We are into my favorite stage at our house. Elliott is eight months old and both learning new things and showing more preferences each day. George put it well when he recently told a new parent that, from about six months to two years, it is constantly getting better and better. After that, it gets rough, and we're not through that period with Madeleine yet. But Mr. E is at a happy place, so yay!
Let's start with eating, which is one of Elliott's favorite things. He is a good eater, consuming more or less the same thing as the rest of the family. Most meals consist of something(s) that Elliott feeds himself (cheese stick, vegetable sticks, banana, mango, toast, small pieces of meat, etc.) and something(s) that I feed him on a spoon for the sake of neatness and getting it into his mouth (soup, yogurt, oatmeal, etc.). His pincher grasp has started developing the last week or two, and that is doing wonders for his eating. It's so fun to watch him concentrate, make contact, pinch, and then shove the food into his mouth! We started seeing his allergist this month, who confirmed that he's allergic to eggs and identified him as likely allergic to peanuts. Long story short, due to
this very new study, Elliott was given and passed the oral challenge for peanuts, and we're now feeding him peanuts (in the form of peanut butter at this age) at least three times a week. He is positively adorable eating his little peanut butter sandwiches.
The allergist is also an asthma doctor and diagnosed Elliott as having asthma. We now do a nebulizer breathing treatment once a day, and none of us love it. The smallest mask is a terrible fit, and it's hard to keep him still. On the up side, it is 10 minutes of pure attention to Elliott, which is a rarity for our easy-going second child.
Elliott's prime mode of movement is still rolling, and he can roll across a room in a matter of seconds if he's motivated to do so. He wants badly to move but seems to make the most effort to do so when he's sitting upright. Speaking of sitting, he's doing that very well. I don't have any crawling predictions as he sometimes seems like he could start very soon and other times seems entirely unsure of how to begin the process.
His language is developing nicely. He frequently babbles and says "dah dah" on repeat, but he isn't very good at realizing who "dah dah" is. Elliott has starting signing for milk when we sit down in the nursing chair in his room and also other times when he wants fed, like when sitting at the table and watching food being brought to everyone else. He hates having his food presented last. He's not signing for more or all done, but I think he's starting to make a noise like "mah" when I ask him if he wants more. With Elliott, the answer is always yes, more.
We had a rough patch in the sleeping department about three weeks ago. I had to let him do some crying one night, and it's been better ever since. I'm expecting the next rough patch to start any day now, as that has been Elliott's MO for his entire life. When he's sleeping well, Elliott will nap for an hour or two in the morning and two or three hours in the afternoon, followed by overnight sleep from about 7:30 or 8pm until 7am or so.
Elliott is grabbing, squirming, and engaging in his environment more every moment. He started to clap this month, and he does so with wild abandon at every opportunity. We're working on high fives and waving, and I'm betting he'll be able to do them by next month...especially with his big sister as his tutor. He loves playing with Madeleine, even when she is tackling him or otherwise being far too rough. They are so incredibly sweet together.
Speaking of sweet, here's our Elliott:
