8 Months

Parker at 8 months bring us 2 more teeth (4 total) and a little RSV.
Still not crawling, but we're definitely on the move.  He's pretty good at maneuvering himself in about a 2 foot circle from where he was placed through a combination of leans, turns, rocks, hand grabs, stretches and other little ways to get that coveted item just out of reach.

Parker loves to stand up and is desperately trying to pull to standing.  Peek-a-boo and So Big! are enjoyable games, as is anything that puts Parker up in the air, or upside down.  For those games, we are rewarded with a big, open mouthed, squeaky laugh. 

Parker is rapidly loosing interest in pureed foods (although he still likes these), and is enjoying some of the starter, easy-melting foods out these days. Yogurt Melts, Puffs, and crunchies.  Maia is also enjoying these snacks when she can manage to sneak some.  Meal time with Parker is often a fight for the spoon, or an adventure in creative distraction.


Just after the teeth came in, Parker started with a cough, that lead to a low-grade fever, and eventually some rattley-wheezing.  He wasn't in distress in anyway, so we debated for a while what to do over the weekend.  I'd already been treating him with saline, nasal suction (his favorite! No, not really), humidifier and Vicks VapoRub. Which is pretty much all that can be done.  But the noisy breathing was getting, well, noiser on Saturday, so I brought him in to G.R.A.P.E.S. (GR Area Pediatric Evening Specialists), which is a wonderful service, and they do just what the title says. An evening/weekend walk-in clinic where you can bring your sick child to see a pediatrician without having to go to the ER. Assuming your pediatrician/nurse refers you.

Good part: we got to find out how much he weighs: 18.6 lbs. 
Bad part: diagnosis. Bronchiolitis (which is basically an inflammation of the bronchiols) most likely caused by RSV.  Now RSV can be scary in babies, and there's not much that can be done to treat it, but it seems Parker's case wasn't that severe.  And all the rest of the babies in his room have the same basic cough, but none of them have been really sick. He also had a mild ear infection in both ears.  No, we haven't slept more than 2-3 hours in a row for about 4-5 weeks now, why do you ask?  Anyway. Parker did very well with the exam, and was really feeling MUCH better by the next day.

What else?
Parker is still in his 9 month clothing. He might make it to 9 months before he moves on to the next size... I think his growth rate is slowing down.  He's wearing size 2 shoes, when he wears them.

All things are going in mouth. He seems to have pretty good control over getting things to his mouth and manipulating toys with his hands and fingers. He's really, really, really attached to Momma right now.