Happy 8 Months Big Boy!

Hard to believe, but Blake is 8 months! Some recent achievements, stats, and progress reports for the electronic baby book:

• Blake rolls from front to back (has done this since Thanksgiving) but now (drum roll) he also rolls from back to front. It took me a while to witness - usually I just see the result, as I put him in his crib on his back and sometime in the process of falling asleep he moves to his tummy. But by now I've witnessed it, too. He even rolls around to get to toys.
• Blake has his first cold, complete with fever, cough, diahhrea, runny nose, etc. Not bad that he lasted 7+ months without getting sick, much of which was during flu season. I attribute the cold to two things: 1) I've been having play dates here every other week for the past month or so, so Blake and his toys have had a lot more exposure to germs, and 2) he is nursing much less, so he gets less immunities from me. This has meant a few days of non-existent morning naps, one day of no naps at all, and one night of crying for an hour each time he woke up. But he is doing better now.
• Blake is starting to try to move around. He can't scoot or crawl yet, but if he is climbing on mommy he definitely can use his legs to push himself up, and he climbs over my legs to get toys (only to land on his stomach or face and get frustrated...but it's a start). He is pushing himself up on his hands much more, and doesn't automatically roll to his back when he is placed on his tummy.
• Blake is sleeping unswaddled all the time. The transition was much easier than I feared, I must say; it really only took a couple of days. I think this has really helped him gain some of his motor skills, such as rolling from back to front, and I sometimes find him in baby push-up position in his crib which will definitely help him gain the strength he needs to crawl.
• He weighs 18 lbs and 11 oz (as of 4/30/10, a day after his 8 month birthday).
• Blake is only nursing once a day. I still can't bring myself to stop nursing completely, and now that he is sick he is definitely wanting to nurse for comfort much more.
• He still wakes up at least once a night, usually twice. He goes to sleep around 6:30pm, then wakes between 10pm and 11pm to take a full bottle, and then usually wakes again between 2:30am and 3:30am. At the second "awakening" he usually only takes part of a bottle, but often he needs to be changed because he has wet through diaper and clothes (and this wakes him up completely, and then it takes some time to soothe him back to sleep). Each time he us up it can take as long as an hour to feed and put him back to sleep, which is an area for improvement, let's say. He wakes up for the day between 6:15am and 7:15am. We definitely prefer 7:15am! Sometimes he skips the first wake-up, which is interesting since that is when he seems most hungry. It just proves that waking is more related to sleep issues than hunger.
• Blake is primarily on EleCare formula, a special formula ("medical nutrition") for babies who have milk protein allergies. He takes 5-6 bottles a day, each with about 5-7 ounces of formula. He gets the bottles at 7:30/8am, 11:30am, 2:30pm, sometimes a small bottle at 5pm when we also feed him solids, 6:30pm (bedtime), and then when/if he wakes up at night, 11pm and 3am (ish).
• Blake babbles, and makes a lot of noises, but still no words. He sometimes imitates sounds (like gurgling and buzzing).
• No teeth - just lots of drool.
• We feed him solid foods once a day (down-graded from a couple months ago when he wasn't gaining weight and I fed him solids three times a day). The doctor encouraged us to go back to twice a day. So far he is only eating a limited array of fruits and veggies. Meats will start soon. I am very cautious because of his food allergies, and a number of things seem to bother his reflux (peaches, blueberries. apricots).
• Blake's favorite things: his little stuffed monkey, board books, his temperature turtle (serving as a teether), playing with his sippy cup, his exersaucer, playing peek-a-boo, and kicking in the tub, mommy's hair (especially when it is wet), and mommy or daddy "gobbling" his belly or sides.
• Blake wears 6-9 month or 9 month clothes.
• He is still taking Pepcid, 16 mg (2 ml) 3 times a day. We mix it ourselves, in sugar water, and that saves us about $150 a month. He also takes milk of magnesia (an OTC stool softener/laxative), 1 tsp once a day.
• He naps twice a day, once at 9am and again at 12:30 or 1pm. The first nap is between 30 minutes (not good) to an hour and a half (rare), usually about an hour. The mid-day nap is is usually slightly longer, around an hour but sometimes as long as two. On a very rare occasion we might put him down for an afternoon nap, if he seems so tired he won't make it until bedtime. Other times he falls asleep in the car as I run errands in the afternoon.

You are getting big so fast! We love you so much, little monkey, and thank God for you and all the blessings you bring!