Sammy is ... Almost Eight and a Half Months?!

So yes, I am a bad mom blogger. What happened to Sammy's Month Seven and Eight updates? Truth be told, so many changes have occurred that when I even think about drafting these monthly updates, I get overwhelmed and decide to move on to something else. So in an effort to enjoy myself while blogging about the past couple months (because isn't that what blogging is all about?), I'm going to try to keep this short and sweet. The operative word being try.

Month Seven

I know this picture has already been used in my blog, but it was too cute not to add it again. And look - teeth!

Sammy received his first tooth ... and barely a week later, his second! I had no idea he was teething, minus one night that resulted in a midnight wake-up. He's yet to pop any more teeth, though you'd never know considering the amount of drool this kid produces.

We took our first plane ride! Just a quick flight to and from Florida, and overall it was pretty painless. On the way down we were allowed to place him in his carseat on the spare seat next to us, and on the way back, James held him the entire flight. There was no crying, at least an hour of sleep on both legs, but lots and lots of entertaining from mom and dad. Easy but exhausting.

The sippy cup was introduced. I had read somewhere that the Zoli Bot Cup was easy to master, and I totally agree. Sammy couldn't quite the get hang of having to tilt a cup up to get anything out of it (um, and he still doesn't hold his own bottle), so this worked out perfectly. He figured the straw out almost right away.

In month seven, Sammy began army-crawling. It seemed like one day I was luring him to crawl a few steps with my iPhone, and the next day he was moving everywhere! Even today, he continues to pull himself everywhere while dragging his little tum across the floor. What arm strength he has!

This month our meal times got a bit more exciting as I introduced chicken, which Sammy loves. I began slowly giving him more things to practice his pincer grip with, and he did pretty well! Puffs, frozen bagels, teething biscuits, little pieces of vegetables, etc. Of course this resulted in meal time getting to be more messy, to which I'm still coming to grips.

We continued our library Baby Time class in Month Seven, and also began going to Kindermusik once a week. I don't know about Sammy, but I love Kindermusik. The music is actually decent, the pace is great and keeps the kids somewhat engaged, and it's fun to see Sammy interact with other babies his age. Each week new musical instruments (of the baby nature) are introduced, though at this age, Sammy is more interested in sticking them in his mouth.

And saving the best for last (at least as far as month seven went), Sammy began giving his dad and me pseudo hugs. Rather, he'd lay his head against our chest, suck his thumb, and actually stay still for more than a half second. It's the sweetest thing ever and still melts my heart each time he does it.

Month Eight

Perhaps not as many monumental events occurred in Month Eight, but everything from Month Seven seemed to be done even better. The army crawling continued - everywhere. And with that, I developed a little shadow. I now understand when I hear other moms complain about not even getting to go the bathroom in peace. I just never thought it would happen so early....

Once the army crawling was mastered, rather than practice real crawling on hands and knees, Sammy first figured out how to go from a laying down position to sitting up, and then decided that he would like to stand - at all times. More toward the end of the month, he figured out how to pull himself up in his crib, which resulted in a couple weeks of really fun nap and sleep attempts.

What - you think Mozart didn't drool occasionally?

Defeated by the music table, for once

With this new love of standing, Sammy's Leapfrog Learn and Groove Music Table is his absolute favorite toy. He loved this table even when he couldn't stand, but now, it's all the more exciting to him. Seriously, he plays with this table almost exclusively. I feel like I say this about something different each month, but best investment ever.

The strong silent type... sometimes

I think that in comparison to some kids, Sammy might be considered a quiet baby, but this month, he got his voice back. He still is a little shy and quiet around people other than his dad and I, but when it's just the two of us at home ... sheesh. Every few days he learns a new sound and becomes fixated on it. Some days it's a dolphin shriek, other days it "da da", and then other days, he'll just say "da da" a different way. (Did you know there are many different ways to pronounce "da da"? And yet none of them are remotely close to "ma ma". Hmph.)

In Month Eight, I began feeding Sammy finger foods almost exclusively. He's doing three meals a day, and I try to do a protein, fruit and / or vegetable as part of each meal. Even yogurt is near self-administered as we play tug of war with the spoon each and every single bite - and I almost always lose. (Again, this kid and his amazing arm strength!)

The last half of Month Eight brought unseasonably warm temperatures and sun, and it was great to spend a lot of time outside. Sammy swung at the park at least every other day, and became acquainted with the joys of bare feet in fresh grass. (As well as the joy of eating fresh grass.)

It's been another (couple) monumental month(s) - that's for sure!