Our Baby is Eight Months!

Daniel turned eight months on the 30th! He is growing like a weed! I am guessing that he weighs about 20 lbs right now. Our poor little buddy recently got over a bad cold. He had his first fever over the weekend, but recovered pretty quickly from it all (we still managed to get a smile in the above picture with a temperature!). Hopefully this means that he will be healthy for his first Christmas! Here are some of the things that Daniel has been up to:

• He is rolling like crazy--he sleeps on his belly once in a while now.
  
• Supports himself very well while standing--he even stands without support for a second or two!
  
• No interest in crawling--we are guessing that he might skip this all together...we'll see!
  
• He has 8 teeth and really hasn't been upset about teething either! (his bottom 2 teeth came at about 4 1/2 mos., the top ones around 6 mos., and the next 4 came within the last few weeks)
• Can palm a baseball! Dad is very proud.
  
• Happy, happy, happy...giggles a lot...and all smiles!
  
• He does also have a very serious side though--he really thinks about things and studies new people and objects.
  
• Very ticklish--armpits, neck, back, sides, thighs
• Favorite sound to make is "ga"
• He also likes to babble with other consonant sounds.
• He chews and drools on everything!
• He is wearing 12 month clothing (a few 9 mo. things that run big and some 18 mo that run small)
• Sleep: bedtime at about 7:00 pm--wakes up between 6:00 and 7:00 am. Takes 2 naps a day. About 1 1/2 hours in the morning and about the same or even a little more in the afternoon! It is not always the same everyday, but he has gotten a whole lot more predictable as time goes on. Daniel didn't sleep very well last week because his nose was so stuffed---I think we are getting back on track again though!
• Food! Daniel has 3 meals of solids each day (fruits (2x), veggies (2x), cereal (2x), meat/poultry (1x)) and he has 4 meals of mommy milk each day! He eats very well---probably why he is growing in front of our eyes... He is also drinking water from a sippy or a real cup!
• Daniel is just a joy to be around--we are really looking forward to Christmas! We'll get to show him off to our friends and family! ;)

...some recent pictures---what a fun time of year!

Daniel's first Christmas tree!

Gracie & Daniel cozy in their carseats

some giggles before bathtime

sitting in the rocking chair that Great-grandpa Sikkel (87) used as a child

having some fun with our Mac photo booth

hangin' with cousin Tryg