8 months old

Okay, okay....I know, I know...I said I would be more on the ball with Tripp's 8 month post...but between Auburn trips, consignment Round #2 and living in the world's messiest house (part of which Tripp is now contributing to)...I haven't had a lot of time on my hands this week. There, you've heard my excuse...take it or leave it...

Anyway...this sweet fellow is now 8 months old!



Is this one of the cutest babies on the planet or am I just biased or is it both??  6-7 months are really my very favorite ages during the baby year...why you may ask?? Because at around 8 months the dreaded mobility begins. Now with my first child I was SO ready to see her crawl and then move from one new stage of developmental to the next. With my second I knew better...being able to place your child down in one place, leave a room, and know you can return to find them sitting in the same place is a priceless gift...and a gift I treasurED...past tense because those days are sadly over at our house. And now there are 4 out of 5 people in my house who leave a mess behind them...although right now he's the only one who still can't pick up after himself...but the other 3 don't either so it's both a messy and a touchy subject for me right now!

And because Tripp is so active now he only wants to go and do as he pleases...therefore, this was by far the hardest monthly picture to take...



This picture is very cute...and I love how blue his eyes are...but you can't see the cute shirt chronicling his age...priorities!!



Also another sweet picture...I love those sweet lips, chubby cheeks and ring filled arms and legs...but again, can't see the shirt.

And finally...



So now you can't see the cute shirt or the cute baby boy...this is what the majority of the pictures looked like. It does help to get his picture with Ruth Ann because she can anchor him down and he doesn't move...as much. But I heard someone say long before I started having children to make it a priority to have pictures of your 2nd child by themselves...and so this has been my goal. As he gets older I'll train him to sit and smile just like his sister...they are in front of the camera A LOT at our house so there's lots of time to practice...but that takes time and he's a long way from following any orders...and he tears up & pokes out that plump bottom lip when his momma raises her voice and that breaks this momma's heart so training may take much longer...or never even happen! Yeah, he already has me completely figured out.

So at 8 months Tripp is...
~clearly crawling was our biggest accomplishment but just a few days before he started trying to move around he also started pulling himself up to a seated position.
~babbling away, but now in 2 syllables...he favorite thing to is to say "ah-pu"...I think he just likes the way the "pu" sounds feels as it leaves his month in an explosion of air...for the SLP's and Audiologist in my life I'm trying to say he's added a plosive to his vocab but I have purged all the articulation info from my brain and I can't remember what that the symbols look like to write it out phonetically.  But he's also been heard saying "mama" and "daddy"...still not in the correct way.  We also started watch Baby Signing Time again at our house and Ruth Ann is picking back up on her signing skills too!
~eating, eating...still the same menu from last month but he's starting to drop his mid morning bottle...I think I'm going to substitute it with a Yo-Baby yogurt this month.
~this boy is loud, Loud, LOUD...but I think it's kinda cute that he is making his presence known in our house.
~he's happy and he knows it...as messy and as stressful as my life feels right now with 2 small children in my life...if funds were limitless and I could stay home because hey, who needs to work with limitless funds...I would have lots more babies...I make sweet ones that make you just want more. Don't read too much into that last statement. I knew without a shadow of a doubt I was done while I was pregnant with Tripp...hence the mass consigning I've been doing this past month. When you know you're done, you know...and I'm happy to end on such a sweet note!
~still not holding a bottle by himself...which I'm okay with...I love holding it for him. I did throw out all our old pink girlly Nuby cups this week...Ruth Ann really just uses the zip-lock plastic cups now...and replaced them with new boy colored cups. I remember trying to teach Ruth Ann at this age to drink from a sippy but she really wasn't good at it until after she turned one. She actually drank better from a straw before she mastered a sippy and life has turned out fine for her, so I'm not rushing...I'll keep holding his bottle for as long as he likes...see, he's got me completely wrapped!
~we dropped his crib and took Ruth Ann's out all in the same week...another reason I may have been feeling on edge this week...by babies are growing up too fast!

Sweet Tripp-man, I can't believe you're 8 months old. Once you started crawling you've been off and haven't looked back...I have a feeling you're going to be running circles around your sister very soon...and putting her in her place...she needs it so go right ahead! One year ago we found out you would be a little fellow...and I'll be honest, I didn't know what I was going to do with a little boy...but I quickly fell in love with you the minute I met you. There's a sweet and special place in a momma's heart for little boys and you have that part of my heart completely!