8 months!

height: 27 inches      weight: 17lbs  

eight months! really??? you are such a big sweet boy. you are sitting up great in your bumbo, but are still working on sitting up unassisted.  you can be on your belly for about 20 minutes or so and can hold your head up vertically, though it's still exhausting for you. you are still learning how to use your arms to push yourself up. you are eating ALL the foods! you super love eating now and will open your mouth for them before momma even says 'ahhh!'. we discovered that you have a bit of a milk allergy (just like momma when she was your age), so we will probably have to supplement with soy formula in a few months. learning about your allergy was hard for momma and daddy-- it was so hard to see you in pain and vomiting. momma might have cried more than you. you watch us intently when we talk to you, and you make mouth motions back at us. you are babbling more now, but no consonants yet! you love your voodoo kitties and your plastic keys, as well as any grown-up thing that we hand to you. you love to inspect everything. you have just started to have angry fits-- usually around 5pm--so momma and daddy are going to have to figure out what to do about that. it's all so new to us! you have a new room now in our new apartment. we live in bellevue, kentucky-- which is basically still cincinnati, just on the kentucky side. you like looking at the city skyline all lit up at night with its neon colors. your favorite time is bedtime-- when daddy will feed you and you will snuggle against his neck and shoulder with a contented smile. then we will read you a story while you Talk! and Kick! you are such an introverted baby-- you enjoy watching other babies play, but you get easily overwhelmed when they start playing 'with' you. momma doesn't quite blame you, since 'playing' with other babies your age mostly involves them rolling over on top of you or sticking their hands in your face!

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wow this month flew by! and it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. leaving our glendale apartment was so hard. the new apartment is hard to get used to-- it has pretty shoddy interior remodel work and also LOUD upstairs tenants-- but i keep telling myself that this is just a phase in our life. that we will be here one year, maybe two, and then we will go somewhere that fits us more. this has certainly all been an adventure! i think i'm just ready to have a semi-predictable life. some stability would be nice. a home we own. a yard for S to play in. i'm not really sure if that's going to be in the cards for us-- for a while at least. it has been nice to be so near godly older women-- more experienced mothers-- and mothers who are my age and 'first timers' as well. i think it might get better when it warms up. right now, it doesn't matter that we live close-- it's too cold to walk to each other's houses!