The Eighth Month

It's time for the eighth month post! (Actually it was time a week ago when he turned eight months old, but I've had some other blogging to do between then and now.)

So what's new with Reid? Well, first off, he's tried quite a few new foods this month. We are still primarily eating veggies out of those plastic Gerber containers, but he got a taste of a few "real" foods too like watermelon. He still doesn't eat that much baby food in each sitting because he loses interest after a few bites. As a result, Reid is still mostly surviving on Momma's milk surprisingly, especially considering that he just keeps chunking up.

He is now solidly in 18 month clothes! He's wearing the same ones Caleb did his second summer though Caleb was six months older at that point. Reid didn't even give all those precious baby sized clothes a chance; he's a big boy.

And, a handsome boy! It makes me so sad to pack away outfits like these that I know he won't be in by the time cool weather rolls around again. Makes me want to have another one...and I might even consider it if I weren't so worn out with the three I've got. :)

Reid's been conquering those baby milestones like he's in a race or something this month too. One of my favorites of these being that he's learned to say "Ma Ma!" I thought I'd heard him babble a "hi" and maybe a "ma" here and there, but on May 20th while I was at Bible Study Dave heard him calling for his favorite person - Ma Ma! The next morning I got to witness this adorable face calling my name too.

He really got good at crying for Ma Ma when he had to sit in that old carseat on his way to the beach and then to Illinois with us. "Rescue me, Ma Ma!"

But, when when we were visiting Dave's parents, he learned a couple other words to add to his vocabulary. The first morning we were there (5/30), Dave woke up to a pleasant surprise. "Da Da, Da Da..." Baby Boy repeated. Later, we even heard a few "Na Na's" which of course melted my mom's heart.

In other news, this child is on the move now. I am about nuts trying to keep everything the older two throw down when their playing from ending up in Reid's mouth.

The problem is we have a crawler! He isn't stationary any more.

Why sit still and play with the toys right next to you...

...when you could be exploring the rest of the family room?

Use your head.

You just need to rest here and there to keep up your strength.

Reid doesn't do one of those army crawls like his sister used to either. He gets right up on those knees and sometimes even gets up on his feet, making a bridge with his body. Here is a couple videos of the learning to crawl process: 

With crawling he's also learned how to go from laying on the floor to sitting up by himself. Though he can pretty much just do a crunch and get himself up, usually he rolls to his belly and scoots up onto his bottom. It's cute to watch his technique.

Reid can even stand up for a few seconds if he's holding on to the couch or something. With the help of someone holding his hands, he's also taking a few steps here and there. 

If being mobile wasn't enough, he's got a partner in crime to get into things with. H A D L E Y!

Half the time she's handing him things to play with and the other half I'm having to stop her from taking toys away from him. 

They enjoy each other so much and it's not unusual for them both to be giggling away at one another over pretty much nothing. It's like they have their own inside jokes already.

Hadley can get a little rough with him though if we aren't careful. I don't think she means to be unkind, but she's just a rough and tumble toddler. I guess since Reid looks the same size almost, she figures he's fair game to rough house with. Maybe this has been a motivating factor to start crawling so he can get away since he's too small to defend himself.

Sometimes things get a little too rough for Reid. 

"Get me outta here!"

I love you too, Sister, but could you get off of me!

Don't feel too bad for him! He get's a little rough with Mommy too.
"Hey you, quit pulling my hair!"

While they are few and far between it seems, we do have some quiet moments (like when the older two are asleep) to sit and look at some books or play together. Reid's favorite piece of literature seems to be the book Caleb liked best at that age - Peek-A-Zoo.

The final milestone I can't forget to include in this post is that his adorable smile is not just a gummy one any more. Tooth number one has popped through (6/9) and the second one should be coming through any day now right beside it.

Lower left

Well that about wraps up our eighth month of precious memories with our little Reid. But for the road, here are a few more pics that show off his cute personality. Hope you enjoy!

Looks like he's scheming

Love his little smirk