Darrek is 8 months old

Time flys when you are having fun. I hate it. Haven't we all thought about time freezing our little ones and keeping them babies? Darrek has been such a blessing in my life and I hate that he has to grow up. Here is the 8 month old expectations from the experts.

Your baby shows definite signs of becoming more independent. For one he is increasingly interested in his counterparts. Secondly, he is able to self-soothe instead of relying on you all the time. This is clearly visible in his attachment to inanimate objects such as a pillow or a blanket or a soft toy. While it is true, you are becoming less important, you are still irreplaceable in baby's life. One such situation where he will still need you the most is when he wakes up in the middle of the night, which seems to happen quite frequently in this month or the next. Another sign of independence is his desire to self-feed, which seem to happen around this time. During mealtimes, he will try to grab for the spoon or pick up bits of food - even pureed stuff. Right now, he can manage to grasp crackers or biscuits with fair amount of success with his thumb and two fingers. It is around this time too when he starts to become shy in the company of strangers; this is related to separation anxiety. Another notable change is when baby holds two objects at the same time. He compares them visually, bangs them together and maybe even tries to fit one into the other.

So this is pretty true to form other than the part about him becoming more attached to a blanket or a stuffed animal. I am still the most important thing to him. It is so nice to be able to say that. It feels so good to know that someone loves you so much and appreciates everything you do for them. Babies are truley one of God's greatest gifts. He is waking quite frequently during the night now, something I am not used to with him. I really do think it is his teeth. He has cut the first one, but that second one keeps coming up and then going back down. There are two good things about this frequent waking up: I can't get back to sleep half the time so I come and do my computer stuff that I don't get to do during the day and most importantly, Darren has finally given up and we have moved him to his real room down the hall in his real crib. He said, "I can't do this anymore. He is going to sleep in his room tomorrow night. I can't go and work on the farm like this. I am so beat!" Of course it also helped that the night he said this was the night he had to get up with him because I had the stomach flu! Needless to say, Mother and Aunt LaSchelle will be so proud!

The other things that Darrek is doing are:
-Claps and squeals like crazy (I think the squeals take place of the YAY that he hears me do when I clap)
-Mimmicks, such as:
Gives High 5's (Nana taught him that one)
Says: Dadda, mamma (when tired or sad), ba ba, ba (ball), tries to make the sound for UH OH
Sings when he hears others singing.
He is all over the place now. He isn't up all the way on his hands and knees, but it will be any day. He gets to the edge of the carpet and pats the tile before he feels that it is safe enough to go on. I am going to have to do a better job cleaning my floors now because he likes the feel of the cold slick tile and sucks it!
His favorite people (people that he reaches for and gets happy to see) are: Me, Darren, Matthew, Morgan, Jensen, and Nana. Pretty much the people he sees every day. He will go to Grandma Nell after hearing her talk and smile at him for a couple of minutes and then you can't get him to let go of her. He loves to eat, but is still such a little guy. At his 6 month appointment he was a hair away from being a "NON THRIVING BABY". They told me to put him on more formula so I did. I only nurse him when I really just need to feel comfortable (drain myself), but that too is easing up.