Chase on film: 8 months

or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhhOZP5WtGE

He crawls forwards, scoots backwards, attempts climbing up, and says Dada. All of Chase's party tricks in one video!

Chase at 8 months!

This past month Chase has gone from sedentary to all over the place! on his 8 month birthday he started crawling (forward), but he's been on the move for days. He doesn't sit still and we can't leave him on the sofa or the bed because he'll roll, scoot, or lean off. More recently he's been crawling/scooting backwards (see Christmas post- last 2 pictures). AND, as if those weren't enough developments, last Thursday (1/6), he said his first word: "Dadadadadadadada."

At 8 months Chase is:

19lbs, 2oz and 28 or 29 inches long- 50th percentiles on both. He's growing! The doctor said he looked great and was meeting all of his developmental milestones. He also said he'd get teeth, "any day now." We've heard that one before!

Crawling!: He just started going forward, and his preferred method of moving is going from crawling to sitting, and then reaching to get what he wants. He gets up on his knees and rocks too. He had been going backwards and winding up under things (the Christmas tree, the dresser, the sofa, etc).

Going from crawling position to sitting: See above- he's figured out how to get back to the seated position. If he's lying on his back he can't sit up, but he'll roll onto his belly, get up onto his hands and knees, and then roll into sitting position--usually quite a ways away from where he started.

Pulling himself to standing: While he does this when we put him in the crib during the day, he hadn't done it anywhere else--Until I tried to take his 8 month old picture! He tried to pull himself up on the sofa. He often pulls himself up to standing while he is playing with/on us. He is loving looking around and this new outlook on the world.

Talking: As we mentioned, he started stringing syllables together last week and has really had fun practicing. Dadadadadadadada. He's been repeating syllables like that ever since (rararara, bahbahbahbah, dadadad). Last Friday Kayla said he was talking up a storm using his new found words. While he hasn't put "Dada" with Stephen yet, he does say it when he's happy. And when he's upset (usually in his crib) we hear "mamamama" on the monitor. Coincidence? I hope so...

Eating...or not: Since we switched to the medium flow nipples, Chase's milk intake has increased to over 30oz per day. Unfortunately, I'm only pumping about 25oz per day, so we quickly started going through all of the frozen milk. While we were in NY, we ran of milk in less than 2 days, so we had to give Chase some formula to supplement. While it killed me to do it, he was fine with it (we mixed it in with the bmilk so I don't even think he noticed) and, aside from spitting up some, hasn't had any bad reactions. We continue to give him 1/2 bottle of formula everyday to bridge the bmilk production-Chase demand gap.
While this was going on, we also started feeding Chase breakfast- his 3rd meal of the day. I don't know if it was coincidence or what, but Chase went on a little solid food feeding strike. He refused to eat solid foods during his meal times. He'd clamp his mouth shut and not eat anything. We tried all different foods and tried to entertain him and nothing work. This week we gave him potatoes and broccoli for the first time, and stopped trying to give him breakfast and, viola! he's eating again. We'll start breakfast again in a few weeks.

Clapping his hands: He loves to swing his hands towards each other and he claps when he is excited. Sometimes he gets a little too excited and he ends up just flapping his arms. The best is when one of us is holding him and he gets really excited and just starts shaking his entire body and laughing.

Speaking of getting excited, Chase is so much fun to play and interact with. He smiles and laughs when one of us walks in the room. He laughs at Mueller all the time and tracks him around the room. He imitates some sounds we make and laughs when we laugh at him (we all laugh whenever he burps. It's so funny to watch his reaction). He plays peek-a-boo and gives open mouth kisses (especially to his mommy).


And now, some pictures of Chase. You'll be able to see how mobile he is these days. We'll upload some videos soon too.

Happy 8 months, sweet boy!

I wish someone had told me sooner...

...to upgrade bottle nipples to "Medium" flow from "Slow" flow at 4 months. We didn't do it until 7 months. The change has made a world of difference- Chase is sucking down his bottles and not giving up when he gets bored. This had helped him sleep longer at night too.

...about Bumpkins. Greatest. Bibs. Ever. (Thank you, Carrie!)

...to buy an extra set of breast pump parts sooner. They get worn out and aren't as effective.

...how much lighter and easier an umbrella stroller is. (Yes, now we have 3 strollers. But whatever, I like our umbrella stroller).

...that I'd eventually have to give Chase formula--and that's okay!