Meet the Mocks: 8 months

It's crazy to think 2/3 of a year has passed, but here we are, 8 months in as a family of five!

This lil stud has my heart! He's such a sweet boy and just full of energy.

It's been a good month for Charlie. He's definitely settled into his schedule which has made life a bit easier and more predictable. His two favorite things to occupy his time are still the walker and the jumperoo. He really gets that walker going and hauls back and forth from the kitchen to the living room, running over lots and lots of toes in his path,

This is about as close as this lil chunk will get to sitting on his own. He's definitely taking life at his own pace as demonstrated by his lack of crawling, sitting up, pulling up, even just laying on his stomach. Usually in the evenings, before bath, we let him relax/play/have some alone time in his crib for 20-30 minutes. He inevitably, almost every evening, will at some point flip to his tummy and "get stuck." He clearly knows how to roll both ways, but for whatever reason, when he is on his stomach in his crib, he loses it. I've never seen him get so upset except for when this happens.

Don't let looks deceive you - but he did sit up for all of 2 seconds, one time, and I just happened to catch it on my camera!

He does appear to have nice posture, maybe one day!

Charlie tried out the swings for the first time this past month and loved it! Of course, big brother insisted on pushing him, and was very proud of himself!

This kid loves his baths. You would never know, but he had just thrown up ALL over me about 2 minutes prior to this pic. This was one of those 2 pm baths because he was covered in ickiness.

As far as his sleeping schedule goes, he usually gets up in the morning around 8, goes down for a nap around 10 for about an hour, takes a long nap from about 1-3, and then a short nap around 4:30 or 5. He takes his last bottle around 8/8:15 and then goes to bed. He still sleeps in his magic sleep suit and we need to transition him out of it here pretty soon because he has almost outgrown it. I fear that once he is out, he will inadvertently flip onto his tummy and wake not only himself, but the rest of the house up! He tends to sleep on his side and usually sideways in his crib. He will usually wake up anywhere from 6-7 am and I feed him and put him back to bed. Hopefully that will go away soon, but I can't complain too much! He has started taking to the lovey a little bit more and will definitely cuddle with it when he wakes up. And I think we can officially say, we finally have a kid that doesn't take a pacifier. At this point, we have not pushed it and don't plan on it!

When it comes to food, Charlie is doing pretty well. This month, we introduced avocados, ground beef, tomato, beans, yogurt, pears, and I think that's it. He is willing to try new things, but can be very particular. I need to be better about switching things up so he doesn't get too comfortable with his favorites ( ah hem, sweet potatoes and bananas!). He is an extremely vocal child. He has pretty much mastered "da da" and we are thinking he actually says it at the appropriate time (not all the time, but occasionally). Or if I say it to him, he just lights up. He truly adores Wes! Along with that, he just mumbles and spits like no other. I've been calling him Joe Camel lately because he is INSANE with the spitting. He also sprouted his two middle teeth at the beginning of the month

B trying to take a picture of him while Charlie was getting his nails clipped.

Poor kid doesn't stand a chance with this big brother of his. Although B loves him to pieces, he is constantly patting him very aggressively, trying to feed him Cheez-its and other things that he can't have, or tickling him a little too hard.

Charlie just lights up at the sight of his brothers. Most mornings, they love to come in his room with me when I get Charlie out of bed. They both sit in the rocker, while I change Charlie. Charlie literally almost breaks his neck trying to get a good look at them, all while he has a HUGE grin across his face. He gets really giddy and does his shrill scream that only dogs should be able to hear. I just have a feeling, he's going to be a little firecracker. I am not sure of his weight, although I would assume he is well over 20 lbs. He's in 12 months clothes and size 3 diapers. I love his big brown eyes and rosy red cheeks. He still has the cutest dimples and loves to smack his lips.