Linnaeus 8.3

I've decided to start a regular weekly post about new things Sprout has figured out each week. '8.3' refers to eight months, three days. I was going to write it in weeks, but decided it would take too much brain power to calculate that at this point.

Every week, it's like we have a new baby, he's learning so fast. Most of the time it's skills he's been working on or attempting for a while & just now perfected. Kind of like water boiling: it's getting hotter & hotter between room temperature & 99c but it doesn't actually boil until it goes that one degree up to 100c.

So, on to this week's 'new' baby:

As of today, he is officially mobile, finally, rolling to get places. For months, I would tell people that he had rolled over.... three times. He just wasn't interested in going anywhere, it seemed. Now that's all behind us & the scramble to baby-proof is ON. Except during diaper changes, his rolling is still only at a speed of maybe two metres per hour, but he's (slowly) going to be able to get at those electrical outlets, cords, choking hazards all over the coffee table, cat food, litter box...

Check out those top teeth!

His fourth tooth (top left incisor) has almost completely broken through & I can see #5 (his right lateral) just under the gums. He's figuring out how to use the top & bottom teeth to bite firm & crunchy food (& me, ouch) so he can eat chunks of raw apple again without gagging. I still get a kick out of hearing him crunch through mum mums.

He's lost almost all the dark hair at the back of his neck, looking rather scruffy from the back. The top, front & sides are getting longer & thicker by the minute, with his bangs starting to reach his eyebrows. I think it'll be enough to get in his eyes & completely cover his ears by his first birthday. He still has the one patch at the crown that he was born with that hasn't fallen out. It's about six inches long & dark at the tips of the hair, blond--like the rest--at the roots. I don't know how long I'm going to last before I give him a haircut because his little baby Donald Trump comb-over slightly offends my sense of aesthetics.

Sprout has started to stand up when holding onto furniture or people. I was telling another mama after our Stroller Fitness class that he doesn't really stand up, then held him up against the coffee table & he did it. He stayed standing, even when the other baby squeezed in between
him & the table. He just hung onto the other little guy's shoulders for another minute or two.

A while ago he got his pincer grip figured out (peas, blueberries & Nutrios are go!) & lately he loves to point & poke with his index finger. He is constantly pressing my little star tattoo as if it's going to play music.

His favourite toy of the week is... wait for it... his hairbrush. He grabbed it off the bureau when I was changing him a few days ago & has played with it for hours since then. His favourite thing to do with it is to run it back & forth across the bars of his crib or just whack it against hard surfaces. He seems a bit perplexed when I try to actually brush his hair with it.