Mrs. Bojangles: The Adventures of Baby Bo: 8 Months

Friday BB turned eight months old. Usually I am struggling with these monthly posts trying to think of new and interesting things to write that are different than the month before, but not this month! He has changed a lot over the past month!

I'll start with the biggest change: BB is crawling! Well, army crawling anyway. While it may not seem to be very efficient, dragging himself across the floor like a slithering snake is all it takes for BB to get exactly where he wants to go fast. Literally within a week he went from wallering around on the floor, not being able to get around without help, to becoming a completely independent mover. We have seen him get up on his knees a few times but he hasn't quite seemed to figure out how to become mobile that way. Also, he is able to get from sitting to down own his tummy on his own, but cannot yet get from his tummy back to sitting on his own. However, if he finds himself next to a piece of furniture (or maybe somebody's leg), he will try very hard to pull himself up. We have also seen him pull himself from sitting to standing a few times now. The funniest thing we see him do though, is when he is sitting in his little pool in the back yard. He loves leaning over the edge of the pool and pulling at grass, and somehow he is able to lean over the edge and push his butt up in the air with his feet, in to full bear crawl position. Did I mention he is usually naked while in his pool? Hilarious.

BB also has two teeth now! The first one started to pop through not long after he turned 7 months, and the second one started poking through about a week later. Both bottom front teeth have completley broken through now, and we were surprised to find that BB never seemed to notice. I was preparing myself for some miserable days and sleepless nights, but so far so good. I'm not getting my hopes up that this is how it will be for every tooth, but I'm glad the first two have gone so smoothly.

I know using walkers these days is a bit taboo, but in all honesty, getting a walker was one of the best purchases we have made. BB loves walking around, and some of our favorite videos as of late are of him in it. We don't use it upstairs so there is no risk of taking a tumble, and while not convenient for us, we pretty much just follow him around the house while he is in it to make sure he isn't getting into anything he shouldn't. It is for this reason that I find it a little silly that walkers are so controversial; If you are keeping an eye on your baby, there shouldn't be a problem. You have to watch them when they start crawling and walking on their own anyway, right? I know some old school walkers had a tendency to tip over, but the base of ours is much too wide for that to happen. ANYWAY, my point is BB loves his walker, and so do we. Side note: I think any baby who figures out how to make a three point turn in a walker must be some sort of a genius. Oh, by the way, BB can make a three point turn in his walker.

He can also give kisses. Yes, that's right, my baby gives kisses! I love BB kisses. Especially when they are initiated by him, which usually involves him grabbing my face and pulling me in for a big, open mouthed, slobbery kiss. But don't try to make him give you a kiss if he doesn't want to, because he will physically push your face away, usually leaving a nice big scratch on your cornea in the process. I love how interactive (and flirty!) he is becoming. He is growing into such a little man.

Mr. Bo, BB, and I have all had a lot of fun together this summer. We had a great fourth of July, and even though we missed the big fireworks downtown this year (due to it being well passed BB's bed time) we were able to enjoy a lot of the family friendly activities downtown during the day. BB loved all the live music, and people watching. We go swimming, spend time with family and friends, and try to keep a nice balance between staying busy and just relaxing while neither of us are working. It has been such a blessing to be able to spend so much time together as a family this summer. I am less than anxious for Mr. Bo and I to return to work in the fall.