8 Months Old

I've tried to take a picture of Jackson on the 21st of each month (since he was born on June 21st). This month I remembered to take one just as I was putting him to bed. Hence the picture below of my adorable boy in his crib. I am so in love with this kid. I know he's still little, but I don't feel like I have documented much (or any) of what he was been up to, so here goes. (This will probably be pretty boring to read, but I want to write it down for my sake.)

• He LOVES to sit up and play with toys. He's not crawling yet, so he's always in the same place that I leave him. Pretty convenient for me.
• He LOVES his pacifier. He's gotten really good and grabbing it and sticking it in his mouth all by himself. If he doesn't have his pacifier to suck on, he sucks on his bottom lip instead. All. The. Time.
• He LOVES food. His goes crazy with excitement at the sight of a bottle or baby food. His little hands start moving at the speed of light. I've got to get that on video. It's hilarious.
• So far he has eaten:
• Bananas
• Peas
• Avocado
• Rice
• Beans (green, pinto, and black)
• Carrots
• Sweet Potatoes
• Applesauce
• Oatmeal
• Rice Cereal
• Pears
• Bread
• Baby puff cereal
• Ice Cream
• Lick-a-stick
• Lollipop
• (Don't judge on the last three. I couldn't resist and it was only a taste! He loved all three by the way. With me as his mother, I'm pretty sure he'll inherit a sweet-tooth!)
• He says ba ba ba ba and Bob all day long. Very. Loud. (Too bad we don't know anybody named Bob).
• He is extremely vocal. I mean talk at the top of his lungs non-stop, vocal. I love it. I find myself saying ba ba ba quite a bit too these days.
• He smiles all the time. He has the cutest smile! But, no teeth yet.
• He laughs every time we dance for him. He loves when I do the Charleston and the triple time step especially. :) Now I have an excuse to be dancing around my house. (As if I really needed one. I'd do it anyway, of course.)
• He loves listening to Brett sing and play the guitar. Brett gets a very captive audience every time he pulls out the guitar.
• He insists on being held most of the time, but isn't super cuddly, unfortunately. He won't ever sleep in my arms anymore. He either has to be in his bed or in his car seat. Thankfully he still sleeps in his car seat. It means we can stay out later with friends.
• His best friends are Pierce, Colin, Blythe, and Shane. (Okay, those are the friends I chose for him, but I can tell he loves them all already!)
• His nicknames are Jack, Jack Jack, Baby Guy, Little Man, Jacky-B, Jacky-Boy, Doogie, and Doogie-baba. I don't approve of the last two, but Brett uses them pretty much exclusively. I'm hoping it dies down over time, but the more I resist, the more he insists on using them.
• He liked to be swaddled to fall asleep until very recently. Now he likes sleeping on his side.
• He goes to sleep pretty well in his crib with just a little fussing, but he doesn't usually sleep through the night. We're still working on that.
• His favorite things to play with are drawstrings on hoodies. Seriously. He even looks for them when I'm not wearing a hoodie.
• He loves making eye contact with people, especially people he's never met. He'll stare you down for quite a while if he's never seen you before!
• He's finally starting to get more hair, and surprisingly, it's pretty light. Although, I can't tell exactly what color it is going to be. I also can't tell what color his eyes are. They're not blue and they're not brown. They're actually kind of grayish.
• His cheeks are getting chunkier and they are just so kissable.
• He has such a sweet demeanor. He rarely cries and is so happy all the time. Just like his dad. (Not in that he rarely cries, but in that he's happy all the time of course. But, to be fair, Brett also rarely cries.)

Jackson is just the best. I love him more than anything and I am so glad to be his mom. We are having so much fun together, and I can't wait to see his personality come out even more!