8 Months

As Jackson would say, Cole turned 8 "mum-fts" yesterday!

He's been very busy and is starting to move around quite a bit more, but in his own way.  He loves to sit and spin around or lay on his tummy or back and spin around to get to see and/or reach whatever he needs.  It's definitely a unique take on moving around, and something we hadn't experienced with Jackson (who army crawled just after 7 months, and was crawling just before 8 months).  As I've mentioned, he will roll from tummy to back occasionally, but typically chooses not to.  And I'm not going to lie...I am appreciating this (mostly) non-mobile phase.  I remember with Jackson always liking the current phase but looking forward to each new/next phase, but with Cole, I know how much harder it is to keep track of them and get things done once he starts moving, so I"m enjoying this phase where I can sit him down with some toys in one spot, and know that he won't be going too far.  But I know it probably won't last too much longer.

Other things new this month:

• He's learning to give high 5s
• Still loving to clap, and we'll find him doing it on his own while playing
• Eating more and more solids - a few times in the last couple weeks, I think he's eaten more than Jackson at dinner. And he just quietly works his way through whatever is on his tray - a big change for us!  (No bribing, no telling him to stay in his chair, etc., like we have to do most nights with his big bro.)
• Making lots of sounds and "talking" more and more every day
• Enjoys the mouth patting game (he'll make humming sounds while I pat his mouth, which makes a fun sound and gets lots of cute little smiles out of him)
• Has worked through his rough sleep patch (!!!) and typically sleeps from 7:30 p.m. until 6:15 a.m.  He usually naps 3 times a day (though has been just fine with two naps several times in the last few weeks
• Is a pro at picking up one of the spare pacifiers in his crib and re-inserting it when needed.  (Often times, when we lay him down to put him in his sleep sack, he quickly rolls and reaches to grab one and as it inserted before we even have him halfway in.)
• Speaking of sleep sack - he's no longer in his sleep suit overnight, or at naps.  We transitioned into the sleep sack at night right around 7 months, and he did great with just a few somewhat restless periods for a few nights.  Then over the last few weeks, we've stopped using the suit for naps and while we feared he'd go back to mostly short naps, he still takes at least one longer nap per day (typically his morning nap is 1.5-2.5 hours, and his first afternoon nap is typically 45 mins to just over an hour).
• He's extremely squirmy which makes diaper and clothing changes very difficult.  I usually give him something to play with while I change his diapers, which helps keep him fairly still but tonight, I literally had to move in a full circle, along with him, around the floor of his room just to get diaper cream and a diaper on him, before his PJs.  It's quite the workout.

I've been back at work for half of Cole's life already which seems crazy - I feel like I've only been back for a few weeks.  And I know I'll be saying that I can't believe he's 1 before I know it.