In the blink of an eye Bubba is now over 8 months old and getting much more sophisticated. E and I have started to encounter JJ playing favourites, wanting to go to one of us over the other (usually to his Mama with arms outstretched which is very cute but hurts a little when its you he doesn't want to be with). He is also making strange or bashful with more people now, something we'd read that we should expect but it is funny to see him be that way with people he knows quite well. For some reason Grandpa brings it out of him...
At the same time it is amazing to watch him react to those close to him. He lights up when he sees me get home from work or first thing in the morning, has a special smile for his Mama (and the aforementioned reaching out) and his reaction to Skyping with his Grandma when she was in Europe was really strong. He was fixed on the laptop screen and so happy to hear her voice. In fact, Skype with anyone these days is fun to watch as he really gets that they are on screen and he can hear them. That's when he isn't trying to chew on the webcam of course!
Bubba is continuing to grow fast, he is still 99th percentile for height (75 cm or so) and around 80th percentile for weight (almost 22 lbs), he is definitely getting longer and leaner as he grows. It is nice to know that he doesn't have to go back to the Doctors until 12 months of age now thanks to a slightly early 9 month checkup with our family doctor.
Part of the reason he is growing so well must be his diet. Just like he parents he loves food! It is so rewarding to make his food and see him really enjoy it. The best is when he can eat the same thing we are. Not only does it cut down on food prep but we can all sit down and enjoy the same meal together (of course Mommy and Daddy add plenty of salt and pepper to their meals). So far JJ has loved home made Minestrone Soup, Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie, Spaghetti Bolognaise and Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pasta! We're also making him fun baby food like a fantastic smelling pork, apple, potato, parsnip and sage concoction, mashed up root veggies and his all-time favourite apple sauce! He'll eat anything that has apple sauce added to it.
JJ might be reluctant to crawl or explore on his own but he sure can eat!
One challenge we have faced recently was JJ being sick for the first time. He picked up a cold/cough, duly passed it on to us and the three of us have spend the best part of two weeks getting over it. It is way harder to get well when you are focusing on helping a little one feel good. You also forget that you are sick and put all your energy into taking care of your under the weather baby. Only got one humidifier, that'll be in the nursery then (until you buy another one), Mama not sure what is safe to take during breast feeding so suffer through congestion instead (while I guiltily took drugs to clear me out so at least one of us was in reasonable shape!), going to bed at 8pm so that you get enough sleep to feel ready for tomorrow. Not complaining , its just very different from taking a couple of days to yourself and feeling right as rain by the weekend.
Coming up we have other challenges/developments:
1) Still no teeth although he is showing every sign of teething soon
2) When to introduce dairy (current recommendations are rather vague)
3) What to do about gluten in his diet (as Mama has celiac disease)
4) Day care places! (we should hear soon and hope we get a spot in one of our favourites)
5) Bubba becoming more mobile so he will no longer be somewhere close to where we put him down! (and the child proofing that goes hand-in-hand with that).
I'm also pretty sure that with the above going on, no doubt simultaneously, it will be JJ's first Christmas before we know it!
