Eight Months

It was a major motor milestone kind of month. Crawling! And it was a big deal. With the onset of crawling skills, Baby Grady has blossomed into the charming sort of baby that he always wanted to be, if he hadn't been so frustrated about being a baby. We always suspected that he was a baby who would handle life much better once he could move himself about and, well, do stuff. You know, and be less babyish?

We.were.right.

Grady will now spend a surprising amount of time just puttering about the kitchen and family room. Wait. Allow me to be more clear. There are now huge chunks of the day when Grady is not fussing, weeping, or screaming. While he's awake. And we are not actively soothing, shushing, or otherwise ineffectively comforting him. He's just... content. It's a revelation, really.

And oh, he is so busy. Just nonstop motion and exploring and tasting and grinning and laughing. Really fun stuff these days. Hence the out-takes from his Bruce de Bruce portrait. It's markedly more difficult to get a decent picture of the kid these days. He doesn't want to stay still ever. Even in his sleep, he'll roll onto his tummy (because who doesn't love sleeping on their tummy?) and then he will just instinctively pop up onto all-fours-crawling-position. And then he's pretty pissed because... People, I'm trying to sleep here, who put my baby in a crawl? Why is there not a boob in my mouth? AAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHH! But, generally speaking, he is orders-of-magnitude more happy now. Jasper would probably tell me my math is flawed, but it's true and also it involves logarithms.

This personality transformation occurred in spite of the fact that Baby Grady also spent his entire eighth month of life sick in one way or another. First it was Coxsackie Virus (otherwise known as Hand-Foot-Mouth Disease, which no, does not come from goats. or sheep.) Then it was a really bad cold, or a string of colds, that lasted more than three weeks, and is maybe even still hanging on a bit. (It is.) When it was bad, he slept propped on my arm for drainage, and when he would get too congested and have coughing fits, we would shut ourselves up in the bathroom, turn on the shower, and sway in the steam. At least a couple of times a day/night, the coughing fits would lead to voluminous vomiting. It was kind of a rough time, if I'm being honest. But Grady was such a trooper. He really cried and fussed far less than would have been reasonable under the circumstances. He just tried to nurse as much as possible, without suffocating. It was sad, and hard, and I hated it.

As a result of all the sickness and possibly also the crawling workouts (major calorie burning there), Baby Grady didn't grow this month. In fact, our non-clinical records reveal that he shrank. I assure you he is not wasting away, and his team of doctors (since we met a few new ones this month, I'll refer to them thusly) are not concerned. Apparently that baby had rotundity to spare.

How much Baby Grady weighs: 20 lbs., 12 oz. 
How tall Baby Grady is: 28.5 inches
Size of Baby Grady’s clothes: 6-12 month; 9 month; 12 month (Same as last month, due to the growth stoppage.)

Baby Grady’s eye color: brown
Baby Grady’s hair color: blond 


Number of times I have been told that my baby is the cutest, the most adorable, the most handsome baby, akin to a baby model really, and etc.: so many
Percentage of those times Baby Grady was being a flirtatious hambone: 100%
Number of times I have been told that my baby is so well-behaved: 2
Number of weddings Baby Grady has attended: 1; birthday parties: 3; baby showers: 1


Baby Grady’s favorites: crawling, hanging out on the lawn, baths with Daddy, the crabby pool, strawberries, peek-a-boo, "Call Me Maybe"
Baby Grady’s least favorites: coughing, sniffles, having his nose sucked out, getting his diaper changed (because it means he has to stop moving, NOOOOOOOO!)