8 months

Zane,

And here we are again, another month, another letter, and some parents that are saying "No Zane" a lot more. You aren't crawling just yet but have managed to scoot, roll, sit up and everything else in between to get to the object of your desire. These objects range from Mommy's sandals to the TV controller to the coasters. You see, you set out, you conquer (most of the time).

I don't know what people are thinking when they tell us babies don't understand the word no. We say it and you look back at us, with a look saying "okay I get it but I'm going to ignore it" and you slowly creep your little hand to the said NO object. You do all of this while your eyes are set on ours, thinking that if we fall into your big brown eyes we won't notice your fingers on the controller again. Aren't you going to be a fun toddler?!!!

You did pull yourself up on the coffee table...destination coaster! It was hilarious to watch you get your little hands around the edges of the table and pull up and then daringly grab for the coaster with one hand. You fell a couple of times but were a trooper. The candles have now been removed from the coffee table!

You threw up for the first time in your life. This first occurred on Mommy, which resulted in me changing all of my clothes, including my undergarments, basically because I couldn't stand the smell! The second time happened when you had been to bed for a bit and we heard you crying. We typically don't go in right away because you wake up a bit, cry for a bit, and then go back to sleep. It seems there's nothing we can do really, so we let you figure it out and it goes a lot better. This time though your cry was different. After listening a bit, Daddy went in to double check and he found you with your face in the mess. It was also the first time we had to change both the sheet and the waterproof layer. We felt so bad for you. I will admit that my gag reflex did kick in, but I was able to pull it together to hold you and calm you down while Daddy took care of the mess.

Your new found skill of sitting up on your own cracks us up because it now happens in the crib as well. We enter the room now to you having a conversation with your teddy as you hold him and talk to him. When you spot us your smile is as bright as can be and usually involves lots of arm waving in excitement. For some reason when you are really tired though you can't figure out how to get yourself to lay back down. So you scream really loud until we come in to see you sitting up with a pile of tears before you. After laying you back down you usually pass out...I think this might be some form of baby sleep walking! This is better than the blood curdling scream you let out at the beginning of this month to inform us of your leg being stuck in the crib slats. You seem to have figured this out a bit more and can move them in and out without too many screams.

You talked back to your Daddy for the first time which left us laughing. We heard you up after bedtime had passed and Daddy peeked in to see what was going on. You were sitting up in the bed playing with your pacifier when Daddy said, "Zane, it's time to go to bed" and you replied with a loud noise that sounded like you just talked right back to him. Really, we can wait for that till teenage years, no rush there!

You explore everything now and want our approval, which I might say is the cutest thing ever. You look at something, touch it and then look at us to see if 1. it's okay, 2. what we think of it, 3. to show your wonder. We walked through Grandma and Grandpa's yard recently and touched all of the pine trees. Each time you touched it you made a funny face and then looked at me to see what I thought. I couldn't stop laughing because of the cutiness of it all. Somehow Mommy got poison ivy out of the deal, but at least you didn't get it!

Your hair IS finally coming back! And it's fuzz...like a tennis ball. Grandma L. says this is exactly like your Daddy's hair was when he was a baby. We want to spike it again but this hair is different. Not as easy to style I must say! It sticks out on the sides of your ears all funny like and looks like I brush the sides forward all the time. I don't touch it though, I just let it do it's thing.

Lots of big boy things have occurred this month. The crib got moved down thanks to your sitting up skill. I felt 100 times better once we moved it because I kept having dreams of you figuring out how to climb out and topple over the side. We switched your baby tub out for the big boy inflatable tub and it's like an amusement park for you! You jump your little butt up and down, splash and kick your legs, eat your toys and freak out when I pour water over your head. You'd stay in the tub all day if you could.

We now regularly take you to the nursery at church. You seem to be there at least two times a week - once while Mommy and Daddy volunteer with high school students and another while we're in church. There is one lady in particular that you love! When she says "Hi Zane" you get all excited and can't wait to be held by her. She loves you too and finds someone else to take the baby she's holding at the time so she can come grab you and get her "Zane fix" as she calls it. We love that you are so comfortable with others that are willing to help us out!

You’re still on the small side for your age but you’re healthy. Don’t listen to people when they tell your Mommy and Daddy how much bigger a baby is that they know and is much younger than you. You are perfect the way you are and as long you’re healthy and a bit on the small side, we’re not worried at all.

You love reading still but prefer to be the one in charge of changing the pages. This usually means that either Mommy and Daddy read really fast or we just say quick words to go with the pictures. At night you're better and hold onto teddy while we read. But you just can't wait till the next page still. You lean your head and look towards the back of the book to see what's next in anticipation. You much prefer Daddy's reading and his funny voices to Mommy.

We packed up several baby items and placed them up in the attic for hopeful future use one day. We said a farewell to your swing, baby tub, baby gym and lots of clothes. It was a strange feeling to be placing these items for storage when it feels like just yesterday all I could do was imagine a little baby playing in them. That little baby is not so baby anymore.

This month was a big month of changes and I know we're on the brink of so many more. I hope that Daddy and I can make a point to take in each moment with you and help you discover all of these new adventures.

Love,
Mommy & Daddy

To see more 8 month photos check them out here.