Elijah's Eight Month Milestones

I should have titled this post Elijah's 8.5 Month Milestones because I am getting slower and slower at recording his life happenings!

This past month, he has continued to build on most of the milestones he hit last month. He can crawl, pull up, and even stand on his own now. He can also walk around the coffee table while he is holding on. He will be walking unassisted before I blink my eyes, but I am not wishing it to come any faster than it already will!

We have cut two more teeth this month, so we have a total of 4 now--2 on top and 2 on the bottom. This is what the cutest 8 month old grin ever looks like: 

His Our new favorite game happens just before bedtime. He gets down to his skibbies and will crawl away from us while we attempt to put on his nighttime diaper and jammies. He will then flop over on his naked booty and flap his arms up an down squealing with delight. Maybe you have to be there...but trust me, it is THE cutest thing ever! We are such suckers for this kid and no jammies or diaper gets put on until we finish playing our little game 15 minutes later.

Let's see....he also started saying Ma-Ma this month! He says it a lot....and I love it a lot!! We are still working on Da-Da, but for now everything is Ma-Ma. Interested to see how his language development goes since Mom and Dad are learning a 2nd language and he is hearing both. 

He sleep schedule is still hit or miss, but he did have this one awesome week this month where he slept like a champ! I am talking like the kid slept through the whole night one night this month. It only happened once, but It. Was. Awesome.

He is still putting E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G in his mouth, especially the dangerous things. It's the darn'dest thing. Insert how I am so thankful to have Ryan around because he is always the one preventing a hazardous situation in the making.

It has been so neat to see him develop into being totally uninterested in toys to being semi-interested to actually spotting a toy across the room, deciding he wants it, crawling over and getting it, and then manipulating the toy to actually do what it is supposed to do. The developmental process is fascinating.

He also has developed a sense of object permanence. Exhibit A. When you hide the cell phone under your leg, he knows it still exists and will make it his life's mission to retrieve it. He also gets really sad when either Ryan or I leave the room because he knows we still exist if we are not around and wants to be with us.

As far as interacting with strangers goes, he is still pretty social, but is now getting shy. He will grin at people and when they acknowledge him, he will bury his head in our chests or shoulder. I can't help but think this also is the cutest thing ever being on the receiving end of the head snuggles.

Here are a few fun things we did this past month and a half according to our iPhones:

Bath time fun.

Seattle Mariners fan.

Warming up in Panera.

Grocery Shopping buddy.

Elijah's first Thanksgiving.

Sagging a little there.

Snow day with daddy.

First snow with mommy.

This one is going in the future rehearsal dinner slideshow.

Beautiful snow in the mountains.

Picking out our family christmas tree at the christmas tree farm. 

She's a beauty ain't she Clark.

Little Lije girl? 

Bed head much?

Helping us deck the Christmas tree out.

Helping momma get ready in the morning.

First Jesse Tree experience.

New friends.

New friends cont.

Future disc golf star.

The canasta king.

Welcoming his new friend into the world.

He is into everything now, including pens.

Giving the death stare to a stranger in the waiting room.

Elijah's Seventh Month Milestones

Seven months. The scales have officially tipped folks. We are closer to EH being 1 year old than being born. That freaks this momma out a little bit, not going to lie!

Elijah has hit some ridiculous milestones this month. He is so mobile now! He is crawling everywhere! Nothing is safe...He is also pulling himself up on anything and everything--the crib, chairs, the couch, the coffee table, his daddy's legs, his bathtub, you name it! Not only is able to pull himself up, but he is also learning how to hike is leg to try and mount things....I am scared.

I just bumped him up to 12 month clothing and at his last doctor's visit, he was around 21 pounds and 27 inches long. That was closer to 6 months though so he may have already grown a little. We are out of the 95% for weight and down to 92%. He is our little chunk with the juiciest thighs I have ever seen on a baby.

We are still nursing 4-5 times per day, but he is definitely eating more solids. Anything that is not too hot, hard, or spicy, I let him try! He likes salmon, LOVES bananas, but there is really nothing he won't try and eat.

We also started really working with him on his baby sign language skills this month. I am sure you are really surprised based on his girth, but the only sign he has got down is for "milk". I can't tell if he really gets it or if he really likes making that raking grasp motion.

We cut two teeth this month! That was NOT fun. No one tells you how hard cutting teeth can be. We had fevers, inconsolable crying, the whole she-bang. He has the cutest little Jack-O-Lantern smile now though to show for it that melts my heart every single time he flashes those teethers at me. 

He also responds to his own name which is more often than not "Lije-bear". He also is learning the word "No". We have gotten a lot of practice because he is intrigued with the fireplace and every time he sticks his paws on the fireplace screen, I say "No" and he stops, turns around and looks at me, smiles, and then turns back to the fireplace only to then be removed from the situation by me. Shepherding this little one's heart is going to be quite the task...thankful for grace for both of us already.

Still no "ma-ma" or "da-da" but he does love to babble and makes his own noises....namely "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba". He also has developed a special "whine-cry" when he does not get his way that is more high pitched than if he is really hurt or sad. This has all happened way way way too soon!

When I say nothing is safe anymore...I mean nothing is safe from little one's mouth. Everything is going in the mouth...especially the things I don't want to go in his mouth like electrical cords and important papers. He has a special affinity for those things:-). He also is not so easily fooled when you try to hide things from him....like your cell phone.

He loves being around other babies and big kids alike and is super playful. He LOVES looking at himself in the mirror. Nothing makes him crack up more than catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He is overall such a happy baby and is joyful most all the time.

Sleep continues to be a challenge for us. We are trudging through though and I remind myself that before I blink my eyes, he will be a teenager who sleeps too much:-).

This is such a new and exciting season of him being so mobile and fun and we are having a blast! Love you little bear!

And here are a few more pictures of pure cute-ness off our phones this month!

Rockin' his new beanie his Gigi crocheted for him. 

A sweet tired smile after a rough night of teething and no sleep.

Pops and EH.

Family Hike up to Rattlesnake Ledge.

Twinsies.

Me and my little bear.

Gigi and the little bear.

Blurry pic, but my fav view of downtown Seattle to date!

Loved playing with the pumpkins this October.

Grocery shopping with dad....I think it is safe to say my sweet tooth got passed along through the gene pool.

EH and his bestie....who he learns all his cool tricks from.

Our family pumpkin this year.

Adult trick or treating at chipoltle for $3 BOO-ritos. 

Pulling up on his daddy's legs.

It rained for a solid week straight here and this was our first ray of sunshine....so off to the park we went.

EH was more interested in eating woodchips than playing.

Excited to see the kind of men these two little ones turn in to. 

Tubby time hawk'.

Grandaddy and Gran came for a visit and took EH  shopping for Christmas!

Mad bed head.

Check out the juicy thighs.

Boys night at theWebb's. 

Looking forward to our first December full of festivities with this little one!