8 Months

I almost forgot that Saturday was Samuel's little "birthday" of sorts. Whoops! I guess he doesn't know the difference anyway, though, right?

Month 8 has been a BIG one. As previously mentioned, he's learned how to crawl. And pull up. And, as of Friday, go up the stairs (we went and bought a baby gate for the bottom of the stairs Saturday afternoon). He's probably had about 200 bumps on his noggin in the last month. He started eating cheerios and puffs and other random foods of mine that I let him have bites of. We officially bumped him up to a big-kid car seat and put away the infant one and his bouncer. We lowered the crib and started bumping him up to 9 month clothes. Little baby just isn't so little anymore!!

He's also learning how to wave... mainly to himself. Anytime we look in the mirror, he throws his hand up next to his face, sometimes shaking it, sometimes just holding it there. I'm not sure he really gets the concept, but it's pretty stinkin' cute!

Unfortunately, Samuel's also started standing up in his crib, which is not super conducive to nap time, particularly in the mornings. Previously, I would just put him in his bed for nap and he would cry for a couple of minutes but then fall asleep because, hey, he had no where else to go!  Now he stands up and SCREAMS. And this kid is sooo loud! I've tried laying him back down and rocking him, etc., but it's pretty much to no avail. I'm sticking to my guns, though. Naptime begins and ends when I say it does. (Unfortunately, that's meant I've had to listen to him scream for an hour at a time, which is no fun for either of us!) He's also waking up screaming from his naps a lot. I'm just not sure if I should go comfort him or let him work it out on his own. If anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with THAT, I'm all ears! 

He's also started throwing temper tantrums when we don't let him do dangerous things. Obviously he's too young to really discipline, so I've been spending a LOT of the last week or two just moving him 15x a day and saying "No." For some reason I thought that wouldn't start until later?? Haha. Oh well! 

One thing I'm SO grateful for is how generally sweet Samuel is. Even though he is CRAZY sometimes and definitely is learning how to fuss to try to get his way, he is overall a pretty happy kid and loves to be around people, including his family! He gets SO excited when Eric comes home or when I pick him up from pre-school. He has a blast anytime we leave him anywhere and entertains everyone around him. And goodness knows he flirts with every girl he meets! Restaurants, the grocery store, church... This kid knows how to pick up the ladies where ever he goes!

It's so crazy to me how different this kid is than he was even a month ago! Eric and I were talking yesterday, and we decided this was probably the biggest month of his life thus far. He hasn't grown much physically, but he has just learned SO much! It's super fun to watch him grow. I'm so glad I get to be this little guy's mom! :-)