Milestone: 8 Months

Lots of excitement to report from the past month...

In addition to looking more like me and less like the exact replica of my husband, the little one experienced some firsts in the last month.  On September 28th, he had his 3rd round of vaccinations and a general flu shot.  He dropped in all of the comparable metrics - 31st percentile in length, 4th percentile in head size, and 4th percentile in weight.

First Step - Just past the 7 month mark, he learned to take a few steps after standing up.  His motivation involves moving around so he can grab something on the sofa.  Now that it has become automatic that he will stand up, he is tentatively moving around objects by coordinating his feet.  I hesitate to call it cruising because its only been a few steps here and there.  Also, my dad did see him briefly stand without holding onto anything.  He fell within seconds but that was a first, also.

First Fever - Over Labor Day Weekend, he had his first fever - almost 103 degrees.  On that Sunday, he was crying almost all day long, which made the whole experience heartbreaking.  We kept him on a steady diet of Tylenol and Motrin, which helped the fever break and bring on sleep.  A few days after the high temps went away, he developed an awful cough followed by a stuffy nose and then runny nose.  It took a week and a half for him to recover.  He lost much of his appetite during that time and barely ate.  We had his pediatrician checkup a couple of weeks later and he was down to the 4th percentile of weight (down from 9th). 

First Haircut - On October 3rd, we held a ceremony for his first haircut.  This was a tradition from my husband's side of the family and about 30 people came to the party.  The little one was quite disturbed by the crowd in such a small space and was crying upon entering the house.  He didn't settle down much as anything would set him off into a fit, especially a relative approaching him.  It was too bad because he is normally a very happy, smiley baby and most of the people there did not get to see that.  It has been in the last few weeks that the little one has developed  separation anxiety and awareness of the people around him.  He is fine in a small setting, but larger groups are scary to him. 

First, there was a ceremony in which they set out books, pens/pencils, cash/gold, and fruit.  The little one had to crawl to and pick one of those choices to determine his fate.  Books meant he would be scholarly, pens/pencils meant he would be a writer, cash/gold meant he would be well off, and fruits signified a fruitful life. He started crawling to the stack of books when he saw the folded money in front of him.  He crawled straight to the cash and was about to reach out when the crowd roared and applauded in unison.  He stopped to look at the wall of people and then looked back to my husband and me and started bawling.  I don't blame him.  I said he got close enough to the cash and we could move on to the other ceremony after I calmed him down.

Next, we had the ceremonial first cut.  My brother took a few snips of his hair so that my husband's family could take the strands to the temple later to be blessed.  The little one cried throughout this part of the day.  I was happy when everything was over and the crowd dispersed to the different rooms and outside.The little one was much happier outside playing on the trampoline with his cousin and crawling in the grass.

First Tooth - His first tooth is emerging from the bottom front of his gums.  I felt it with my finger and saw it yesterday.  I think it's developed in the last week, though, as I felt something when he was breastfeeding.  There is no mistakening the sharpness.  He has been drooling and putting everything into his mouth for a while so I am relieved to finally see a tooth popping out.  The bottom front gums are swelling as are the top front now. 

Upcoming First Flight -On Saturday,we leave for Ireland, which will be his first flight and first international vacation.  We're excited and nervous and fearful.  Hopefully, it will go well and his teething won't be too unbearable during the time.  I have lists detailing everything I need to pack, including baby food, Orajel, feeding utensils, diapers, wipes, clothes, bibs, toys, etc.  For someone who packs light, this will be a new adventure for me, too. Photos to come...