8 Months

Jace turns 8 months tomorrow. These last couple of weeks have brought out all the stops: tons of new tricks, a big boy haircut, increased fussiness and night wakings, and possibly some teething (I can never tell). This little fellow is growing right on up! At 8 months, Jace...

-Is up on all fours, rocking back and forth, scooting backwards, but has yet to crawl forward. He does a little inchworm to grab something out of reach, but I can't call it a crawl. He's so close! I think this is part of why he's been a bit of a fussy pants these days; he just wants to move but hasn't quite figured out the most efficient method yet.

-Had his first haircut! He was looking a little shaggy, and a few people asked me how old "she" was, so we decided it was time. He cried through the entire process, but after it was over he smiled at his reflection like he was quite pleased with the results. As he should be! He is the handsomest baby on the block, in my humble and entirely un-biased opinion.  

-Smiles when we say his name, looks at Colt when I say "Where's Dada?" and looks at me when Colts says "Where's Mama?" Smart cookie.

-Growls. He growls All. The. Time. He thinks it's hilarious (it is).

-Loves to be "in on it." When Colt or I laugh, Jace looks over and smiles and laughs with us. When we cheer (like when Tanner Mangum threw his first Hail Mary), he looks us right in the eye and squeals and screams over and over again. He wants so badly to be right in the middle of things. Even when Colt gives me a kiss, he stares at us and gives us the biggest, gummiest grin. It's a little bit intrusive, but we love him anyways.

-Can pull himself to a stand. However, he is always choosing the most inopportune times to practice, like when he's in the tub. We've had a few slips and slides lately, and bath time has become quite the workout as we're busy trying save him from himself.
-Doesn't do so well being away from mom and dad. 

-Babbles "mamama" and "dadada." It's not intentional yet, but it's fun to hear him say those sounds.

-Gets a kick out of bath time. When we start running the bath water and carry him over to put him in, he squeals with joy and does the running man in mid-air. He's always throwing himself forward onto his tummy so he can "swim," and he maneuvers himself around in there pretty well when he's on his belly. He also enjoys drinking his bathwater. Yum.
-Pushes his arms through his shirt sleeves when we are getting him dressed. It's made putting his clothes on a much less traumatic experiences.

-Constantly pulls his socks off. We've lost so many socks in the grocery store because he yanks them off and drops them when I'm distracted. 
-Loves his books, especially his book of colors. He turns each page, I name the color or the animal or what-have-you, he jabbers away at the pictures, repeat.

-Loves "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." He stops crying immediately when I sing it to him, and always starts up again as soon as I start the line "and dried up all the rain" because he knows the song is ending soon. If I start to sing it from the beginning he stops crying again.
-Recognizes the entrance to our apartment building, and becomes super excited when he sees it after I take him out on walks and such. He knows he's home!

-Thoroughly enjoys the carrots and potatoes from our Sunday pork roast, applesauce, Cheerios, and the oatmeal I eat for breakfast. Actually, he's super interested in anything I eat. He could care less what's on Colt's plate-it's always my food he's eyeballing.

-Plays "tickies." We tickle him, and he sometimes tries to tickle us back. We pretend to laugh, and he gets a major kick out of it.

-Likes to play with everything he sees us use. His favorite toys are a spare toothbrush, keys, and my water bottle. He'd chew on my phone all day, but that's a no-go. Sorry little man. You still spit up too much to be trusted.