Hellobee

Panda turned eight months and is suddenly very mobile! A few weeks ago, he learned how to crawl and speeds around, often trying to catch up to his older brother. He is our happy, easygoing baby who still loves snuggles and finally seems to be enjoying baby-led weaning. Panda is constantly on the move and something tells me that the remainder of his monthly photos from here on out are not going to turn out!

Happy eight months, little Panda!

Teeth: Panda now has five teeth, gaining three in the last month. But, I’m starting to worry that his top two middle teeth will never come in. That’s right, he has five teeth, but not the two that normally come in as the third and fourth teeth. So far, he has three bottom teeth, and two top teeth—the ones on either side of the middle teeth. Strange, right? I think he may be getting a fourth bottom tooth any day now, too.

Eating: Panda seems to be taking smaller bites of food now, though he still gags more than Lion did. I can give him thin slices of apples and peaches and he will gnaw on them rather than sticking the whole thing into his mouth. Like many babies, he’s still an adventurous eater. He has always enjoyed fish, squash, apples, and edamame. This month, he also had sea urchin which he couldn’t get enough of, seaweed salad, cinnamon apples (unsweetened), and cabbage.

Sleeping: Every time Lion hit new developmental milestones, his nighttime sleeping suffered. It would seem that Panda is no different and the week in which he learned how to crawl, pull himself to a standing position and clap, he was waking up at 4am, eyes wide open and eager to practice his new skills.

At least he still falls asleep easily. He also (fingers crossed) seems to be rejecting his pacifier. While he’s pretty much always gone to bed at night without a pacifier, he used it for naps or middle of the night wakings. He no longer seems interested, though, and will spit it out in favor of chewing on his lovey.

Favorite activities: I say this every month, but Panda would follow Lion to the ends of the earth. He enjoys pretty much any activity with his big brother, but especially shrieking, crawling after Lion, crawling with Lion (Lion was eager to teach him how to crawl), and rolling a ball back and forth.

Where Babyzilla go?

Lion has been really into his Magnatiles recently. Although he used to get mad and frustrated when his structures fell down, he has recently accepted it; we started calling Panda “Babyzilla” and Lion loves it. The first time I jokingly said, “Babyzilla,” Lion jumped on it and started shouting, “Babyzilla! Come here!” and “Where did Babyzilla go?” encouraging Panda to knock down his tower so he could build it up again. Lion continued to call Panda, “Babyzilla” for the rest of the day so this is a nickname that may stick.

Babyzilla making his way to his next victim!

In addition to playing with Lion, Panda still seems fascinated when we put him on his back on his playmat. He loves reaching for the animals overhead.

Now that he’s crawling, he’s also showing off his adventurous spirit. He loves crawling in between the dining room chairs and under the dining table, in particular.

He sticks just about everything in his mouth, but his favorite item is paper. We have to be careful about what we leave around, because he seems to find every scrap, every receipt, and will instantly pop it into his mouth.

Milestones: Panda is hitting milestones left and right, it seems. He took his first few “crawls” a few weeks ago, and then two days later, was crawling across the room. He’s gotten very fast, especially when he wants something. You can definitely tell when this kid’s on a mission!

One of his favorite things to do now is to clap. Pretty much anytime, anywhere.

He is also standing (with support); I expect that he’ll try to cruise pretty soon. He’s attempting to climb the stairs, but isn’t quite there yet. He also tries to stand independently, but definitely doesn’t have his balance yet.

I can’t believe how quickly the first year is going the second time around! Panda has been hitting all of his physical milestone much sooner than Lion, so it really feels like time is flying by.