Highlights from Jackson's Eigth Month

• Weight = 17 pounds

• Seven months has been the month of crawling! You started crawling at 7 months 1 week. You are so happy and proud of your developments. You love exploring the house on all fours. You seem to be especially fascinated by springy door stops.  

• You have also mastered sitting up. You can pull yourself up to sitting, and can stay balanced while sitting for several minutes while you play with a toy. 

• Your two favorite positions for sleeping are on your back with your hands behind your head and on your belly, with your bottom up in the air like an inch-worm. In the evenings we know you're ready to go to bed when you have your thumb in your mouth and hands behind your head.  

• Our little boy is such a happy baby! We love seeing your face light up with a wide-mouthed smile. It's easy to make you laugh and smile: tickles, peek-a-boo, songs, Daddy's funny faces and the baby in the mirror all seem to do it. 

• You are becoming more interested in playing with other babies. Your friends include Judah Craig (6 months older), Connor (7 days younger), and twins James and Addison Joseph (2 months younger). On Thursday mornings Daddy takes you to play group on base where you get to play with even more babies. You are also fascinated by Banjo, Susannah's chocolate lab from across the street. 
• You continue to do really well with solid foods. So far you have not refused any food, and you've even liked cauliflower, bell pepper, and salmon. Your two favorite meals this month have been soft, ripe pear slices served with blueberries, and fried egg. You are learning how to use a pincer grasp (thumb and index finger) to pick up small pieces of food, but still prefer a palmar grasp (using the palm of your hand). 

• Our baby who was a little chunky monkey at 2 months now resembles a string bean at 7 months. You look especially tall when you pull yourself up on your knees to reach a toy. You have done a lot of lengthening in the last few months but haven't put on a lot of weight. We think it's because you're burning so much energy crawling around.
• You understand the idea of object permanence. When you drop a toy from your booster seat you look over the edge to see it on the ground. You look at the doorway when your mom or dad leave the room. And you understand that even though we put a baby gate in front of the DVD shelf there are still lots of interesting things to play with back there, and you want in!
• Favorite toys: Activity table, jumperoo

• You are becoming more interested in books, whether we're reading to you or you're looking at a book on your own