Here's a summary of where the little man is at right now....
Looking for dropped objects: Yesterday he nearly fell out of my lap looking for the book he dropped. He dropped the book and then dived after it.
Rolling: He can roll from belly to back and vice versa. He especially likes to roll continuously on the floor. Right now he does it in slow motion, but I'm sure he'll get some speed to his rolling shortly. Diaper changes continue to get more challenging. He likes to roll over and knock his wipes and diapers on the floor.
Belly time: When he's on his belly he tends to scoot backwards. It's only a matter of time before he scoots forwards. He doesn't get up on his knees yet. I'm guessing he'll be crawling by nine months. We'll see. I think he really wants to get around and explore. He loves the refrigerator and not just because of the cold air. He sees so many little things inside that he doesn't know what to grab for first.
Food: He hasn't really been thrilled with anything so far. He tolerates prunes the best and they make his poop smell fruity. So far he's had, prunes, applesauce, bananas, green beans, sweet potatoes, avocados, carrots, squash, pears, peas, and peaches. This week we are trying plums and pumpkins.
New toys: He got so many new toys this month I don't think I could name them all - jumper, ball, rattles, barn, karaoke/musical thing that he can bang on, and mostly just stuff he can bang on. We had to retire a few toys because he's either too big for them or has no further interest. We retired the swing a few months ago, because he'd kick his chubby legs and make the swing shake. The bouncer is being retired because he's pretty much over the weight limit and would rather stand or roll around. And, soon to go into retirement is the playmat. He just rolls right off of it.
Sounds: he's starting to say ga, ma, da, and ba, but very infrequently. He mostly just says, AH. He grunts a lot more and even has happy and angry grunts.
Grabbing/Reaching: He grabs everything in sight - earrings, necklaces, hair, Spike, etc. He's even got the pincer grasp (ability to pick things up with his thumb and index finger)
Activities: He had a big month in July. He attended classes with mom at Clarian, had a couple of play dates with a mother's group I've joined, went to the library, Quaker Park, and Forest Park. He had his first "swim" at Forest park and didn't really enjoy the cold water. He even went to several Friday Night Flamingo Parties (neighborhood parties) and met up with the zillion other babies in the neighborhood.
Sleep disturbances: He's been such an excellent sleeper up till now. Last week he woke up several times in the middle of the night scooting and spinning in circles. He was waking up at 12, 4, & 6. It's been many months since he's woken up that often. This week he seems to be back to his regular sleep pattern.
Separation Anxiety: He doesn't like to be put to bed by anyone other than me. Sometimes I'll go workout while Jason's putting him to bed. I return to Huxley either screaming or watching Star Wars. Hopefully he'll get past this soon.
Signals to get picked up: He holds his arms up in the air when he's ready for a lift, which somedays is all day long.
Fits: He gets angry when toys or Spike are taken/walks away from him or if he doesn't get picked up when he's signaling.
Fascination with everyday objects: He likes the spice rack, refrigerator, remote, blinds, and cell phone. Jason was playing Star Wars on his iphone and Huxley took it out of his hand and started watching it. That lasted for a minute before he got bored and decided it was time for the iphone to be eaten.
Diaper Explosions: Fortunately for me, it was only the wet kind. While eating at Texas Roadhouse, I noticed my leg started to get really warm. He peed all over me. I had changed him and hour ago and he had already soaked through his diaper and me.
Hopefully next month we'll have progress to report on the crawling and table food front.
