8 Months with Theo

8 months old! This first year feels like we’re flying down the highway, and the milestones keep whizzing by, one by one, before we've had a chance to savor them. Sometimes, it seems like he changes overnight.

Our 19-pound little boy still has no teeth, but that doesn't stop him from eating everything in sight! We had brunch at a friend's house this past weekend, and he was laughing at how much Theo can put away. It is impressive. He wants whatever we're eating, but especially if it's avocado toast or pancakes smeared with peanut butter. He loves scrambled  eggs, chicken soup and sweet potatoes blended with apples or pears, but he'll also happily eat spinach or kale or yogurt. Since we've been home from France, he hasn't had as many treats, but he does love a good berry scone or a little taste of ice cream, just like we do.

Despite our best efforts to get  him to try, Theo just can't quite get the hang of crawling. He will sit and get to his knees and rock, but then he will just sit back down again. He's just not that interested. Standing and walking, however, are another story. He can pull himself up to standing from a sitting position on the floor, and if we let go of his hands (or he lets go of ours!), he can sometimes balance for up to four seconds before toppling over. I'm afraid he's going to skip crawling altogether and go straight to walking. We really should get our baby-proofing done, because I know it's going to happen soon. 

When Elie sits on the floor and plays guitar with Theo, Theo stands and holds on to the guitar, bouncing and dancing to the music. It's one of the cutest things I've ever seen. As is Theo's infatuation with his ukelele. He has figured out how to hold the neck and strum, and he can sit and play with it for 20 or 30 minutes or more (although he likes an audience right next to him). I've been taking more and more videos lately, both because I don't want to forget any of these little moments, and if he becomes a great guitar player I want him to see how it all started.

While he's not talking yet, he's started to make a lot of new sounds in the past few weeks, little spits and sputters that sound like “pthe." Nothing that sounds like mama or dada yet, although we think maybe he says "Hi" and "yum," usually with a smile on his face as his usual response to "Theo, say Mama!" is to laugh. And our little Theo is a happy, laughing, giggly little boy, which is just the best. When he gets excited, instead of clapping, he gives a big grin and hits his fists back and forth in front of him. He's very ticklish and loves the anticipation of the tickle as much as anything. He loves when Elie throws him into the air, or when I spin him around the room and then tickle his ribs. When Theo laughs, it's pure gold.

People often comment about how observant Theo is. We were at a baby shower last week, and when the games started, he sat up in my lap and turned to look and listen to each person talking, and added a few comments of his own. When he heard Mimi's voice (my Mom), he got very excited and started babbling excitedly. It was quite adorable, but then, I think everything he does is adorable, so I'm quite biased.

He completely melts my heart with his kisses, which are a hilariously overzealous show of love. He grabs the hair on top of my head with strong little baby hands and pulls my face to his and gives me a big, open-mouth kiss, usually in the vicinity of my eye or nose. It makes me laugh every single time, even when he does it to try and get out of nap time, which is often. 

And while he certainly loves his mama, Theo is definitely a Daddy's boy. Elie was gone for work for a  few days this months, and Theo really missed him. Every morning I bring him into our bed when he wakes up, and he would look all around for Elie, crawling to his side of the bed and peering in the bathroom. We tried FaceTime, but it seemed to just make him upset, instead of soothing him. He wanted to know why Daddy wasn't home. 

He's so darn cute, in fact, that I can't even get upset with him for waking up every two hours during the night, which he has been doing ever since we got back from France. He caught a bad cold when we got back which he had for two full weeks. During that time he woke frequently from having  a stuffy, runny nose and not feeling well, and I think it got to be habit. That, combined with teething (maybe?) and being very excited at trying to stand and walk has him not sleeping well. If he nurses, he'll go right back to sleep, but it's been exhausting. We've started to try to eliminate some of the wakings, but he's pretty persistent. If anyone has any advice on what to do, we're all ears! In the meantime, I'm drinking more coffee than usual.

But  more than anything, I'm loving on this outgoing, curious and mischievous little sweet boy of ours. And I'm loving and humbled at being his mama.

This post was written when Theo was 8 1/2 months old.