The Lang Family: Reed is Eight Months Old!

December 11th creeped up on us - Reed is now eight months old! It's been a big month for little Reed. He's enjoying a new room in our new apartment (temporary while we look for our new home) and has developed all kinds of new tricks. This month he's also had two consecutive ear infections and one cold after another, but you'd never know it from his demeanor. Reed remains such a sweet, mellow baby. Jeff and I feel so lucky! Without further ado, here are all the things we want to remember about our buddy at eight months:

Weighing at 20 lbs and measuring 28 inches long, Reed is in the 50th percentile for weight and 52nd for height. Again, I think the percentile charts I reference have GOT to be wrong. Just wait til you see his delicious rolls in the pics below!
He still wears some 9-month clothes, but he's mostly in the 12-month sizes.
Reed still takes five liquid feedings (breastmilk only) a day - 6:30 a.m. (nursing), 10 a.m., 1:15 p.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7:00 p.m. (nursing). His three bottles at daycare are all 8 ounces, and I think he takes 8 ounces in the morning and about 3 - 4 ounces at night.
Speaking of nursing, Reed went on strike toward the middle of the month. I was terrified and thought that maybe he was self-weaning (even though this is really rare), but we weathered through! I think Reed was feeding off of my stress from the move and sale of our house, plus he was getting frustrated with a slower let-down at night. He's nursing again and I'm very relieved. Not ready to give up the sweetness of our nursing sessions yet!
Although we got off to a rough start with solids, Reed is now eating like a champ! He eats one small jar or half a large carton of food at daycare, and then a whole carton of yogurt and either 1/2 or a whole jar of food at dinner. He also enjoys one or two Mum Mum crackers in the late afternoon, and some Gerber Puffs with dinner.
Some of his favorite foods are yogurt, fruit (bananas, peaches, apples, pears), and hummus (which he tried for the first time at shul!)
Early on this month, Reed began picking up the puffs on his own from his high chair tray and is now quite adept at getting them in his mouth.
Reed LOVES "drinking" out of Mommy's water bottle. I take a sip and he starts grinning and laughing before opening his mouth for me to pour some in. Most of the time I put the cap on and then let him put his mouth on it to "drink", but more often now I'll let him take a sip and the water always surprises him!
He continues to sleep through the night, from about 7 p.m. to 6:30 or 6:45 a.m. He takes 1 -2 naps a day, usually from 8:45 - 9:50-ish, and then from 1:30 - 3 p.m.
Reed loves to talk. At the beginning of the month, his favorite sound was "ma ma", and now it's "da da." While he often talks at full volume, we really love it when he starts talking almost under his breath. It's hard to describe, but it's almost like a whisper. So cute!
He nearly always raises his arms up to be picked up. He still loves to be held, which is heaven for his mommy!
Reed loves giving us kisses and he recently discovered his cute twin in the mirror and likes giving him kisses too!
While not his favorite game, Reed has gotten much better at peek-a-boo and every now and then enjoys a quick round or two.
He is fascinated by Ari! She catches his eye any time she walks by and he just wishes she would be more accommodating when he grabs at her fur.
Reed's favorite toys continue to be musical ones - his monkey, Vtech music book, and a new piano courtesy of Jack Spiegel - but he also likes his baseball, bath toys, and Mommy and Daddy's remote control.
Speaking of baths, we started bathing him in the "big" tub this month. He loves it! The floating toys are endlessly entertaining and he likes slashing as well.
Reed also started pulling up this month! While he can't get to a full stand, he pulled to his knees for the first time in the tub (and has since done so on his new piano toy too).
While he's not crawling yet, Reed often rocks forward from a sitting position to the tops of his knees, then his tummy in his quest to reach something out of reach in front of him. I still think it's possible he might skip crawling, but maybe not!
Reed can stand for brief periods of time on his own while leaning on something, without support from us. Of course, he can't get to a stand on his own, but if we help him get there and let him rest his hands on something, he can hang on his own for a bit.
He loves being tickled under his neck and still thinks the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" is hilarious.
A few times this month, when I asked Reed, "Where's Daddy?", he turned and touched Jeff's arm! Fluke? Maybe. But I think it's just an early sign of genius. :)