Happy 8th Month, Daniel!

What a great picture, if I do say so myself! I love how expressive Daniel is when we take his pictures and how happy he is. It's such fun to make him smile and laugh! And he hasn't done much of either this week- it's been a rough week. I believe last weekend's travels, the teething, and the rocking (getting ready for crawling??! I think so!) are finally catching up with him. He has just been so tired and yet not sleeping well. Daniel has been yawning so much and rubbing his eyes and he gets fussy and I know he's tired, he knows he's tired, but he just doesn't want to sleep long enough to feel well-rested and happy. I always know when he's well-rested and ready to be up and about after his nighttime sleep and even naps because he wakes up so HAPPY (unlike his mommy! I take much longer to wake up!)- thumping his legs on the mattress, arms flying, and all smiles and so happy to see us...we haven't had that much this week. I know this too shall pass...we're getting through it. And he does have his happy moments. It's funny because even when he's fussy we can almost always still get him to laugh- usually with tickles! The video in the previous post was taken yesterday when he actually felt more like playing with his toys and was a little more social.

So, 8 months... gosh, what news do I have? I can tell you how much my boy loves being outside. He likes to look around and I think he likes the wind blowing his hair- which is too funny. It's been great to get out and get some fresh air. I take him shopping and wear him in the Baby Bjorn carrier and he's such a great sport. It's so fun. He always has smiles and his legs are pretty much constantly going. People always stop us and admire my cutie! He LOVES that attention...eats it up! Hope you got to see the video in the post below...that's Daniel's latest trick. He's getting stronger and stronger each day. He isn't quite able to move forward or backward on his own yet, but rolls like crazy and can turn and adjust his position with rolls, especially when he wants to get a particular toy. Just this week, I've also noticed him starting to reach up on the storage totes we use for his toys- actually today he managed to pull it down towards him so he could look in it AND he pulled out a toy! WOW! I've also seen Daniel grab the edge of the area rug in our family room and use it for leverage to pull himself forward- he can just barely move forward this way. He's done this a couple times, just this week for the first time. That's a pretty neat trick, Daniel! How clever he is. Something new almost each day.

Daniel has two teeth now. You can just see them in the Mickey photo if you click it and make it bigger. They are more visible in person when Daniel smiles and laughs. Our food adventures are, well, adventures. It varies day to day, more so this week with all the fussiness. Bananas seemed to be good. We're trying oatmeal now. I'm still a little worried, but trying to take it easy. The doctor had said we should aim for three meals a day by 9 months- that's 4 weeks away and we're barely doing one meal! But we'll keep at it. He takes his vitamins SO well. And last week, we had him on an antibiotic to fight a rash on his knees (a rash we fought pretty much all winter, a bit of "winter eczema" according to the doctor) that was a bit infected and the doctor wanted to clear it up (we also had a prescription ointment; I'm happy to say his knees look GREAT now!)...anyway we had to give Daniel the medicine with the syringe and he did GREAT with that too. We keep saying perhaps we should feed him with the syringe- haha! We won't of course. Daniel just doesn't enjoy food yet...but still loves the snuggle time with mommy for breastfeeding and that's most important. And I LOVE that time. It's hard to think about stopping in 4 months (I want to breastfeed till he's one)...because I do love that time. There'll be plenty of other moments after that, I know.

Funny thing of the week...Daniel is starting to notice more of his body lately. First the hand waving and wrist twisting a couple weeks ago, and now he's taken to grabbing at his belly- especially in the bath tub. It's cute to see him stare down at his belly- I just wonder what he's thinking!

Well, do look at the 8 month Mickey Outtakes below- although they're hardly bloopers! There were just so many to choose from (perhaps I need to stop taking so many- although I do have to say my favorite was one of the last ones I took!) and he looks so cute in all of them, I think...even when he takes a dive into Mickey! So I had to share them...enjoy!