EIGHT MONTHS!!

Porter was 8 months old on Christmas Day! The movers had already come and picked up his bear and his rocking chair so we waited until we got them back to take the pictures. (Porter: if you're reading this in the future it was totally NOT second-child syndrome! We remembered!) 

At eight months old Porter is:

-Sitting securely and going from lying down to sitting up and vice versa. He is rolling and scooting around but not crawling yet. He still gets up on all fours all the time but hasn't moved yet. He has tried to pull up a few times already which I am not ready for!

-waving and giving sweet open-mouthed kisses. He can also drink from a straw. His favorite sound is a tongue clicking sound. He says ba ba a lot. 

-still going strong on the nursing journey. He nurses five times a day, usually every 3 hours. He is obsessed with eating and will demolish jars of baby food, pouches are gone in seconds and anytime anyone else is eating he needs to be eating too. He will eat anything put in front of him and he will keep eating until you pry him away from the food, literally kicking and screaming. He is amazing when we go out to eat. He sits happily in a high chair and looks around and then eats everyone's food and all the puffs we will give him. We've been giving him watery apple juice because his Reflux medicine makes him constipated and he loves that, but if you give him a sippy of water only he will take a sip, make a horrible face and throw the cup down. He's definitely opinionated. Speaking of the Reflux medicine, we have taken him off of it because it seemed like his discomfort from the constipation was worse than the reflux. We haven't seen any indication that he feels bad off the medicine and the constipation is fixed so I think it's safe to say he's officially off the medicine. 

-sleeping through the night for the most part. Every few nights he will wake up wanting to nurse, but we have found out that if I actually go in and nurse him, he will be up every three hours and then will repeat that every night until we break the cycle. So as much as I hate the cry-it-out method, that's what works for him. He usually only cries for 10 minutes and then falls back asleep. Most nights he doesn't cry at all. 

-an extreme mama's boy. I thought Pax was but he had nothing on his baby brother. Porter makes it completely obvious that he wants me to be holding him at all times. If someone else is holding him, he will tolerate it for a few minutes if he's in a good mood and then he will lunge towards me and cry until I take him. He does not like being in rooms alone and will immediately start crying when whoever is in there with him walks out. He makes up for his lack of independence with his cuddliness. He could seriously be held and snuggled all day and be the happiest baby ever. This morning I noticed that he had been really happy all morning and I realized that I hadn't put him down once. He was perfectly content being in my arms all morning. 

-loving: bath time, watching Paxton, playing with Daddy (especially if I hold him while he plays), mirrors, iPhones and stealing whatever toy Pax is playing with. He has stopped hating Scarlett and now tolerates her being in the same room with him. On a few occasions he has even reached out to touch her. 

I think the word that best sums up Porter this month is sweet. He is so cuddly and loves giving kisses and being talked to. He is so happy now that his Reflux is better, but he's a much quieter and calmer happy than Paxton was. I love learning his little quirks and seeing his personality start to shine through. I think he's perfect for us.