Henry at 8 Months

Whoa baby!  Henry is 8 months (actually, as I write this he is already 9 months, but for the purposes of this post, lets pretend he's still 8 months!).  Henry at 8 months is tons of fun and growing like crazy!  Henry met 2 major milestones at 8 months!  Henry learned how to crawl and he sprouted his first two teeth!  Henry has been working on crawling for a while now.  He came up with all sorts of crazy variations for getting from one place to another which included rocking back and forth on his hands and knees, rolling, scooting on his belly, and crawling backwards.  Finally, on Thanksgiving day he figured out how to crawl forward and since then he has not stopped!  Henry has discovered the joys of exploring his world and is particularly interested in the toilet (ESPECIALLY the diaper sprayer that sprays poop off the cloth diapers), sticking his hands in the water in the Christmas tree stand, and pulling all of the DVDs off the shelf.  Henry has his own unique brand of crawling and is still crawling with one leg straight.  

11/8/12- Happy 8 months to ME!  

 11/8/12- I love this bear!  He is hilarious!   

11/8/12 - 8 months - I've given up on trying to get Henry to pose  next to  the bear.   As long as it's still in the picture, it counts for something, right?

At 8 months old Henry definitely went through the "8 month sleep regression".  Right around the time when he was figuring out how to crawl AND getting his first two teeth, he was sleeping horribly at night (and consequently also during the day).  I think it was a combination of many factors for Henry, but probably lots of cognitive development, some separation anxiety, getting overly tired, being uncomfortable because of his teeth, and wanting to practice his new skill that was keeping him up at night.  Prior to 8 months Henry never  fought going to bed at night (although naps are a different story).  However, during this sleep regression he did NOT want to go to bed at night unless I nursed him or rocked him to sleep.  We finally ended up going back to the the "Sleep Lady Shuffle" found in Kim West's book:  "Good Night, Sleep Tight", to help him remember that he knows how to fall asleep on his own at night.  The basic idea of the shuffle is that you put your baby in their bed drowsy but awake and remain with them until they fall asleep.  So you are supporting them, but not actually rocking or nursing them to sleep.  Every three nights you slowly move further away from your child so that they become more independent in falling asleep, but still understand that you are nearby and are responsive if they need you.  It's a very simple idea, and it works pretty well!  Henry is doing much better at bed-time now.  We put him down in his bed and usually wait outside of his door for a few minutes.  If he's having a hard time settling himself we say "shhhh" or tell him "its ok", and usually either mine or LJ's voice is enough to ease him to sleep.  

11/8/12 - Digging on a slice of pear in his mesh feeder.  He loves it!  

Love these two boys! 

As I mentioned, naps remain a different story, and for a while there they were pretty rough when we were experiencing bad night-time sleep.  Once we got the night-time sleep better, the naps began to fall into place.  On a good day Henry takes two naps that are 1.5 hrs - 2hrs.  Henry is still too busy during the day to really nurse much, so he usually nurses to sleep for his naps or nurses until he is very sleepy.  

11/8/12 - Happy little man in the tub! 

11/8/12- bath-time is one of my favorite times of day! 

Henry sprouted his first two teeth at the same time.  I could feel them sharp under his gums about a week and  a half before I could see them.  One day they starting poking through, but they still have not come very far up into his mouth, and only rest a tiny bit above the gum line.  They've been like this for a few weeks now, so hopefully we will start to see them come up more soon!

11/16/12 - Look at this sweet face!  

He has a cute butt. 

 Henry continues to love eating solid foods.  He added a few new foods to his repertoire over the past month including:  whole grain cereal (oats, spelt and barley),  quinoa, garbanzo beans, black beans, turkey (on Thanksgiving - he did NOT like it!), kale (he is a fan, like his mama and papa -yay!),  potatoes and yams.  I'm proud to say that the vast majority of his food is either home-made or breast milk, so I feel good about him being a healthy eater!

11/16/12 - Just chillaxing. 

11/16/12 - man on the move

 This little boy keeps getting sweeter and sweeter by the day... and he keeps moving farther and farther away from being a "baby" and closer to being a "little boy".  Even though I know he will always be my baby, it seems that he is growing up so fast!  I am enjoying watching him unfold and create himself before my eyes!

Just doing some light reading.

  

11/ 16/12 -Chuckles.