8 Month Update

Happy 8 months, Duke! This has been one of my favorite stages so far. He just keeps getting more personality and more independent!

Clothing: 9-12 month (although he still fits in some of his 6 month clothes)

Bedtime: 7:00-7:30 pm

Sleeping: About a month ago, I was at my breaking point because Duke was still waking up during the night, and I knew he was capable of going 8 hours without eating. I was torn because I wanted to sleep train, but didn't have the heart to do "cry it out". My sister, Amy, told my about this sleep training book and I seriously read it in 2 days, I was that desperate. I kid you not, the day after I finished the book, Duke has been sleeping through the night ever since. He goes to bed around 7:30 am and wakes up at 6:30 am. It has been a life saver!! He sleeps about 11 hours at night and takes 2 naps during the day.

Development:
-can now sit up on his own from the laying down position (which has made my life so much easier!!!)
-pulls himself into standing position
-says "dada", "baba", "mama"
-army crawls
-can jump on command (thanks to the johnny jumper!)
-now has his 2 bottom teeth!
-knows how to hold his bottle by himself

Likes:
-playing on the piano
-pulling Bruno's tail
-playing with the air vent (he has learned how to pull it out from the carpet)
-playing with tags on anything (clothes, toys, etc.)
-discovering! He will make his way around the whole room and inspect anything that he sees. He's such a curious lil' guy!
-bath time
-to crawl all over me when I'm laying on the floor
-is obsessed with the laptop keys and car keys
-eating baby food (& booby)
-sitting in the shopping cart like a big boy and flirting with anyone that walks by. Grocery shopping takes twice as long because everyone and their dog has to make a comment about his arm and thigh rolls, which are to die for! I love showing him off!
-feeding himself with the spoon
-walking with help

Dislikes:
-getting diaper changed
-getting dressed
-getting hair dried after bath
-getting in his car seat

Statistics
When we weighed him about a week ago, he weighed almost 23 pounds. I wouldn't be surprised if he is at least 23 lbs by now. He's a little chunker! Quick story... on Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market in Provo and we had SO many people ask how old he is, and they kept saying, "WOW, he is so much bigger than my 20 month old". We get this all the time! He is a big boy, and that's just the way we like it ;)