8 Months Old!

Mason is 8 months old today!  He is the sweetest, most lovable little boy and we just can’t get enough of him!  I just want to kiss those checks and squeeze his chunky thighs and hear that precious giggle every time I see him.  He has recently learned to sit up on his own without our help.  The first time I saw him sitting up in his crib after nap time was a complete surprise and he greeted me with the biggest grin as if to say, “Look what I can do!”.  Mason is very close to crawling – I think he will get the hang of it in the next few weeks.  Kate started crawling shortly after she was 8 months old so we will see.  He likes to sit with his feet crossed, so when he leans forward and rocks, he hasn’t yet been able to get his feet behind him, they stay crossed most of the time.  Justin and I are not looking forward to the crawling stage because that means we will have to do better at baby proofing the house!

Although Mason isn’t crawling, he is able to scoot and move across the room.  He will lay on his tummy, push up on his hands and manage to scoot backwards, usually up under furniture, and then fusses until one of us rescues him.  He has scooted under Kate’s bed and under the chair in our living room so far.  

He is eating more solid food and has tried the following: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans (his least favorite), squash, applesauce, pears and bananas (his favorite).  I have tried to give him puffs and Mums Mums (rice cakes) but he starts gagging and sometimes throws up all his food so I have refrained from pushing anything not pureed for now.  He is completely free of his reflux medicine and has been since 6 months or so.  We slowly started reducing his doses from twice a day to once a day and then stopped altogether after a week or so.  The doctor had told us he probably wouldn’t need it once he started solid foods and he was right!

 I’m guessing Mason weighs around 20 pounds.  He is in size 9 month sleepers and mainly wears size 12 month clothes.  He wears a size 4 diaper and size 2 shoe.  He is just like his sister was – chunky and short with small feet.  He is a great sleeper and he gets very “sensitive” when he is tired (bursts into tears when anyone looks at him or tries to talk to him).  Mason "talks" much more and will often say "ooo" and "da da da da". He also holds his arms straight out and twists his hands at the wrist, mainly when he's about to get a bottle. Kate also did this signature move - so odd but I love it! He still has only two bottom teeth and it appears like another bottom one might pop through soon.  I haven’t noticed any top teeth yet but I know it’s just a matter of time before they come in too.  

 Showing off his two teeth.

Justin has gotten him on a consistent routine:  He wakes up between 6:30 and 7:00am each morning and takes two naps a day (generally 1.5 to 2 hours each) at around 9:30am and 2:00pm each day.  Mason drinks four 8 ounce bottles a day - one when he wakes up around 7, one after his morning nap around 12, one after his afternoon nap around 4 and one at bedtime at 7. I usually feed him some baby food when I get home from work, when the rest of us are eating dinner.  He goes to bed by 8:00 each night and will sleep soundly through the night!  We have started to put toys in his crib so he will play for a little bit in the mornings when he first wakes up, giving us a few extra minutes to doze.  The past week or so Mason has started to cry when we put him down at night for bedtime even though he is obviously exhausted.  I’m not sure why it started but I think it’s just a phase and thankfully he only fusses for a couple minutes before he falls asleep. 

Mason’s favorite activity is jumping in his jumper.  He will jump side to side and back and forth and will even “air out” as Daddy calls it – jumping so high his feet are several inches off the ground.  He loves bath time and I recently bought him a new inflatable tub (just like Kate had) since he is outgrowing the blue bathtub.  He will sit in the water until it is ice cold and loves to splash around and suck on the washcloth.  He also enjoys scooting on the floor and chewing on everything.  He doesn’t play much in the exersaucer, bouncy seat or baby swing anymore since he prefers to be free to “roam” around.  He also likes to sit up on the changing table and grab the diaper caddy, pull it towards him and rummage through it.  Mason loves to watch Kate play and will even enjoy spending time in her room playing.  He chews on anything he can get his hands on and Kate is generally ok with it, as long as we “wash off” her toys (wipe off the drool). 

 Time is flying by too fast but we are enjoying every minute of it!  I took a few pictures of Mase in his baseball outfit to mark his 8 month milestone. 

 Love this one:

 and the crying picture...

 One of my favorites:

Happy 8 Month Birthday Handsome Boy!