Friday, August 31, 2012

Parker: 8 Months


Weight: 19-20 lbs
Height: 26"
Diaper Size: 3
Clothes: 9 months; and outgrowing some of those
Eats: 8 oz every 3-3.5 hours; eats cereal before bedtime; Eats 1 container of vegetables and 1 container or fruit each day; Introduced puffs and rice biscuits
Sleeps: Usually from 9:00-9:30 to 6:30 (averages 8-9 hours); likes to sleep on side or tummy
Naps: 1.5-2 hours around 8am; 30-60 min around 1pm; 30 min around 5pm (we just started to try to go to 2 naps after some waking in the night, but it's definitely hit and miss. We generally still have 3 naps)
Favorite Toys: Shadow (our cat), alligator (alligator was replaced with Hippo), the plastic waffle, newspaper and magazines, any kind of ball, Sophie the Giraffe, the animated dog;  mommy and daddy


Milestones:

* Parker has not only mastered sitting for an extended period, he can also get from laying on the floor to sitting upright all on his own.  Seems like such an easy skill for him now.


* His arms are getting much stronger.  If he has his eye on something, he can army crawl to it.  He will get up on all four's, but only a few times has actually moved forward in that position.  It's very uncoordinated and wobbly.  He quickly decides just to flop down and army crawl instead.  He occasionally will play upright on his knees, but needs his hands supported.


* He tries to pull up on his crib (which we had to lower), the big crock, the couch, and mommy and daddy.  He has even had success 3 times...eeks!


* But coordination is not his forte.  He gets a new bruise on his big ole' head every few days.

* Parker's attention span with toys is very short.  And he still thinks that he has to drop what he is playing with when a new toy is presented.  But, he is learning to manipulate harder toys like hitting the top to spin the top, closing the busy box lids, spinning objects, and knocking down boxes.



* But truthfully, if he could choose anything to play with, it would be newspapers, magazines, mail, any kind of electronics (phones, remote control, computer) and cords whenever possible.  

Don't worry, the cord is not plugged in.

*  He still is fascinated by textures and small details, like furniture knobs, door stops, carpet, tags, etc.

* We just introduced the rice puffs and wafers--which he loves!  He actually does pretty well getting the food to his mouth on his own.  And it gives us a few minutes to gulp down our dinner :)

* Everything goes in his mouth!  Everything!  The harder it is too, the better.

* The bottom two teeth have officially popped through!


* And since those teeth started coming in, Parker loves to suck on his thumb.  It's so adorable!

* Since we have advanced to having Parker ride in the shopping carts, he is such a flirt.  He smiles at everyone and babbles loudly through the stores.  He loves everyone! (Especially kids)

* He started babbling again (mama, baba, hey sounds) and spends a great deal of time with a high pitched squeel and whine. 

* He is starting to be more interested in books.  He mainly just chews them and likes to handle smaller board books.  It's a start!

* Changing his diapers and dressing him is a dreaded task now.  Let's just say he has no interest in laying on his back.

* Parker seems to hate playing in our family room (hmm...maybe we ignore him more there), but loves to play in his room and our makeshift room in the garage.  He has started to notice the tv more so maybe that will make the family room more appealing!

* Bike rides, stroller rides, going to the school's swings, or just visiting with neighbors is the highlight of his nights.

* We are still working on waving good-bye.  He thinks it is so funny and occasionally raises one hand.

* Peek-a-boo (in the crib, with a burp cloth, around the corner, behind the computer)...He loves it any way it comes!

* He is very curious about the world around him.  He inspects everything he can get his hands on.  He doesn't miss a sound outside--and especially loves it when birds and airplanes go by.  And when Shadow enters the room, he nearly breaks his neck to get a better view and then after some giggles, tries to make his way towards her (which rarely works out in his favor)


Highlights from the month (July 29-August 28):

* We enjoy going to storytime every Monday morning together.  Parker loves the songs and watching the other babies.  Mommy enjoys the opportunity to talk to other moms.

* Parker and Mommy went to Springfield to go shopping, then meet up with Mommy's former co-workers for dinner.  This was the first time he sat in a restaurant's high chair.

* We went to Blue Mound for the annual Fall Festival on Friday and Saturday.  Parker got lots of attention!  We watched cousin Caleb in the parade, played some bingo, and introduced Parker to lots of friends!


* We went to Bloomington for the 3rd Sunday Market then stopped by to see cousin Mackenzie at her job at Party City.

* We hosted Sesame Street's first social event--a Back To School Ice Cream Social.  Parker and his buddy, Travis (who is a month younger) hung out together...or should we say wrestled.  Can you guess who won?  It was fun and   we got to know lots of our neighbors better too!


* We went to the grand opening of potentially Parker's grade school.

* Mommy has joined MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), so we went to their meet-and-greet at a local park.  Lots of kids there for Parker to watch.  The official meetings start in September.  


This has been such an exciting month, as Parker has really changed so much.  While mainly the changes are in regards to mobility, it seems as though he embraced a whole new world.  His personality continues to unfold and that adorable little smile makes us smile constantly!  Even after those nights where he seems to wake a lot (can we still blame the teeth?)  We are so proud of him.  And I have to admit, I'm loving that he wants to be close to me as much as possible.  Especially loving that he again wants to snuggle at naptime!  There is no doubt that when Daddy walks in the door at night that Parker is so glad to see him.  Boys will be boys and you can already catch those two rough-housing.  Nearly every giggle session ends with hiccups!  Our little baby is growing up.  But it does seem like he just gets cuter and cuter every day.  I wish we could just freeze him right now and keep him just like he is.  But I'm sure in a month, I'll be just as excited to tell you about the new changes that occurred in the upcoming weeks.  






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