8 months!

I am a little late on this one, but better late than never! Jackson continues to grow and change by each passing day. I still can't believe that he is over 8 months old!! It seems just like yesterday that I took a pregnancy test that was positive and then soon after saw the little "bean" and his tiny flicker of a hearbeat on ultrasound. That tiny bean is a big tank of a baby now and he just gets cuter by the hour! He is a solid little guy and it seems like he has developed so much more strength since last month. Perhaps one of the biggest changes from last month is that he is completely mobile now and can go from laying down to sitting up to up on all fours and back...he can also pull himself up to standing only to fall back down. During naptime I watch him on the video monitor as he moves from one end of the crib to the other, sits up and looks around and then tries to pull himself up on the side. Also I think I can say he is CRAWLING! He gets on all fours and crawls forward about 3-4 times before he lays down. So he is technically crawling, but he doesnt do it for long distances yet. He also LUNGES forward like a wild man to get anything in sight. He really gets crazy for remote controls, phones, computers, and stacks of paper... Basically whatever mommy and daddy have is what he wants. We have started teaching him the word "no" but it doesnt seem to work yet. :)

He has also gotten his 2nd front tooth and is just about to cut his first bottom tooth. His 2nd tooth definitely caused some discomfort for him but I think (and hope) the worst is over. I think this is part of the reason that he has been exceptionally clingy to me lately. He has always been daddy's buddy and he still is, but sometimes he just wants mommy. He will bury his little head into me and it is so sweet. He also does this when he gets embarassed. There have been two times when my mom and Justin's mom called and we put the phone to his ear so they could talk to him. He started smiling and buried his head into me and Justin. He also does that when his talking toy dog "Scout" talks or sings to him. Lately he's been giving some good smiles to strangers. Stranger anxiety doesnt seem too bad right now, although it comes and goes. He is still fascinated with small children and other babies.

He is making all kinds of new noises and sounds. When he is playing with his toys, he has whole "conversations" with himself. Sometimes we hear what sounds like a "muh muh" or "dada" in the mix, but "guh guh" is still his favorite. It is so cute to listen to him talk to his toys and his new favorite noise is to make a soft, but high-pitched squeal. We are working on teaching him to wave "hi" and "bye bye". He still loves to blow raspberries! I have noticed he has begun imitating us too. If we bang two toys together and hand them to him, he will start banging them and look at us for approval. We have both had bad coughs from the past couple of weeks and this week Jackson began making a fake coughing noise. He will do it and then look at us and smile. Then we go back and forth with him making the noise. Also, I caught him laughing in his sleep the other day which was the cutest thing. He is pretty much anti pacifier again, which is ok. When we try to give him the newborn soothie pacifier, he chews on it like a mad man and then throws it as far as he can. The other day Justin caught him with it almost all the way in his mouth, so we are getting rid of those anyway.

We continue to try new organic baby foods with Jackson and he seems to really love them all. I need to start giving him some more chunky foods that he can self feed. So far we have tried chunks of bananas (which mainly slipped out of his fingers) and a bread roll. I want to do some green beans, potatoes, and other fruits soon. He gets about half a jar of baby food twice a day. The rest of the time he is still nursing, which is still about 7-8 times a day! No wonder he is such a big boy-by our estimate he is 21 lbs!

Jackson will be starting his mothers morning out program soon. We did a surprise "drop by" the other day and we were happy with what we saw. We met with the woman who keeps the babies and she was really sweet. It is at a nearby church that is less than 5 mins from our house. She only has 2 other babies right now, a boy and a girl who are close to Jackson's age. I am so hoping that he does well with it and it will be good for him to socialize some. He will be going 3 days a week for about 3 hours each day. We'll see how it goes!

We took Jackson to breakfast at Charleston's Cafe a few days ago. We know the owners/staff really well and they also catered our wedding. They love watching Jackson grow and they always stop by our table to see him and visit with us. Jackson was SO funny that day and very sociable. Everytime a pretty girl talked to him he would do give a funny face. It is a big smile but then he scrunches his face up as much as he can. I had seen him do it before a few times with me but never to anyone else. That's why it was so funny when he started giving that look to all the pretty ladies. And let me tell you they thought it was adorable! They were falling all over him and he was eating it up.. YES he is his father's son! And the way he was laid back and had his little foot cocked up over his high chair like he was hot stuff made me realize that he is already such a mini Justin in the making! Oh brother :)

Some big news from this past week: Jackson's newest cousin was born! I will write more about her in the next post and include a picture, but she is absolutely adorable and we can't wait to meet her! Welcome to the world Kendall! :)

This is such a fun age to watch Jackson learn and grow. Some days it seems like he is on fast-forward with his new discoveries and personality. We love to sit him down and surround him with his toys and watch him play. Sometimes I just can't stand how cute he is and I have to scoop him up and hug and kiss his chubby cheeks. He is full of smiles and is such a joy to be around. He is also a wild child and he keeps us on our toes for sure! Happy 8 months to our sweet (but not so little anymore) boy! :)