Gabbling With The Gersts: Eight~Month~Old~Elijah

My little wonder is now 8 months old. Where does the time go?! I keep telling Colin he's not a little baby anymore! Today, I woke up to the adorable sounds of E's squeals and laughter (what a way to wake up!) You can't help but smile as he jabbers like crazy in the mornings. I think he got his dad's love for mornings and waking up early.... where I'm left behind as the most non-morning lover EVER and I really enjoy spending my mornings sleeping in. After my cup of trusty coffee, I was able to wake up a bit and enjoy the morn taking some new photos of my little guy as we played on the ground! He sure is becoming a little ham, I think he's only getting more expressive and thus, all the more handsome of course.

Some fun facts on our little lovie:

*At 8 months old... E now has the moves down to officially crawl.

*Even though he now knows how to crawl... he still prefers his roll/scoot to get around. Heck- it's faster and easier!

*Even MORE than rolling/scooting... he prefers to stand. And even walk around (with our help, of course!)

*He always wants to do more than he can really handle or is able to do. He can be stubborn and strong headed (wonder where he gets this from?) He can't pull himself up to objects, but desperately wants to stand. With our help to get into position, he loves standing and feels more independent.

*He has the BEST personality. He's mostly content and just the happiest little boy with great joy in life!

*He jabbers almost constantly... with the main sounds coming out still being "Dada, gaga, baba"

*He still loves blowing raspberries... and the spit/drool factor is only increasing.

*His weirdest favorite thing to do- the snort. Scrunches up his nose and snorts and waves his arms wildly. We usually just laugh and make fun of him during the process. He's a little goon.

*He now knows how to give Hi-Fives and claps on his own!

*We're trying to teach him some simple sign language... he can't do the signs yet... but we still use them and hope he'll catch on! Unfortunately, when trying to teach him the sign for "No" he just laughs! Ha!

*He started teething at 4 months... and has YET to pop a tooth!

*He weighs about 18 pounds right now

*His hair is still coming in strong~ beautiful, sparkly, and white. Most people call him

"little blondie or toe head"

*His nystagmus has seemed to really slow down... but still picks up and gets faster/more jerky when he's tired or upset.

*His vision is GREAT! What a Praise to God! From most of the easy eye tracking/vision tests we do on him... he's passing with flying colors!

*He's perfecting his fine motor skills- able to pick up a little snack with his pointer finger and thumb- the pincher grasp- and bring the snack to his mouth to eat!

*He's loving solids- even more than milk these days! (Mama's hoping we can keep the breast feeding going strong till 1 year- so far, so good)

*His repertoire of solid foods now includes: carrots, peas, yams, squash, asparagus, pears, peaches, apples, plums, bananas, oatmeal, baby cereal, and his first meat- Turkey!

*He still loves bath time and water more than anything-baths always make him happy!

*He's a good sleeper- bed time routine starts at 8 and he's in bed around 8:30 & sleeps till 7:30-8 a.m!

*He's mostly a mama's boy when he's crying or sad (Starting to have a little issue with separation from mama when it comes to others wanting to hold him)

*But he LOVES his daddy for playing and reading and talking sports and hangin' out- these two are quite the pair!

*Most people say he looks like his daddy... but if they know mama's side of the family... then they say they see Uncle Jake and Opa Terry. But- I still see myself in his smiles and facial expressions sometimes!

*His smiles seriously melt your heart... and his laughter always brightens our days.

Happy boy after bath time!