8 Months Old!

As I sit in my quite living room while Kael is asleep (for now...), I can't help but look through all of our pictures. I seem to do this on the 3rd of every month. It always blows me away how much he has changed since the previous month, and then I jump back to when he was first born or only 2-3 months old and he seems SO different.

This month seemed to go by way too fast. I tried to prepare myself for this... the holiday season. I knew that it would fly by, especially knowing that it will be his first Thanksgiving and Christmas. The holidays always go by too quickly, and now that we are getting to share them with this little guy, it seems as though I can't keep up!

This month I am beginning to realize that I am going to seriously have my hands full with this one. Kael is such a busy body. He doesn't like to sit still, and is learning how to get into everything. He is now able to walk along the couch, the shelves, entertainment center, end tables, and basically anything that he can reach. He will take a few steps with his walker, but for the most part, he would rather sit and play with the buttons that play music. His new past time is opening the cabinets to the entertainment center and pulling every single one of Kevin's video games out (at least they aren't my Wii games!).

Other milestones/facts about Kael this month include:

• We are starting to offer some table foods. So far he tried (and actually eaten) bagels with cream cheese, french toast (no syrup), bran muffins, biscuits, nutragrain bars (he stole a bite of mine one morning, and now begs for it whenever I have one), string cheese, crackers, noodles, and guacamole. Most of this, he tries at daycare. We use a USDA food program there, and provide breakfast, lunch, and a snack for every child. We offer the table food to the babies once they are 10 months old, but he has had such an interest in what we are eating that I have starting letting him try pretty much whatever we are eating. Something he likes, and somethings he spits out right away.
• He still has ZERO teeth! The past two weeks have been rough and I have been swearing up and down that I feel a tooth RIGHT there, but it still hasn't come, so I'm beginning to think I'm making it up.
• I'm not sure what his weight is, but he seems as though he is just getting taller and taller. He has really thinned out, and has been keeping pretty steady with his clothes (thank goodness!). He is still in 9 month clothes and size 3 diapers, but I am thinking we will be making the switch to 12 month clothes pretty soon.
• We are still breastfeeding. I have been supplementing a bottle of formula a day, but mainly because I have become so frustrated with the whole pumping process and the stress of having enough to give him a bottle at daycare. He used to refuse the formula and I would have to mix it with 2-3 ounces of breast milk, but now he has no problems with it. I have good and bad feelings about this. I'm glad that we have that option since I pretty much don't have any stored milk anymore, but at the same time it breaks my heart knowing that he could make the switch to all formula and would probably be just fine. I'm not ready to give it up, and don't feel the need to. I am thankful to know that while we are on vacation next month, I will have the option of giving him a bottle of formula if we are in a situation that would make it difficult to breastfeed.
• We are still having MAJOR issues on the sleep front. He has pretty much moved into our bed, where I nurse him roughly 3 times in the middle of the night since it seems to be the only thing that will get him back to sleep. I know this is going to come back and bite me in the butt, but I am so desperate for sleep at this point, I can't think straight! Last night he was up every hour! We are trying to slowly move him back into his own space, starting by putting him to sleep in his pack n play in our room. At this point, he is typically going to bed around 7:30-8:00 and waking around 12, 3, 6, and waking for good around 7-7:30. I thought things were supposed to get better as they get older, but boy was I wrong!
• Kael has developed full blown stranger and separation anxiety, which both put a lot of stress on me. At work it is especially difficult. He loves the teachers he is with every day, but if someone is out and a new person comes in, he freaks out and cries the entire time. He is the same way when it comes to me. If I leave the room while he is playing, once he looks up and sees that I am not in there, he loses it, and starts frantically crawling around trying to find me. It makes me feel loved, but makes it so hard to get anything done!
• He had his second haircut this month and they actually used the trimmers! They took his little sideburns off, which he has had since he was born. I shed a few tears, but overall, they did a good job. He had gotten to where he just couldn't see. I'm still not sure how I will have them cut it once he turns one, but I don't think I can handle a "real" haircut, where he would look like Kevin. I need some hair to run my fingers through!
• He is a big fan of the 3 B's- Bubbles, Balls, and Books. After looking through countless ads and commercials trying to find the best toys to get him for Christmas, I've come to realize that he would be perfectly content with a pile of board books that he can sit and flip through the pages of. He also likes to try and eat them, but we are working on that.

I could probably go on and on about all of the fun things that we did this month as well, but considering he has been sleeping for an hour, I am going to go and relax and enjoy some quite time before all hell breaks loose tonight!