Garrett: Eight Months!

Height/Weight: Nothing official. Knock on wood, we haven't needed any appointments except for well visits, and our next one isn't until nine months.

Wearing: 6-9 month clothes with a few 12 month items slowing creeping in. Still in size three diapers.

Eating: Everything he can as often as we'll let him. Can't believe I ever thought we were going to have issues with this one and solid food. New purees this month: banana, oatmeal, carrot, apple, zucchini, green beans, and peach. Carrot is a little hit or miss, otherwise he pretty much gobbles it all up. We've tried a few foods as finger foods as well (avocado, banana), and he does pretty well with those. He's also still nursing, although mostly between the hours of 7 pm and 7 am. Super fun.

Sleep: Let's just say that I'm discovering that I can function on far less sleep than I previously thought I needed. Not surprisingly, I'm also discovering that with the right amount of coffee, I can pretty much do anything. I should probably warn our doctor to block off extra time for Garrett's well visit next month, because if things don't improve significantly in this category, you can bet I'm going to be talking his ears off about the lack of sleep happening in this house. Because I need answers. And suggestions of new things to try. And something--anything--that will get my child to sleep more than three hours at a time. For the most part, naps are actually going pretty well, so I keep holding out hope that nighttime sleep will fall into place as well, but so far, no such luck on that.

Likes: Moving. Eating solids. William, Mommy, Daddy (usually in that order). Being outside. Bath time. Putting whatever he can find into his mouth. Abusing Mommy (Pulling my hair. Tugging on my earrings. Sticking his fingers in my mouth and nose).

Dislikes: Being told no. Actually, to be fair, he seems to think being told "no" is funny and always gives us the cutest little smirk. But when we move him away from whatever he is not supposed to be getting in to, man oh man does he pitch a fit. I don't remember William throwing tantrums this early, but that is definitely what Garrett does. He will throw himself backwards (which has caused him to smack his head on the wall on more than one occasion), arch his back, lay on the floor, and scream. Good times.

Firsts: This section could alternately be titled "Reasons Why We Did Not Get Any Sleep This Month". Since my last update, Garrett has gone from army crawling to inchworm crawling to hands and knees crawling--and he's crazy fast. He can get himself to a seated position from his stomach or any crawling position. He pulls himself up on everything (which required lowering his crib at 830 one night). He can walk using push toys. He can even climb up the stairs. Additionally, he cut his two bottom middle teeth and got his first cold. So even though he is (logically) tiring himself out by constantly being on the move, he hasn't been sleeping soundly at night due to other discomforts (at least that's my current theory).

It's been a trying month at best, but just when I think I'm at the end of my rope, Garrett flashes the biggest smile and babbles the cutest story to me, and I think of just how lucky we are to have him in our family. I certainly wouldn't complain about getting a little more sleep, but at least he is (usually!) adorably cuddly and snuggly at night (which NEVER happens during the day), so I'm trying my best to enjoy this stage of his life and not wish it away.