My Smart Cookie

I can't believe how fast 8 months has gone by. I keep thinking about how crazy it is how fast babies learn about the world around them. Eight months ago, Oliver couldn't hold his own head up, couldn't sit by himself, couldn't army crawl, couldn't get up on his hands and knees, couldn't grab any toys, couldn't smile socially, couldn't sleep without being swaddled, couldn't baby talk, couldn't recognize me or Jan, couldn't eat solid foods, couldn't anticipate food coming and open his mouth, and on and on. I also keep thinking about how much more he has to develop by the time he's 12 months old and how close by it is - 4 months - which doesn't seem like enough time for all of that. Then I remember how far he has come since he was 4 months old, and I know it will happen.

He is right on track developmentally (even a little ahead I think), but he still doesn't have any teeth. I can see some white spots on the front of his lower gums, so I know they are working on it. Oliver is munching on anything in sight . . . unfortunately, including pieces of carpet he is able to pull up while crawling around. He then ends up gagging on the carpet, and I have to fish it out of his mouth. My mom says that the longer the teeth take, that usually means they are going to be straighter. Both Jan and I never needed braces. We both have naturally fairly-straight teeth, so I'm hoping that will be the case with Oliver too. Hopefully he gets my hard teeth, though.

On top of all of that, I can tell Oliver is a smart cookie. He decides to do certain things on his own without my help that most babies have a difficult time with. For example, he does not want to be rocked to sleep anymore. He decided that he was going to fight me until I put him down to fall asleep on his own. So, now when it is nap time or bedtime, I turn on his music maker, give him his binky and blankie, put on his mobile, pat his head, and walk away. Every once in a while, I have to go back in to give him his binky after he has thrown it somewhere or I have to turn the music back on while he tries to fall asleep, but for the most part, he is asleep within 10 minutes. He is also learning how to tell Jan and me when he wants to be picked up and when he is ready to sleep. When he is crawling around and wants to be picked up, he will crawl over, starting banging on my foot, look up at me, and sometimes even yell. When he is ready to sleep, he stops what he is doing and just stares - usually at me or out the window. He can also say "dadadada" and "mamamama," and is doing it often enough that I think he might actually know what they mean.

In spite of all of that, he is still a baby and has decided it is time to become a momma's boy. When he first started crawling, he just wanted to explore, but now it is being used to follow me around so he can be picked up. The other day, I left him in his room to crawl around while I went to the bathroom. He was in the bathroom before I knew it. He does it when I'm in the kitchen too. The past few days he has been waking up early. Normally when he wakes up before his normal breakfast time (7am), he will just play in his crib with some stuffed animals. Now he yells, so I come in and hold him. He hasn't really done that since he started sleeping through the night around 4.5 months. The other day when he was watching Blue's Clues, he wouldn't let me take him off my lap. And he is being extra cuddly and smily when around me. I'm afraid if I try to leave him with a babysitter, we are going to have some problems.

So not only do I have a "good baby" who rarely cries, fusses, etc., I also have a smart, good-lookin', loving, happy, smily baby who lights up everyone around him.