8 months

Weight: According to our bathroom scale, somewhere around 20. According to my arms having to carry him around, somewhere around 47.

Health: Healthy! No sniffles, coughs, or wheezing from him.

Sleep: Teeth have ruined this one. He went from sleeping from 6:30/7:00-4:00/4:30 to only sleeping until about 1:00, sometimes even before midnight. There've been quite a few nights where he's just come in bed with us. There was one night in bed with us when he woke up about every 45 minutes. On another night he woke up screaming, so I sat him up against my knees and got the tylenol ready. By the time I'd put the stuff back in my nightstand, he was fast asleep sitting against my legs. So I did what any mom desperate for sleep would do- lowered my legs and left him there.

 
Social:Getting out and about more and more. He's just a lot of fun to be around and other people love him, too. We went to the zoo 3 weekends in a row and had a great time every time. He doesn't look at the animals yet, but he will one day. I just know he'll love it. Or at least really hope he does because it's one of my favorite places!

Diet: Probably about 80% breastmilk. He's starting to dig solids a little more. We're doing a bit of BLW and some purees. Sometimes I don't feel like sharing my food (selfish, I know) so he'll get a jar/pouch. We try and do solids 3 times a day and make sure he gets a good mix of fruit/veggies. He loves eating what we eat though. So far he's tried: grilled cheese, smoked sausage, hummus, guacamole, tortillas, toast, chicken, lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, spaghetti, yogurt, yellow squash, and zucchini. I made him some food out of frozen tropical fruit that I mix in with full fat greek yogurt and he loves it. He also likes his homemade butternut squash with cinnamon. There hasn't been a single food he's refused so far. I'm proud of him!

Clothes: Still growing out of them but fitting in strange sizes, too. He wears 4-6 month stuff from H&M with some 6-9 stuff that swallows him mixed in. Carters 6 months is just about perfect, but the pjs are getting snug. Gap/Old Navy are the only 3-6 month stuff he can still wear, but the arms are getting short if they're long sleeved. I foresee me having to get out his 9-12 month stuff sometime between now and next month. I'll tell ya one thing. He's defintely not in 18+ months! Once this month, he pooped all over his clothes at the nursery and I forgot extra clothes (mom fail) so they stuck him in 18 month clothes. Huge but oh so cute. 

And then another day, I asked Clint to dress him for the day and I go downstairs to find him in a 18 month shirt and diaper. Men.

Baby Gear Love: Still LOVING the jumper. He gets so excited when you jump with him. It's adorable. Besides that, He's not really especially fond of anything. He'd rather be grabbing your hands and trying to walk. 

One baby gear thing that Clint and I are loving is his amber teething bracelet! There's been a noticeable difference in his crying and whining since we put it on. We've been borrowing a friend's and have a new one coming in this week. It's a little smaller, raw, and lighter in color. From what I've read, it should be even more effective!

Crying: It was a bad month for crying those mean teeth. He got two upper teeth that came in at the same time with fury. I saw/felt them one day and not even 6 days later, they were all the way in. It was NOT fun. He's also starting to get upset if he can't see one of us or if we walk away from him. 

Likes: Standing and walking. Peek-a-boo. Eating big people food. Dad. Remotes/phones. Looking at himself in the mirror. Being tickled. Squealing. Baby First TV. Rolling. Putting everything in his mouth. Bath time.

Postpartum: My body's been acting crazy, but I'm just contributing it to my hormones trying to even out from Reuben switching back and forth from sleeping through the night. My hair has stopped falling out and is actually starting to grow back. Yay, right? No. Now I have whispys EVERYWHERE.

  

Milestones: Working on his pinching. It's so cute to see him stare his fingers down as his pointer and thumb meet again and again and again. I offered him a puff, he pinched it, put it in his mouth and ate it. I thought, "MY KID'S A GENIUS!!!"... It hasn't happened since. He's resorted to leaning down and sucking it off my hand with his mouth. Tricky kid.

He's definitely mastered rolling. He'll roll every which way to get to something. Still showing absolutely zero interest in real crawling. He does this weird flopping/scooting thing to get where he wants to go if it's in front of him. I really think he'll be a the kid who walks before he crawls. Or just skips crawling altogether. He's getting REALLY good at pulling up on us and is braving the world of pulling up on objects. Which is great. Until the object is too short and he face plants. And he'll stand up and balance on the couch and stuff. It's crazy to me how big he's getting!

Reuben,

You are the epitome of 'joy'. Your smile brings such happiness to our hearts. Everybody you meet thinks you are the sweetest, cutest baby around and I completely agree (however biased I may be). You're looking less and less like a baby and more and more like a little boy every day. I can hardly stand it. You're such a ham! You love attention! You've got a temper, too. If something isn't the way you want it, you let us know. And it's almost impossible not to give you every single thing you want!

Your dada and I love you more than you will ever understand. We're so proud to be your parents!

Love,
Mama