Well, here we are again, another monthly update on the little bébé...who's now not so little anymore I suppose, but I have a feeling I will keep calling him little until he turns one at least (and probably even longer, same with the "bébé" moniker, he may very well end up being called that at 4 or 5 years old, poor child).  Anyway, he's now 8 months, and I will say that this has been without a doubt the most CHALLENGING month to date. I have probably shed more frustrated tears this month than any so far, and there have been times where I just wasn't sure I could handle it anymore (and probably lost my patience a bit too much because of it).  But along with the frustrations have been some really good things, so I will try not to make this update all about the 'bads', because Victor's 8th month of life has been far from bad.

So, a few basics first:

-Weight at 8 months: 18lbs (approx) and about the same height.  

-Wearing mostly 6 months PJs, 6-12 onesies, and a variety of pant and shirt sizes.  He's still wearing all his size small cloth diapers and wraps, which makes me happy since that means he probably won't outgrow his mediums and larges before potty training!

                         

-Sleeping has regressed somewhat, he's waking every 3 hours for the most part, which has become quite tiring on mama.  He naps in the morning still, and about 50% of the time he'll nap in the afternoon, otherwise it's just a short snooze in the car seat or stroller, but that's about it.  Every once in awhile I'll get a longer stretch, usually when he doesn't sleep in the afternoon he'll go down for longer in the evening, but not always.

Playing outside in McAdam.

-Same goes for breastfeeding, he's still eating about every 3 hours, even though he could probably go longer if he had to (and he has).  He has one bottle of formula (between 6-10oz) before bed and a bottle when I'm away from him but other than that he's mostly breastfed/solid food fed. I'm anxious to see what the nurses say when he gets weighed in December, if they'll recommend upping his formula/food intake to get back on the charts or not.
 

-He's eating more and more solids and we're developing an eating schedule, which is good. We are usually getting breakfast and supper in, with an occasional lunch (he is usually sleeping around lunch time).  I've been introducing new things but he hasn't responded well to many of them.  Some things that he doesn''t care for include egg yolks, brown rice, cooked pasta, and cheese (I know!) Some things he did enjoy though include pork and bread...he's Dan's son alright!  I'm still working on getting at least one or two new things in a week, and slowly he'll start to eat whatever we're eating, but for the most part we're still sticking to homemade, mashed baby food.

He definitely loves Cheerios the most!

-He has gotten way better at crawling, and is now starting to pull himself up on things (including his crib rails!)  He gets up on his knees as if to crawl, but he hasn't figured out how to do it yet.  His pincher grasp has gotten really good (working with those Cheerios!), and I've noticed some smaller milestones, like looking for something when he has dropped it, peeking around corners, that kind of thing...his mind is definitely developing at crazy rates.  He still kind of enjoys the Jolly Jumper, but not much...in fact, his favourite thing to do (when not in our arms) is to just crawl around and explore (and get into things he's not supposed to!)

Oops, made a mess!

-He loves to talk and makes all kind of sounds, he's learned 'babababa' and we're now trying to get him to say 'mamamama' or something similar.  We attempt some repeating games but I think he's still too young.  He loves to listen to us talk though, and really enjoys watching/listening to Dan play music as well.

-He has warmed up to his baths a bit more.  We tried out the 'sink' bath and he had a great time splashing around.  We also put him in the big bath with me and he really enjoys that too, I think that his fear/dislike of water is definitely over, I'm now looking forward to going to the pool this month!

-He hasn't gotten any new teeth and is still drooling like a wild man (we're going through 3 or 4 bibs a day and a couple of outfits, the amount of drool is insane!)

-He has had a cough this month that he can't seem to shake, poor guy.  Cold and sniffles and runny noses are part of Fall and Winter I suppose.

Playing with Aunt Sarah.

-Now for the not to great stuff: This month Victor has gotten incredibly clingy and, well, WHINY.  If he is put in any sort of situation that he even mildly doesn't like, he whines and cries and pitches a fit.  He would like it if everyone just held him all day long and did nothing but entertain him by walking around and showing him things, but that's just not practical or realistic, and so he freaks out.  You put him down, he cries.  You take something away he's not supposed to touch, he cries.  You leave the room, he cries.  Sometimes even when he sees you, he cries!  It has been very hard on me, I won't lie.  I'm not the kind of person that can handle too much cling/'affection', so this whole baby on my hip 24/7 is just not for me.  I can handle it for a little while, but like I said, even when he's in your arms he's difficult at times, so it's tiring, plain and simple.  The fits are what drive me the most crazy though, especially at night.  There have been several nights where he has woken up over and over again and would only sleep if in my arms, which meant me sitting on the couch, half asleep/half crying, waiting for him to let me go back to bed.  I know it's all normal and this attachment is a good thing, but man oh man it's challenging. (Side note: Before having Victor I always told Dan that I  predicted being really challenged during the toddler years, this whole clingy-ness thing did not even enter my mind, but I now think that this may end up being more challenging than dealing with him when he's 2/3!)

This is the face I think of when I think of this past month...sad, but true!

-I started babysitting my friend Sara's kids once a week on Thursday afternoons for a few hours, which is nice since it gets us out of the house (something I need to do more of, he's always much happier on days we have activities planned), and we still go to the Family Resource Centre once a week, so we try, I'd like to find some other sort of group to go to over the winter, since I have a feeling we'll both be catching cabin fever during the long cold days if we don't get out from time to time!

-Although he has made me cry this month, he has also made me laugh more this month than any other.  You can really see his personality starting to come through, he looks at you with his huge dark eyes and smiles so bright and shakes all over, when you make him happy it's the best feeling in the world.  He's really sweet and we both love him to death.

I'm sure there are things that I'm forgetting, as always, but it's probably only because the main thing about this past month that stands out in my mind has been the terrible cling, ha!  

To all the blog moms out there, how did you deal with your clingy kids?  From what I've heard it's just a phase (a loooong phase), but it goes away and you just have to suffer through it, there's not much you can do. (And please don't say that I'll be wishing for this when he's older, because trust me, that's the last thing I want to hear, and I seriously doubt I'll ever want him to be like this again!)

Now let's see if I can post his 9 month update near his actual 9 month birthday...

Peace,

G.

(PS-Sorry for the lack of variety in his photos this month, I only took out my camera to take photos of his 3 or 4 times, it's terrible! Too busy taking photos of other people...will try to do better this month though!)