Duke at 8 Months

What an incredible month! Duke went on his first cruise to Alaska and before that, spent a few days with his family in Reno. He fell in love with swimming this month and has become a total water baby. He enjoyed swimming in Lake Tahoe, on the pools in the cruise ship, our little outdoor pool, and the pool Grammie takes him too. He could be splashing around while hungry and tired and not fuss at all because the water makes him that happy.

He was a champ on our cruise! My family gave him so much attention that I have to reset his expectations now that we’re home haha. He got a lot of family snuggles, was constantly entertained, and saw a beautiful part of our country that not a lot of people see in a lifetime. Most importantly on the cruise, he developed a bond with his great grandma. She loved to hold him and became so aware of his needs and behavior. My grandma laughed harder at him eating than I’ve ever heard her laugh in my life. It was so precious!

New Developments: 

• He crawled a few steps right before our cruise! But since there’s not a lot of room to roam on a cruise ship, he didn’t make much progression afterwards.
• He can pull himself up to a standing position
• He can stand alone for about 2 seconds
• He can hold toys in both hands
• He can change positions from sitting down, to on all fours, to laying down, etc.
• He’s starting to become afraid when “strangers” hold him…and I was ignorant enough to think (or hope) he never would!
• He’s starting to learn “high five” and “give me a kiss”. His open mouth kisses are the sweetest…there’s no preventing slobber allllll over!
• He also broke two teeth this month (I think it was this month? It’s all such a daze). What that practically means, is that sleep regression is REAL. He was a better sleeper as a newborn than he is now.
• He’s grown more aware and focused on what he wants. If you take something away from him, he pitches a fit. If there’s something he wants and you turn him away, he’ll turn his head, find the object, and (sometimes) whine for it.

What He Likes:

• Food. Food is his number one favorite thing. As soon as we give him a bite, he grunts and whines for the next one. He kicks his hands and feet in excitement and is in love with the concept of eating!
• Water. Water is his number two favorite thing! He splashes and doesn’t mind going under (my swim teacher heart is SO happy!). We try to give him every opportunity to swim that we can.
• People. He loves looking at people, making eye contact, and having the attention all on him 🙂 Looks like he’s going to be an extrovert!
• Snuggling in our bed. Since he started teething, then slept mostly in our bed on the cruise, that’s where he wants to be. Getting him to stay asleep in his crib has been a pretty big challenge.
• Looking at himself in the mirror
• Being on his belly! Now that he can move around more, he doesn’t cry on his belly like he used to.

What He Doesn’t Like: 

• Sleeping in his crib!
• Having food or a toy taken away from him.
• Being “alone”…i.e, when he can’t see us in a room anymore. Sometimes he’s OK, sometimes he pitches a big fit until we come back into view.