Graham is Eight Months Old

My how time is flying by. I've been looking forward to writing this update, and dreading it all at the same time. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my second born is

Eight Months Old.

Where's the pause button on life??

So here we are - eight months old - my gosh.

Height: 29.5 inches tall

Weight: Approx. 22 lbs

Clothing:

I don't think Graham has grown much since last month. Still wearing 12 - 18 month clothing. There are some onesies that are 24 months (we wear these when we have a big fluffy butt!) but other than that clothing is about the same. We did have to get new socks though. All his Robeez socks are too small/tight so I bought some new ones that are 24 month size. The boy has some big feet!

Breastfeeding/Solids:

Graham has been doing wonderful with solid food. We did have about a week with no... err.. poops and he was quite upset, but after a lot of tummy massage and a warm bath he went. Chris and I felt so bad for him, but now he is back to being regular and a happy, content little guy.

We have now introduced meat into his diet and he LOVES it. So far he has had chicken breast, pork tenderloin and beef. I was a little nervous about feeding it to him, but he chowed down like a pro.

We are still doing three small meals a day.

Morning: Cheerios and fruit. Or toast - again it depends what I have handy.

Lunch: Fruit or veggie (depends what I have on hand)

Dinner: Meat and veggie.

We are still doing Baby led Solids which is working great for him. He doesn't like being spoon fed and he has an amazing pincher grasp. Finds the food and shoves it into his mouth.

New Food List:

Blueberries
Squash
Meat: beef, chicken and pork.
Yogurt (Greek)
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Pasta
Spaghetti

Graham still loves to nurse. I don't think we've cut down at all. Actually we haven't. He still nurses like he did before the introduction of solid food. I have a feeling weaning him is going to be difficult. Don't get me wrong - I will not force him to wean. James self weaned at 15.5 months - so if Graham wants to go longer, then that is fine. We are still nursing at least 8-10 times throughout the day. This includes nighttime feedings as well. Boy loves his boobie milk.

Sleeping:

Same as last month. There have been a few nights that Graham has only woken up once to feed, but those nights are few and far between. I have been nursing him till he is drowsy and then Chris takes over and put him into his playpen. Most nights he goes down without a fight, but sometimes he fights it and screams bloody murder for me. He has NO self soothing capabilities, which drives me nuts some nights. One night it took me till 2:30 am to get him to sleep. He would NOT settle. I rocked him to sleep three times and he would go about 19 minutes before he would wake and scream - and I mean SCREAM! Blood curdling screams. I was so upset, crying and downright exhausted.

He will go for about 4 - 5 hours on his own in his playpen (there was one night we got him into his crib for about 4 hours but that was it) then he wakes and looks for me - so into bed he comes. He will comfort nurse for about 15 minutes and fall asleep. Then usually around 2:00 am he is up again and this time he nurses - as in "I am hungry, so feed me" Then he's down till about 5:30 and usually that's another full nurse, and he drifts back off till James comes into bed - around 6:30. Then we are up. BAH! Early mornings - not my thing.

The boys will be sharing a room once we move into our new home. We will be trying to put Graham to sleep first in his crib and then get James down. I don't know how well this is going to work, but we will attempt to do this. Wish us luck!

Milestones:

No more army crawling! He is now crawling on his knees and hands and it's so freaking cute! He loves to chase after James and James loves running from him. "You can never catch me now baby Draham!"

Graham and James are starting to 'play' together more. James is showing him the ropes, and also stealing toys from him! Boys will be boys I guess. We brought out James' old Fisher Price play table and Graham just LOVES it!
We have also had a few times where Graham is standing completely on his own. Not holding on to anything, but it only lasts about 3-5 seconds.

Cruising time! Graham loves to stand and to hold onto things - he has started to cruise the furniture and his other standing toys. We have a walker toy, but he hasn't quite masters that yet! Soon though - very soon!

Another thing we noticed with Graham is how much he babbles. James babbled, but not like this. Graham now babbles "Mama, Dada, & Baba" I love cute baby babbles - it just puts a smile on my face!

I'm feeling like this early time with Graham is going by way too fast - I want to keep him little forever - but I know I cannot. I am so excited to see how he develops in the next month.

Graham, you bring such joy to my life - as well as your brother's and Daddy. You make our family complete and it's been so amazing to watch you grow. Happy Eight Months little guy!

Much love
xoxo