8 Months

Baby Pierce is now 8 months old! He hardly seems like a baby anymore. Here are some fun (and some not so fun) facts about his 8 month old life:

*playing - He pulls up on anything he can find and loves to stand. His favorite spot to stand is by the bathtub. I'd say his favorite toy currently is his activity table because he can stand at it. He loves to reach into bookshelves and dresser drawers and pull everything out. He's still fascinated by cords. Still loves bathtime. Hates getting diapers changed or getting dressed because he doesn't want to stay still on his back. Doesn't like it when you take something away that he likes. He knows that when something disappears from his sight, it still exists. He's a very curious baby and studies everything carefully.

*socializing - He laughs much more now than he used to. He has to be in just the right mood though to really get going. He likes it when you make funny sounds. He smiles at strangers but gets shy and turns his head away. He screams a lot less than he did a month ago, and babbles a little more. If he gets mad at you, he will tell you all about it. He gives sweet hugs. He also pulls hair and pinches when he's hungry. He cries when we walk out of the room and follows us around everywhere we go.

*sleeping - Things are not going so well in the sleep department around here lately. He's waking up multiple times each night and not falling asleep on his own for naps or bed time. Since he feels the need to crawl or stand at any waking moment, he has an even harder time calming himself down in his crib. If I leave him there, I will always come back to a standing and screaming baby. He won't sit or lie down on his own. I'm very understanding of it though because of the feeding problems we've been having. I want to make sure he's full before he goes to bed, and he usually isn't lately (which is why he wakes up so much).

*eating - He's doing better with baby food. I just mix a little bit of fruit into everything and he usually eats it fine. I've tried giving him chunky foods, but he doesn't bite down on things yet. He just tries to swallow it whole or it ends up coming back out of his mouth. I think he's getting close though, so I'll keep trying. We've been having a tough time with breastfeeding off and on lately. I can't believe I'm still doing it after 8 months because it has been the single most frustrating thing from the very beginning. Which leads me to my next topic...

*health - He still has thrush. We went back to the breastfeeding clinic and saw the doctor for the 4th time. She told us how to properly use gentian violet to treat it (we had tried it before but it didn't work). We did it 2 days ago, and after an extremely frustrating day with a hungry baby who could not eat, I decided to just go back to the Nystatin we've been giving him from the beginning. It's a safe medicine, and it keeps the yeast from overgrowing so he doesn't hurt. I'll just have to keep giving it to him because it doesn't ever get rid of it completely. Thrush is not a really serious problem. A lot of times it doesn't bother babies and it can go away on its own. The only time it's an issue is if it interferes with eating. It does interfere with Pierce's eating when he's not on medication, so that's why it's been such a challenge. It'll probably go away when I stop nursing him and he stops sucking on pacifiers. I wish I could go back in time and not take those antibiotics for the sinus infection I had the day he was born. I really think that's what initially started this whole thrush issue.

Regardless of the frustrations we have, we love the kid. He gets more and more fun to play with. Brock is loving being able to throw him up in the air and tickle him. It's fun to watch him and see how excited he gets about everything. I'm glad he's my baby boy!