What an eight-month-old can do (dispatch from the wilds of Maine)

Since Sean turned eight months old on our vacation to Maine, it reminded me of the common question from people who haven't seen him in a while: what can he do now?

The biggest news might be that Sean has been teething, and we can finally see the top of his first tooth beginning to emerge. Right now, it's just started to poke up from the middle of his gums; however, you can feel it with a finger, and if you let him bite your nose, you might feel it there too.

Sean has also learned to recognize the orange gleam of our camera's about-to-shoot stage, and can pause, sometimes even holding a smile until the picture's snapped. It's a little eerie that he's figured out the timing and technology so quickly... especially since his dad's instinct is to wait for the count of three, and then blink as the picture's taken.

Sean's also definitely working on his finger control, making the little pincer movements that kids his age tend to do. He's also applying his hand-eye coordination to the nose-biting I mentioned above. One favorite move is to grab the hair of the person holding him and use it to draw himself close to the nose (or cheek, or lip) and get the target into his mouth. He also does this with ears sometimes, as if they're handles. He gets this very cheerful and intent look on his face, his mouth open in a wide smile under his bright blue eyes, when he's closing in on a nose, like the world's happiest nose-biting baby vampire. Nose-feratu, perhaps.

We have also noticed that Sean is becoming stronger and attaining more control over himself physically: while he's not crawling yet, he seems to be very close, and he can bend forward from a sitting position to lurch after things. He's also become fond of swinging his arms around, and with his size, he definitely gets some power behind some of his motions. I've caught a few of these movements around the neck and face; there's a surprising amount of force behind them, even if you're bracing for a wallop (cue my high school physics teacher muttering, "You know, there's a formula for that."). Similarly impressive are the times he swats and pounds at a flat surface like a table or wall, especially when it's in quick succession: whack (pause) whack (pause) WHACK WHACK WHACK. (stop) (look up) (smile) (expression that seems to say, "Did you get that?")

While it may be a while before he really coordinates motions among multiple limbs (e.g., crawling efficiently), he certainly can swing his arms together, or his legs together, forcefully in the bathtub, too. Sometimes, it seems like he's trying to splash the water up into the air (and getting it all over himself and us); sometimes it seems like he's just trying to put his heels through the bottom of the tub. Either way, it usually seems to bring him a great measure of glee, so Merrie and I often find ourselves smiling at each other amidst the splash and spray.

Sean has also started to realize that he can reach up and pull things to himself if he can get a handhold; I've been putting a pillow on the edge of a sofa here and letting him tug at the yarn-strands of its fringes. Sometimes one hand's grip is enough; sometimes he uses both hands to draw it down towards himself. He can pull himself up to a standing position, but he needs help to stay on his feet. He also likes to stand astride a thigh and bounce a little. For the last month or two, he's been fond of doing little bouncing motions while he's in the ergo-carrier; he's now also able to do some bouncing while standing with a little support. I know it won't happen like this, but at times it seems like he might learn to jump (and land on his feet) before he learns to crawl.

[Merrie's turn] We've broken the breastmilk monopoly on Sean's diet by trying again to introduce solid foods (for those who don't obsess about our child like his parents do, you might have forgotten that we tried introducing sweet potatoes, banana, and rice cereal two months ago. Very briefly, for a couple different reasons.). Sean has now displayed almost-enthusiasm about eating a small amount of mashed banana but less excitement about avocado, to the shock of his mother. And, Sean went after the goat cheese in the middle of a grilled ciabatta bread sandwich and seemed to enjoy that. We are trying to introduce a new food every 3-4 days (this is to give enough time to declare the last food allergen-free). While many breastfeeding mothers are eager to introduce solids, I admit I am very reluctant-- I enjoy the convenience and the bond that comes with feeding Sean. But, I guess our little boy has to grow up at some point, and he seems not remotely at risk, for now, of preferring anything above cuddling with mom. During the first year milk/formula provides the important nutrients and solids are more icing on the cake. For those interested in baby food, I have found Super Baby Food to be incredibly helpful, and WholesomeBabyFood.com a good online resource.


Finally, Sean is becoming more verbal and, at certain times of day, babbles away with various screeches and word-like sounds. He combines some vowels-- a, o and u-- with some consonants-- b, m, d, and now g-- to make different combinations including our favorites-- "dada" and "mama" (granted, often as longer strings, like "mamamamamama!"). It's probably too soon to believe he "means" it but it's a wonderful thing to hear!