as if no one else is even in the room. It’s so interesting that he’s formed such a strong bond with her over the course of two weeks.

I’m incredibly biased when it comes to my son. I think he’s super adorable and sweet and his personality is infectious. He is very social and smiley and this is what I believe makes him so appealing to other people. The one teacher from the toddler room will often take him outside with her and play favorites with him because he’s so cheerful and friendly. I’m very proud of his accomplishments.

On Easter Eve, at nearly 8 months old, it happened. He got his first tooth! I anticipated that maybe he was teething because of a somewhat sour behavior (really, he just wanted to be held and cuddled more) and the draining of his nose and mouth, although this could have been left over from his cold. He had a particularly rough morning in daycare on Thursday (the 5^th of April) and I was hoping that we would see a tooth sometime soon after that. Every time I think he’s teething and nothing happens, I get discouraged. I was surprised when I actually saw the pearly white tooth in his mouth on Saturday. It is on the bottom left. I anticipate that the right one will be soon to follow.

Milestones:

Sitting on knees

Reaching to be held

First tooth (is that a milestone?)

Crawling on all fours

Properly playing with toys

Banging toys/hands

Clapping

Pulling up

Babbling

Mastered pinching motion

Personality Traits:

Likes to be held/cuddled and take weekend naps with parents

Prefers to self feed

Giggles at other people and animals

Likes to touch animals & pet their soft fur

Likes to chase the animals around the house

Tolerates getting dressed and pushes arms through sleeves

Likes to explore surroundings