8 Months

8 Months! Owen's personality is totally shinning through these days! At 8 months, we have his schedule down perfectly - FINALLY. Does it normally take this long?? I really shouldn't complain, but it felt like it took forever to figure out his nap schedule. Owen goes down at night between 7-7:30. I really try to stretch it out to 8, but he pretty much is begging to go to bed by 7 and if I keep him up any longer, it makes it harder for us to put him down for some reason. He wakes up between 6-6:30 on most days and on days he wants to give us a break, he wakes up at 7. He naps twice a day. Once at 9:30 and again at 3. One of his naps are always at least 2+ hours and the other one usually lasts about an hour to an hour and a half. Our growing baby boy loves to sleep!

Owen is mobile. Still army crawling, but can get anywhere he wants! We succumbed to baby proofing and put up a baby gate at the top of the stairs because he is army crawling so fast. It is really incredible. He hasn't quite mastered getting up on his knees yet, but his army crawling has been perfected. He will would much rather be moving than sitting still these days. It is a BIG challenge getting a diaper changed these days. He has abs of steel and is constantly trying to roll over on his stomach to get somewhere while a diaper is being changed. On average, I probably turn him 4-5 times during one diaper change. Let's just say we have to be quick with the diaper changes. Haha.

He is still a REALLY good eater. There is absolutely no problem in this arena. He screams with complete excitement when he sees a bowl of food or a bottle. He LOVES snacks. He can eat his weight in puffs. If you don't feed him his snacks fast enough, he will scream bloody murder and let you know you are going way too slow. This actually applies to any food. Such a boy. Geez.

Owen LOVES music. My Mom seems to think he has her love for music. He 100% recognizes music that he loves. There is this song that my Mom used to play for him when she stayed with us to help him fall asleep at night. When he hears the song, he will stop whatever her is doing and just stare into space listening to that song. It's almost like he knows it's a relaxing song and he wants to savor it. It's hilarious to watch!

We still have not entered the stranger danger stage. Owen is FULL of smiles all the time. Let's see if this is the same story next month! Haha! We try to let him spend time with various people and he just doesn't have a care in the world who holds him. He does give me the BIGGEST smile when he sees me, but doesn't favor any particular person in general. I really do hope it stays that way!!

Owen has learned to wave!! It is hard to get him to do it on command, but if he sees me doing it and I say bye, he will start to wave! It's so cute! I've been trying to teach him to clap, but he seems to only want to slam things one hand at a time. Haha. He is definitely favoring his left hand and foot though. We may have a lefty on our hands!!

Overall, this has been the most fun month for us in Owen's life. To have some kind of routine every day and just seeing him blossom into this happy almost toddler is incredible. We could not ask for more in a baby!!