Hugo Eight Months
::Growing::
At eight months, this boy weighed 9.2 KG, which means that all that fresh Swiss air really helped pack on the pounds, or something.
::Changing::
I think Hugo’s eyes have settled on a colour. They’re not quite brown, not quite green, so let’s call them hazel? His hair is lightening, and I wonder if he might officially go blond? But for now, he’s a mousey shade of adorable.
::Saying::
Raspberries. Everyday, always. He’s also saying, “Ma-ma-ma” which I’m sure means me. And “ya-ya” which might mean Stella.
::Learning::
Towards the end of the month, Mr. Bear started learning to pull himself up to stand. I wouldn’t say that he could do it with any real grace or mastery, but he’s getting there. And my coffee cups are shaking in their saucers.
He’s also learning to crawl. Which isn’t to say he is actually capable of crawling. He’s rocking forward onto all fours, and looking like he wants to propel himself forward with the force of his mind, but can’t figure out how his arms and legs might be involved in this process. He did manage to figure out how to propel himself backwards, but it turns out that he was mega pissed about that. In fact, he was generally quite grumpy about his inability to move independently like the big kids are able to. {And since this is written two months after the fact, I can tell you I was sure he’d be crawling by the end of eight months, but lo, that as not been the case}
::Mastering::
I want so badly to say he’s mastered sitting up, but it is not so. He does still occasionally fall down and bash his head on the floor. We try to remember to surround him with pillows, but we’re not always that vigilant. Sorry, Bear.
He has, however, mastered moving from lying to the sitting position. And he’s scooting about on his bottom, able to move around in circles.
This month he figured out how to bang to objects together. That’s apparently a pretty big deal in baby world. Our little neighbour showed him how, and since then he’s been acting like he’s know how to do that his whole life.
::Playing::
Hugo looooooves stacking toys. He’s fascinated by how things fit inside each other. He loves to manipulate things with his hands and figure out how they work. It’s pretty fascinating to watch. In the mornings, I set him on my bed with his stackers, and enjoy my cup of coffee while scrolling though Instagram, and Hugo happily stacks toys beside me.
He’s also still pretty into his sister, and nothing makes him laugh quite like watching her jump up and down. Peekaboo is also a favourite standby. He’s able now to cover his own face with a blanket and pull it down, revealing the most hilarious grin!
::Eating::
We’re still following a baby lead waning (lite!) approach to food. In my second go round this baby-rearing circus, I’ve rallied that dogma has no place in parenting, so we do some spoon feeding when the situation seems to call for it (namely, yoghurt). But by and large he feeds himself. Special favourites include cucumber, broccoli, tomatoes, avocado, yoghurt, oatmeal, cheerios (a fist full, shoved directly into his mouth), cooked carrots, bread, and all the pasta in the whole world.
He’s still nursing regularly with the addition of the odd formula bottle (again, dogma = tidak bagus).
::Sleeping::
Still kind of a mess. He’s waking up a million times a night to nurse. And he’s generally up for the day at about 4:30 am. And let me tell you, it’s is a REALLY good thing that he’s happy to sit and stack his toys for 45 minutes while I drink my coffee, because otherwise I would not survive these early mornings.
He’s still on a 3 (ish) nap schedule. He’s down for the night around 6:30 and up again waaaaaaaaaay before the sun rises.
::Loving::
His sister; the neighbour boy, especially the older one; his bottle; staking toys; blocks; water (to drink); baths; pools; things that bang; all manner of balls and anything that rolls. He visited a ball pit for the first time this month and oooOOOoooo boy, that was a big hit!
::Loathing::
Moving backwards when he intended to move forward; being removed from water, be it the pool or the bath; sitting down in the bath (there’s not way you can make him do it!); not being given pasta to eat when his sister clearly has a gigantic serving of pasta to eat.
::Enjoying::
I love Hugo’s budding independence. It’s wonderful to watch him engage with his environment, and try to figure out how things work. I particularly enjoy watching him study how his toys work, how they fit together, and what’s up with this gravity business. It’s lovely that he plays happily by himself, (his sister never did that). And, like I said, that ability alone is responsible for me not completely losing my mind at 5:07 am.
And now, some photos.
