8 Months Old

Just over 8 months ago we were feeling as prepared as we could for the arrival of our baby boy.  What we weren't entirely prepared for is the overwhelming need to protect that new arrival.  There have been so many unfortunate events in the news lately, first the accident involving 4 local high school students and less than 2 weeks later, the unbelievably tragic shooting in Newtown, CT.  Both of these events hit so much harder after having a baby of our own.  I had to stop watching the news in the morning while getting ready for work because I was spending more time fixing my makeup from crying than it took to put it on in the first place.  President Obama said it perfectly in his speech in Newtown "With their very first cry, this most precious, vital part of ourselves, our child, is suddenly exposed to the world, to possible mishap or malice, and every parent knows there’s nothing we will not do to shield our children from harm."  That couldn't be further from the truth, I know both Brian & I will do everything in our power to keep Jack safe and we pray to God that he stays safe forever.

How can you not want to protect this face from ever knowing any type of evil:

I went out to run some errands last night and when I got home Brian said "I think Jack has reached another milestone..."  I said, "Oh yeah?!  What's that?"  He said "He doesn't seem to need/want us to rock him to sleep anymore".  My response was (eyes full of tears immediately) "but I love to rock him to sleep...."  It seems for naps he's still OK with it, but Brian's right - at night, he likes to put himself to sleep lately, I've just been in denial about the Jumparoo/kicking/dancing routine that Jack is doing on my lap while I'm blissfully rocking away at night...

Jack has been a busy guy in the past month: 

He weighs ~18.5lbs and measures ~28.5"
He is super excited to meet his newest cousin, Brody!!
He now has 4 teeth (bottom and top central incisors) with what appear to be a couple more on their way anyday now...
He likes to hold his own bottles thank you very much.
He had pink eye in both eyes shortly after having bronchiolitis and has a pretty constant runny nose (thank you daycare & teeth!)
He flips himself over immediately when you put him in his crib so he can be on his belly to sleep.  He's more willing to spend time on his belly when playing than he used to be, but still not overly thrilled with the idea. 
He goes through phases with eating solids...some nights he is all about it, mouth wide open, ready for that food, other nights he outright refuses - I'm thinking it has something to do with teething or he's just showing me who's boss.
He isn't finishing every bottle at home, we've recently decided to try to phase out his 6pm-ish bottle & replace with solids, moving his bedtime routine up a little earlier than before.
He still sleeps through the night solidly, 8pm-6:30am (except on the weekends when he likes to get up around 5:30am so we can spend the WHOLE day together ;))
He likes to bounce himself off of whatever is behind him, couch, person, exersaucer seat, highchair, etc.  He really gets going on the couch these days! 
He loves his "Little Blue Truck Goes to the City!" book, we read it A LOT.  :)  He isn't such a fan of the books that don't have bright colors/pictures on every page.
He made his first school Christmas ornament for our tree:

He is one. happy. baby. that makes us smile all of the time.

Our little boy is growing and changing all of the time, we are both very much looking forward to having 11 days at home with him starting this weekend :)  Time flies when you're having fun...