Will is 8 months!

During this crazy holiday season, Will turned 8 months old. We left SC with a few tricks up our sleeves and we returned with many more! It is still so amazing to me to see how much a baby grows and changes and learns in the first year. Every new trick is so cool. Here are the 8 month stats!

At our last doctor's appointment, Will weighed in at 20lbs 4oz. We love every little roll and those kissable chubby cheeks. He is sitting up fully unsupported and crawling like a maniac. We can not take our eyes off him because he is so fast. He still crawls with his belly on the floor, but that does not slow him down. Over the holidays he figured out how to get from laying on his back or belly back up to sitting. Once we returned from RI, we lowered the mattress in the crib after finding him sitting up in the morning a few days in a row. He has pulled himself up to his knees just a few times. He will stand with minimal support (while holding onto a toy, the couch or our ottoman) and "dance". He will take steps, marching style while you hold both his hands, but we don't think he is quite ready to walk yet. Will can wave hi/bye and during the holidays, every time he heard someone say "bye" he would start waving and waving and waving-even to characters on TV. He says "Mama" and "Dada" and loves to squeal. He does "SO BIG", sometimes so big he topples himself over backwards. Our newest trick is clapping and when he claps or sees you clap, he starts saying "clap, clap, clap", although it sounds more like "cla, cla, cla". We are starting to work on sign language with him like we did with Jack. "More" and "All done" are what we are doing right now. He makes the sign for "more" but sometimes it looks like he is clapping. Either way, we get all excited for him and he in turn gets really excited too. Jack loves to make the signs too and see Will's response. 

We have had a rough couple of weeks in terms of being sick. As I mentioned in the previous post, Will had his first ear infection right before Christmas. He then got the pleasure of catching the cold that Jack had and this turned into a new double ear infection and walking pneumonia. We have been to the pediatricians or had phone conferences with the doctors and nurses many times in the past few weeks. It seems like the new medication regimen we have him on is working. We hope that he can be back to "normal" very soon. We hate seeing him struggle to breathe and be so unhappy. Through all of these sniffles and wheezes, his little smile will still find a way to pop out! Also, to add to his torment, he cut his first tooth this week! I happen to be feeling around in his mouth the other day and low and behold, a sharp little spike was sticking up! I felt again this morning and I think I can feel the edge of the neighbor tooth too. When it rains, it pours! 

As you can see by his weight, Will loves to eat. I am trying my best to be more adventurous with the foods that I present to him. I am not as nervous as I was with Jack. Everything we have for dinner, I put in front of Will. He loves to be able to pick the food up and "feed himself", although half of it ends up inside the highchair. He does not like to mix textures, but prefers them one at a time. He does best when he has things on the tray to work at picking up and eating, while I help supplement him with smoother baby food. He holds his sippy cup well and drinks water with every meal. Since I have been able to be home with both kids for the past few months, Will has received fewer and fewer bottles. We are taking this time to transition him off of the bottle altogether and just to a sippy cup. 

It has been rainy, windy and cold here for the past few days-good weather for laying low, watching movies and recooperating. The sun is shining today and it is supposed to warm up this weekend. We hope to be able to open the windows and send the germs on their way as well as get out and about in the fresh air. 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!