8-months and counting

William is now officially 8 months old - wow! I was so much better at giving monthly updates for Lily, but somehow that just hasn't happened for William. Here is the update for now...

At 8 months, William is still doing the army crawl. Lily was crawling on all fours with ease by this point, but the truth is that William gets around just as quickly and effectively as Lily did. So, he may decide to skip the more traditional crawling altogether. He has also only pulled up a handful of times, but he does love to be in the standing position and would like nothing more than to figure out that walking thing.

As far as eating and sleeping goes, if we were at home all day, his schedule would look something like this:
7 am - Wake up and breastfeed
8 am - 4 oz. pureed food
9:30 am - Bottle
9:30 - 11:30 am - Nap
11:30 - Breastfeed
12 noon - 4 oz. pureed food
1:30 pm - Bottle
1:30 - 3:30 pm - Nap
3:30 pm - Breastfeed
5 pm - 4 oz. pureed food
6 pm - Breastfeed
7 pm - Bottle
7 pm - 7 am - Sleep

Of course, we rarely stay at home all day, but his schedule usually is a close variation of this.

William has started a new habit of waking up 1/2 hour after we lay him down for the night. At first, we attempted to soothe and console him but found that our efforts were fruitless. So we now let him "cry it out" for a little while, and he goes back to sleep and stays asleep the rest of the night. It is just one of those mysteries that will probably never be solved.

William's hair has started growing in a little (from the center out). It is hard to tell its true color or to know if it is going to be curly or not. His eyebrows are so light that I think he is going to be a very light or sandy brown, if not blond. I'm really, really hoping for curls but that remains to be seen.

Lily also had teeth by the time she was 8 months, but we we still have no teefers with William. I know that many books say that babies can now handle cooked and finely chopped bits of food, but I am not comfortable with that until he has teeth. So, for now we will stick with pureed fruits and vegetables, although I may start giving him some more roughly mashed bananas or avocados. I like to wait for meats until around 9 months, so that will be coming next month.

As far as toys go, William seems to be drawn to toys that roll - anything with wheels - which is amazing to me. Almost exclusively, William has all the same toys that Lily had as a baby. Yet, he is drawn to the more "boyish" toys. It could be just a difference between children, but there is something to be said about natural gender differences in toy selection.

William continues to be a truly happy baby that will smile for anyone and everyone. He engages people with his eyes in a way that is truly remarkable. We've had several funny experiences in stores with William. In one store, a woman followed us through the store and tried several different ways to get around me and the cart to reach Carl holding William. Then she asked to hold him! In another store, I had a woman grab my arm, look into my eyes, and say very seriously, "You have truly beautiful children." As their mother, I'm not going to disagree, but if you could say it without touching me, that would be great.

William also seems to have something about him that I can only describe as emotional intelligence. I know it may sound crazy, but when I went to pick him up yesterday morning, he could sense that something was wrong with me. He didn't reach out to me and smile like he does every single morning. Instead, he stared at me in a way that almost made me cry. He looked so deeply into my eyes and the concern that I could see in him was amazing. I don't think I'll ever forget his expression in that moment.

One thing is certain. William has captured the hearts of EVERYONE in this family. Because of his consistent, pleasant disposition, it is hard to be around him and not be joyful.