Bennett: 8 Months Old!

This month Bennett decided that it's time to start really showing his personality and opinion.  We are finally getting to know who our son is and what he's like.  Bennett is a silly, loving, on-the-go baby.  He also doesn't hesitate to tell us when he's unhappy about something - screechy screams are his favorite way to do this.  And he is still pretty social - loves people talking to him, is VERY interested in other children and toddlers, and seems to warm up quickly to other people holding him.

(This picture quality is not great - it was one of the first ones, and I had forgotten to shut off auto flash, but you can see Bennett's silly tongue which he loves to stick out all the time!)

Although I don't have any weight or height updates (next doctor appointment is at 9 months), I can tell you with 100% certainty that he's had a growth spurt recently.  We were totally stretching the 3-6 and 6 month clothing for a LONG time, but one day I realized all his shirts were 3/4 sleeves instead of long, and all his pants were floods and super tight on his little belly.  So we packed them all up, including the adorable mustard-colored pants that were my favorite.  So we're now in 6-12 month and 9 month clothing.  6 month Carter's onesies still fit him well enough (they're so stretchy!), so we'll keep using those as long as we can because we have so many of them.  I feel like I'm just hitting the end of our shower/baby gifts, because the closet is no longer stuffed full.  It's kind of nice though, because what's in there is all stuff he actually wears.  Bennett also moved up to size 3 diapers.

Bennett loves talking, screeching, blowing bubbles, and making any noises.  He loves it if you mimic and "talk" back to him.  He also still loves being sung to, and that's one of the only things that helps him sit through a diaper change/clothing change without crying and squirming.  Bennett says "dada dada" a LOT, and also says "na na na" and "ba ba ba."  He also does "ah!  ah!" a lot when he's excited.  He said something that resembled "mom mom mom" once, but that was it.

Bennett is super silly lately.  He gives the cheesiest big mouth-closed smile and squints his eyes when he does it.  He loves to laugh at everything - Cooper, pretend sneezes, tickles, peek-a-boo, even us  touching his nose and saying "boop!"

The biggest change with Bennett has been his activity level.  Man - this guy wants to move constantly! If you hold him, no chance is he sitting still.  He's turning in your arms, reaching for things, trying to stand up and "jump jump jump" on your lap.  Set him down and he's trying to stand and pulling up on everything.  He gets into the crawing position and moves a little (no major crawling yet).  He can make himself get places more quickly if it's in the direction of Cooper, Cooper's toys, a cell phone, or a water bottle.  (Unfortunately Cooper isn't super enthusiastic about Bennett being on the move.  We're trying to teach him to move himself if he doesn't want Bennett coming at him.  So far he's sort of getting it...).

At 8 months, Bennett still has NO teeth!  He also doesn't do any baby "tricks" (like wave bye-bye or say "so big!" with his arms).  He thinks it's really funny and entertaining when we wave at him or say "so big!" but he's not too into doing these things himself.  And although he's doing well with baby foods, he's still not very good at picking up food (like puffs or pieces of banana) and putting them into his own mouth, and he much prefers that we do it for him.  We've also been trying out a sippy cup, but he hasn't been very successful with it yet.  Bennett's favorite foods so far seem to be bananas.  Bennett has had a little bit of formula, but is still mostly nursing.  He does NOT sleep through the night.  A good night is when he only wakes up once and it's around 2-3am, so I can go back to sleep for a good chunk of time before getting up for work at 6.

We love our boy so much!  It's crazy to think that in just 4 months he'll be a year old already!