James - 8 Months

James, you are 8 months old! Chugging right along!

I think you weigh about 24 lbs. You are tall and quite the chunky monkey. You're wearing 18 month clothes and size 4 diapers. Unless they're stretchy, even 18 month size shorts are a little snug around your thunder thighs! I love your chunk...it's precious!

Here's what else you're up to:

 - You said your first word...Dada! I think the first year with a new baby can sometimes be tough for the dad because babies are so naturally attached to their mamas at first with nursing and all that. It can make it a little tough at times for the dad to comfort the baby, despite their best efforts. Given all that, it makes me really happy that both my babies said Dada first...it's quite a testament to the awesome dad they have! I wonder what you will say next!

- You're officially crawling and have honed your skills quickly. You're fast and into everything! You like to stand at the furniture and you can transfer back and forth between the couch and the ottoman while holding on. I feel like you will take your first steps before long. You've got quite a strong base with those legs!

 - We're still doing purees and you love them all! Your favorite food so far seems to be avocado. You've also had sweet potatoes, bananas, green beans, peaches, green peas. In the mornings you have oatmeal with pureed peaches or yogurt. Occasionally you'll also have some banana. In the evening you eat one of your other purees. You're drinking water from a sippy cup, and we're on the neverending quest for the perfect cup for you. 

- You're finally cutting those two top front teeth...they've been coming for weeks so we're all very excited and relieved to see them making an appearance! No one's happier than you, I imagine...poor thing, you've been in a lot of pain over the last few weeks. You're a lot happier now - those front teeth are the absolute worst. Recently I took you to the doctor because you were sick with a cold and she said you were actually getting four top teeth...ugh. At least we're knocking a lot of them out all at once. 

- Between the aforementioned teething and drainage from your cold, sleep has been all over the place. You've been getting up more frequently at night recently. On a good day, you'll take a morning and afternoon nap...they rarely last more than an hour and lots of times they don't last 15 minutes. We'll get there! You usually go down for the night around 7:30-8 pm and lately you've been waking up for the day between 7-8 am. 

- You are such a sweet, handsome boy. You can clap now, and it's about the cutest thing I've ever seen. Your smile lights up your whole face and it's infectious. People just make over you when we're out and about. I'm surely biased, but you're a good looking boy! You look so much like your daddy. You have brown eyes and your hair, which is coming in more and more every day, is brown with a golden tint. Your mouth is a lot like Claire's but your lips are less pouty. Your hands are huge, almost the same size as Claire's (future football player!!). 

 - Speaking of Claire, you two are getting closer everyday! Y'all are best friends and worst enemies...haha. You're playing together more and more, and it just warms my heart to see that. Now that you can get into more stuff, y'all are fighting over toys more and more. I thought we had a little more time before that started...haha! You are fascinated by your sister and her biggest fan....she loves you right back and thinks you're hilarious. 

Current nicknames: Jamesie, Jambo, Jay-bird, Little Lord Fusspants

Favorite toys: mega blocks, books, the Apple tv remote (you're obsessed), and anything Claire is playing with

Jamesie, you are our sweet man. I remember being a little freaked out when I found out you were a boy. I was happy, of course, but a little intimidated since I didn't have a brother and my first child was a girl. But oh my heart...I can't imagine life without YOU. You are the little boy I didn't realize I needed...but God knew, and I'm so glad He gave us you.

We love you,
Mama


P.S. These pictures aren't the best. Our resident photographer (Cam) was out of town when these were taken and it turns out this camera stuff is much harder than it looks! While juggling my two wild children and trying to get a good picture, I lunged to catch James from diving headfirst off the chair and the camera strapped around my neck smacked him in the face! Mother of the year here, people.