Keldon Update: 8 Months

This post may be just a couple weeks late, but with the house move and lots of to do’s, better late than never! 🙂 I wanted to get Keldon’s 8 month update on the blog since it’s been a couple of months since the last (6 months). In just 2 months, it’s crazy how many changes there has been!

8 MONTH UPDATES AND MILESTONES:

• Keldon has been rocking his helmet since 6 months to correct his Plagiocephaly (flat head on one side)! It was honestly harder on Tom and I than on him at first, but its become so routine that we barely notice it now. We are 2.5 months in, and there has been lots of progress! We aren’t positive how much longer he will have it, but hoping just 1-2 more months. It has actually helped a ton with protecting his noggin too, since he’s so mobile now! I think the biggest adjustment for him was how sweaty he would get in it at first (sleeping actually wasn’t an issue besides the first minutes of getting comfortable with the new awkward accessory). He still does get sweaty if he’s cruising around, but it’s not nearly as bad as it was the first few days!
• No first steps on his own yet, but I know it’s in our near future. He’s very eager to walk and loves getting assistance to walk. He can pull himself up and stand on his own though (with someone nearby since he’s still a little wobbly)! And he sure has sped up his army crawl; I don’t know if he will ever crawl “normally” on his hands and knees, but he will often rock in that position while awake in his crib!
• Loves table food and purees! We replaced his 1pm bottle with a full lunch. Usually this consists of a Little Spoon blends, leftovers (baked chicken breast, noodles, mashed potatoes), little bits of toast with peanut butter, avocado, bananas, and/or tomatoes. He will also have little snacks like these throughout the day. He is always super interested in whatever we are eating and will get grumpy if he can’t have any, haha! But he is not picky at all and will eat just about anything. We will typically give him some of what we are eating, unless it’s spicy, hard to chew or has honey. Because he is snacking in addition to bottles, we cut down his bottle oz to about 6-6.5oz, depending on how much solids he has, with the exception of the morning bottle of 7oz.
• He is now mimicking us when we say “ahh!” – cutest thing ever!!
• Also saying “mum” and “mumumum” a lot more recently, and I like to think that he is saying it because he wants me/my attention, but I’m not positive it has any meaning yet!
• He has become a little clingy with me, and favors me to hold him. This sure makes me feel loved, but it can be tricky sometimes when I have to leave. When it’s just Keldon and I in the late afternoon together, he can get so clingy to the point where he is only content with me holding him, so I often have to use this baby carrier while we roam around the house!
• A little bit of stranger danger, but once he warms up to you after a bit, he is friendly and smiley to everyone!
• Wants to get into everything! He is a very curious boy and very interested in touching and grabbing items around the house, or anything we are holding.
• Loves Bruce’s toys… sometimes more than his own! Ugh, haha. He also adores Bruce and knows him by name. When he walks into the room, Keldon squeals with delight! 🙂
• Keldon has developed a little bit of separation anxiety, as he used to be content playing in the living room while I stepped into the kitchen (within close distance and where I can still see him), but he dislikes me being away that far and usually starts pouting for me to come back or to take him with me.
• Really enjoys being outside and going on walks! We just got this Bugaboo Lynx Stroller which is super lightweight and compact, which is great for travel and taking with on errands. Also great for one-hand steering and when you are going somewhere outside and sunny (the canopy rocks)! We just keep this one in our car.
• Keldon is on his same schedule and still sleeping wonderfully (thank you, Cradle Coach! More info on that in this post). I have been contemplating changing his schedule and moving to 2 naps since I know that it’s common to do so at this age, but he hasn’t shown any signs that we need to do that yet (still taking all naps just fine), so why try to fix something that isn’t broken?!
• Clapping (yay)! Raini, my part-time assistant/nanny, taught him this and it is the sweetest!
• Waving! He is so proud of this skill, and will randomly wave while playing haha!
• We are starting to introduce baby sign language and working on the words “please” and “more”, practiced mostly when eating food.
• Teething like crazy, and it seems that there is progress in tooth growth everyday! Not only are his top 2 teeth coming in, but the two right beside them are too!
• Bathtime might just be his favorite part of the day, he is obsessed! We no longer use the bath seat and just fill the tub enough where he can crawl around on his tummy without water getting in his face.
• Has grown sooo much hair! It’s a light brown, much like mine when I was a baby.
• Got his first cold, ugh! We are actually all just getting over a bad cold that included a cough, congestion, and runny nose.
• We moved for the first time, and Keldon adjusted so well to his new sleeping environment! We didn’t even put up the blackout curtains (yet) and are just using the blinds, and he is still sleeping great, though I always wonder if he would’ve slept longer with them when he wakes early from naps. 🙂
• Started giving him a daily multivitamin that he doesn’t mind taking.

KELDON’S 8 MONTH SCHEDULE:

• 7AM: Wakeup. Sometimes Keldon will wake on his own around 6:30 and will chat in his crib until 7am when I will go and get him. Lately he has been sleeping until 7 though, and I won’t keep him sleeping any later than that, otherwise it would throw off his nap schedule throughout the day and possibly his night sleeping.
• 7:05AM: Eat (7oz bottle)
• Play! Our favorite play activities:
  • Tummy time/crawling practice (he will often play on the floor on his tummy and we will place toys he wants at a distance so he crawls to them)
  • Watching and petting Bruce
  • Activity center
  • Reading a book and singing songs
  • Going for walks
  • Practicing walking
• 8AM: Snack (solids – usually at this time it is some of my peanut butter toast or banana)
• 8:30-9:30/10AM: Morning nap – Keldon will typically sleep until 10AM, but some days he will only sleep for an hour. If he wakes before 9:30, we will usually keep in his crib until 9:30AM while he has relax/crib time in which he’s content doing. We use this white noise machine for naps and sleeping at night
• 10:05AM: Eat (6oz bottle)
• Play
• 11:30AM-12:30/1PM: Afternoon nap
• 1PM: Eat lunch (Little Spoon blends, leftovers, noodles, mashed potatoes, etc.)
• Play
• 3-4PM: Catnap (last nap of the day, we don’t let him sleep past 4pm)
• 4:05PM: Eat (6oz bottle)
• Play, go on a walk
• 5:30/5:45PM: Snack (usually some of whatever we are having for dinner)
• 6:15PM: Start bedtime routine with a bath and PJs
• 6:45PM: Eat (8oz bottle) and then read a few books before bed
• 7PM: Bedtime! We play the same bear and white noise for sleeping at night. Keldon sleeps in his footie pajamas (we love these and these). We always sing him “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” before bedtime (and naps too) 🙂

KELDON’S FAVORITES & OUR CURRENT MUST HAVES:

Have a great week!