Dear Liam,
Today you are 8 months old. I normally start by saying how fast this month went or how i can’t believe that you are 8 months old already but this month i don’t feel that way. It has been a long month due in fact that i have been ready to write you this letter since the week after you turned 7 months old. Liam, the 7th month of your life was quite amazing. The number of milestones you met, things you learned, ways you’ve changed, and the growing you did has been more than i could have ever imagined.
After “inch worming” to get around for a week or so right after you turned 7 months old you got up and took off, i’ve been chasing you ever since. You love to crawl around and explore. You have gotten so fast over the last four weeks; i would describe your crawl like a lizard running on hot sand because you almost bend in half and wiggle your butt from side to side.
Around the same time you started crawling you started to pull up to kneeling. You now love to play while kneeling.
A week or so later you learned to pull to standing. This is where what little “me” time Mama had was over because i now crawl behind you ready to spot you on whatever it is you decide to pull up on. Be it the recliner, coffee table cubes, or wall; i am there to make sure you don’t fall over (which happens all the time). Your standing would be much more stable if you stood on your flat feet but you insist to stand or try to walk only on your tippy toes.
**and yes, you have woken up in the middle of the night and threw the video monitor; time to mount it on the wall!**
The other day Grandma told me that she thinks you like to prove me wrong and i’d have to agree with her. The first time we went to our play group one of the moms asked if you were crawling yet and i told her that you were inch worming and taking a few real crawls but hadn’t quite mastered it yet and they you got up on all fours and crawled across the room like an old pro. Then last week at play group someone asked if you were able to pick up puffs or yogurt melts and feed yourself yet. I told them that you typically get it in your fist and then put your whole fist in your mouth but didn’t quite get picking it up with your fingers yet. Seriously, not even a half hour later i sat you next to me and filled my palm with puffs to entertain you while i ate lunch and wouldn’t you know you picked up every single one with your two little fingers and fed yourself. So in all honesty i started writing this post yesterday. I wrote the paragraph above about standing on your tippy toes and then later that afternoon you didn’t do it once. You stood on your flat feet all day!
You got not one but two teeth this month. You two bottom teeth poked through within a day of each other at 7 and a half months. You look so cute with those two little pearly whites in there but i do miss seeing that gummy smile. 
You love, love, love playing peek a boo! You laugh so hard every time. You love the personalized songs i make up for you; your favorites are “Someone's in the kitchen with Liam” and “There was a Liam had a cat and Kinsey/Nigel was her/his name Ooo..”
One of your favorite things to do is crawl under the dining room table. I get on the floor with you and watch you weave your way between the chair legs. Every so often you look back to make sure i am watching and give the biggest grin and giggle.
You love to crawl into the bottom of your exersaucer, you do it multiple times a day. Thankfully within the last week you learned how to get out by yourself.
You never, ever sit still, ever. When you are eating you are playing with your feet, laying to play with a toy…on that rare occasion you are still kicking your feet….this is why by the time bed time comes you pass out because you are wore out by then!
You moved up into your big boy car seat last week and you love it. You look so much more comfortable in there and even nap better because your head doesn’t fall forward. When i look back at you it is amazing to see how much you have grown, you look like such a big boy in your new seat and not like a little newborn anymore.
You visited the zoo for the first time this month and had a blast. I think your favorite was the aquarium, especially the penguins!
You also got to swim in a big pool this month. You are definitely a water baby, yay!! I can’t wait for swim lessons this winter.
This month your Daddy got to celebrate his first Fathers Day with you. I am pretty sure he is your favorite person in the whole world. There is no one you smile for more or laugh the loudest with. You cry almost every day when he leaves to go for work and you give the best smiles at 5:30 when we go out to meet him at the car after work.
You were both all sweaty after softball in these pictures. You, just like your father, get hot and sweaty super fast!
You said your first word this month…you’ll never guess what it was….give up…”dadadadadada”. On more than one occasion you and i have has the following ‘conversation"’…”Liam can you say Mama”..you look me straight in the eye and say “Dada”. You also say “bababa'” and have said “mama” on the rare occasion.
You still love to eat and now love trying everything we are having. You eat three solid meals a day, breakfast at 9 (fruit and cereal), lunch at 1 or 2 (fruit or vegetable), and dinner at 6 (dinner (meat and veg) and dessert (fruit)). You have bottles in between your solid meals which normal is around 30 oz per day. We usually have a snacks between breakfast and lunch and lunch and dinner. You love puffs and yogurt melts and just this last week learned to pick them up with your fingers and feed yourself. You have also tried a lot of table food this month, just a few bites. You love veggie sticks, cereal bars, graham cracker (your favorite), Ritz crackers, ice pops, sweet tea, lemonade, and a special treat last Friday of a chocolate chip cookie. The only thing you don’t like, in any form, are potatoes; we all think you are kind of strange because of this but we love you.
You have your own way of giving hugs and kisses and we love it! You tilt your head into our head or shoulder to give a hug and you snuggle your head, very hard, and fast into our face to give kisses. You also love to give Elmo hugs and kisses.
You are now wearing mostly 12 month pj’s and 9 month cloths, still a size 3 diaper. You take a morning nap within 2-3 hour of waking and then another afternoon nap around 12 and a short cat nap around 4:30. You go to bed between 8 and 9 and get up for the day between 6 and 7. This month your night time sleeping hasn’t been all that great, mostly because of those two new teeth you got, but you have been waking up more and for the first time in your life been needing to be rocked back to sleep.
Although this month has so had so many wonderful things happen you also learned to voice your opinion and throw tantrums. Last week i would not let you have a tortilla chip and the fit your pitched was youtube worthy. I think you thought the world was coming to an end without that chip. Oh, and they day i blocked off the dining room and kitchen whoa…that was not cool by your standards and you let me know your disapproval.
Love you always little man,
Mama
Look at how you’ve grown…
