8 Months

Feeding:

You prefer to feed yourself with your fingers and if you are really hungry, I can spoon feed you.

Your diet goes like this:
Wake up (you nurse either around 5 or 6 and typically go back to sleep until 7:30 or 8)
Breakfast includes rice cereal or oatmeal mixed with a fruit (usually banana, applesauce, pear or mango) and then you pick up Puffs and pieces of banana;
Nurse mid-morning
Lunch around 1:00 consists of soft foods that you feed yourself (usually butternut squash, carrot, canned no-salt green beans, steamed zucchini or yellow squash) or "stew" (pureed yellow potato, apple and butternut squash);
Nurse again in the afternoon 1-2 times
Dinner around 6 with barley or oatmeal cereal mixed with pureed veggie (same veggies as above)
Nurse before bed--around 7.
When the food comes at you, you twirl your wrists and ankles and you grunt with excitement.

The week that you turned 8 months you have been waking up around 2 and then 5.  Boo to that.  I also introduced meat into your diet.  You had chicken soup---drank the broth from an open cup (no spilling!) and finger fed yourself the carrots and chicken.  You also enjoy your mesh feeder which works out perfectly for when you still want to eat but when I cannot feed you.  I put grapes and watermelon in the mesh bag, fasten it to the handle and you are able to hold it and chew/suck on the bag to get the juices out.  I don't have to worry about you choking and it also feels good on your gums.

You are starting to get the concept that you want to move.  When I am holding you, you will pump your legs like you are jumping.  On the floor you are just starting the looks of commando crawling.  You can sit briefly unassisted.  I am trying my hardest to give you a lot of floor time.  Since Mikey's summer schedule isn't so busy these next few weeks (read: you aren't spending most of your time in the car going here, there and everywhere), we should be able to achieve this goal.  You bang up and down and I have seen some hands together which looks like clapping. You open and close your fingers like you are waving, but not yet realizing that it IS a wave.  You cover your eyes with your right hand to play "peek-a-boo".  You are doing lots of raspberries with your mouth, "ra-ra-ra" utterances and vowel sounds come out from time to time.  You are very passionate about what you are doing.  If you really really want something, you won't back down until you get it.  All you have to do is look at Mikey and you crack up.  This happens a lot in the car.  Daddy and I love to hear you laughing and often look at each other and laugh, too.  Daddy says "Baby boy please don't grow up any more.  You are getting too big!" AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.  I tell him that you get cuter every day which makes it okay---but we would like you to stay a baby for a little while longer.

I know I write this every month, but I cannot believe another month as passed.  We love you, Nicholas!